It’s a wild week in social media news. Instagram is the one making a bunch of headlines this week with some pretty cool new features, and Twitter is making a surprising call to kill one of the features they’ve spent months pushing HARD. Let’s take a look.
1. Instagram is testing out a reshare sticker for Stories.
This is still being tested so it only appears for a smallish subset of users, but its intent is to encourage a more thoughtful content sharing experience. The sticker would allow users to share content over an existing story. For example, you can take a reaction photo/video of yourself and share another user’s post over top of it.
From TechCrunch:
As it stands now, when users add a post or Reel to their Story, that content generally stands alone against a plain background. The new reshare Sticker adds a new way for people to contextualize content they’re resharing and makes those posts feel a bit less static (think retweets with comment rather than straight-up retweeting a stranger into your feed).
2. Twitter is killing Fleets
From Twitter:
We built Fleets as a lower-pressure, ephemeral way for people to share their fleeting thoughts. We hoped Fleets would help more people feel comfortable joining the conversation on Twitter. But, in the time since we introduced Fleets to everyone, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped. Because of this, on August 3, Fleets will no longer be available on Twitter.
Basically, the product didn’t do what they thought and not enough people used it. This in itself isn’t a shock, but given how much time Twitter spent pushing it this year, it’s mildly surprising that they didn’t even give it a year.
3. TikTok is the first non-Facebook app to reach 3 billion installs
They took a lot of public hits, but users don’t really seem phased. From Sensor Tower:
TikTok’s metrics tell a story of astounding growth, but it doesn’t stand unchallenged in the social video space. Popular apps such as YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram have integrated similar features into their platforms, hoping to appeal to new and existing users. Standalone competitors such as Kwai and Moj are also jostling to lead the pack.
Looks like they aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
4. You can now create Instagram Story drafts
This isn’t really new news since Instagram announced this in March, but it looks like they’ve finally made it official: You can now create Story drafts on Instagram. From Social Media News:
“Instagram Stories drafts are now available for everyone, globally. Story drafts will save for seven days before disappearing.”
So, another way to manage your Stories creation flow, and post at optimal times to maximize engagement. It may not be a massive shift, but it could be a highly relevant one for Instagram managers looking to make best use of the app.
5. Facebook has announced new Group tools
Facebook is trying to give Group admins the power to elevate the most knowledgeable among them. From Facebook:
We’ve launched a new way for admins to recognize knowledgeable members in their group by designating them as group experts. Admins now have the ability to select specific members in their communities who stand out, empowering them to play a more meaningful role.
After accepting this role, group experts will receive a badge next to their names in the group, making it easier for group members to spot informative posts and comments from designated experts. Now available to select groups across desktop and mobile, admins can collaborate with group experts to host Q&As, share perspectives on a topic and respond to questions.
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