What’s New in Social Media - October

Keeping up with the new changes in Social Media can be a full-time job. The team at Gather Social are here to help! Here are the most recent changes, important updates, new features or announcements from your favourite Social Media platforms. Read on to learn more...

The end of IGTV

This month came the news that Instagram is getting rid of IGTV! Instagram launched the IGTV feature back in 2018 after the photo-sharing platform decided to make the big push into video. Instagram has since admitted that IGTV hasn’t been as successful as it planned.

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri headed to Twitter not too long ago and shared the controversial opinion that Instagram is no longer just a photo-sharing platform and that in their minds the app is a video platform. However, with Reels, Stories and IGTV, Instagram was becoming far too busy with multiple different types of video and Mosseri has said they were doing their best to consolidate them.

IGTV has now been canned. With IGTV and in-feed videos now becoming the same thing. In-feed videos can now be up to 60 minutes long and they can be found in a new tab called Instagram TV, located in the profiles section alongside Reels. This new change to up to 60-minute duration videos can only mean the rise in long-form content being made by brands. 

Twitter’s Professional Profiles

Twitter has been adding multiple features designed to help businesses on their platform over the last few months. The new Professional Profile feature has been in testing for a small number of businesses in the US since April, but now all businesses can apply to be Professional profile. All you need to do is head to the ‘Twitter for Business’ website to apply.

A Professional Profile will give you access to Twitter Ads, quick promotion, advanced profile features and the app’s future ideas around shopping on Twitter. At the moment, a business with a professional profile can add an ‘about’ section, connect a newsletter if you’re using Twitter’s Revue newsletter service and add a shop listing inventory and featured items. 

The new updates will enable users to shop directly in the Twitter app, communicating with professional business profiles. The opportunity to add opening hours, your website and a shop inventory to your Professional Profile is truly a game-changer for businesses using Twitter. 

Facebook Reels

Facebook has been testing Reels on the platform since March and the feature is now fully available in the US. But what does this mean for Instagram reels? Insta reels are now able to be shared natively to Facebook but there is also the option to create reels within the Facebook app. 

Conveniently the feature rolled out onto Facebook in the US as soon as video-sharing platform TikTok announced they had reached 1 billion users on their own app. Facebook Reels can be found both in the newsfeed but can also be created and shared within the app’s most used feature, Facebook groups.

Linkedin is testing Paid Ticketed Events

Linkedin Events have seen a huge surge in growth recently, despite the pandemic forcing all events to be held virtually. In 2020, 21 million people attended an event on Linkedin. The platform has announced it is now exploring payment options for events, including letting event organisers run ticketing events on Linkedin.

The changes will most likely start to roll out on virtual events, but as restrictions are lifted across the world, the test could be integrated into the platforms events hub, which was designed to facilitate in-person events. The test is super exciting as this could lead to monetization opportunities for companies and creators on Linkedin. 

Twitter reveals a New Spaces Recording Option

Twitter Spaces is a new way to have live audio conversations on Twitter. The new recording option feature will let you download an audio file of your previous Spaces conversation and it makes it easier for you to repurpose this audio content elsewhere. 

This feature is one of many recent examples of Twitter edging out the former popular audio conversation platform, Clubhouse. Twitter Spaces is a far more sophisticated version of Clubhouse based on its overall use to brands and marketers. 

On Clubhouse, the conversation is kept in the moment and it cannot be replayed anywhere once it’s over. However, with Twitter Spaces, this content can be repurposed for use in Podcasts episodes, Social videos, Voiceovers, Voice tweets and much more. 

Interested in finding out the latest updates for each Social Media platform? Head to our website today to read another article or just click here!