Welcome to the first instalment of Social Butterfly – TCD’s state of social media wrap by Digital Content Producer Tessa Charters.
BeReal (or as we like to call it, the original Instagram), video collages and Reels’s impact on engagement are the big topics in the office this month.
But what really got our head turning was Instagram admitting they don’t always get it right, when Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced they would be taking a step back to regroup before moving forward with planned updates.
Slow your roll
The rollout of Instagram’s new, video-optimised, full-screen user interface and AI-suggested content was halted after content creators and users, including the ever-influential Kylie Jenner, made their concerns heard.
The new user interface featured a snap screen type scroll and prioritised video content even more than the platform already does in the usual feed. It also served up loads of AI-suggested content, rather than focusing on content shared from accounts the user follows.
Meta initially said the AI-suggested content had increased the time people spent watching Reels by 15 per cent, but Instagram’s CEO has since announced they’re refining the AI to ensure the suggestions are bang on (and don’t p*ss people off).
Is Instagram finally listening to our cries to bring back the old ‘gram? Or, more likely, is the usage data doing all of the talking? Safe to say we think it’ll be back soon, maybe just with some different packaging.
One thing that did stick in the recent updates by Instagram is the ability to pin posts. Following in step with TikTok, users can now pin up to three posts on their profile, which sit at the top of their feed.
Gram Theft Auto
Talking about things Instagram has pinched from TikTok, let’s chat Reels. They seem to be the golden goose of Instagram atm, with Reels gaining more algorithmic exposure than your regular feed post.
All Instagram videos now sit under Reels, no matter the length. While Hootsuite suggests sticking to 7 to 15 seconds (because, well, attention spans these days), as short Reels loop and count as multiple views (cheeky Hootsuite), you’re better off focusing on content instead of length. Why, you might ask? Well, if your Reels are good, people will watch them multiple times – no matter the length.
Also climbing the ranks is BeReal, with the app now reporting up to 10 million daily active users, rising from just 10,000 a little over a year ago.
And if someone snapped a BeReal at, say, the Instagram HQ, they might see a feature development that looks suspiciously similar to the trending social media app. That’s right, Meta is going after another social crown, and has confirmed that it’s internally prototyping a new Instagram feature called “IG Candid”, which prompts users to share an authentic photo at a random time each day. C’mon instagram, BeReal.
Meanwhile…
TikTok is introducing new ways to support creators in an attempt to try and keep creators and their following on the platform. With phrases like ‘I’m shadowbanned’ and ‘you’re never on my For You Page anymore’ being thrown around, TikTok has a reason to be stepping up its game.
The platform has launched its second season of its Made for TikTok ad industry talk show series about in-platform marketing. In good news for marketers and those managing brand YouTube accounts, you can now log in without a 2FA phone or email code – finally!
Instead, you can sign into client accounts by verifying the security phone number, rather than having to get a direct code from your client before it expires. Will YouTube accounts be more open to hacking now? I guess only time will tell.
Twitter is trialling “notes” for selected profiles, which encourages long-form content – perhaps to kill the trend of the thread. It’s being trialled in a handful of countries, and it’s too early to say whether it’ll be ticked or flicked.
Finally, mid-year social reports hit the stands in the last month, mostly confirming Facebook’s continued dominance. The Meta-owned social media platform has slowed in its takeup but it still reigns supreme when it comes to the number of users in Australia. And the time-on-platform award went to TikTok, which attracts users for an average of nearly 24 hours a month. That’s notably more than YouTube, but then again, we aren’t really surprised.
Until next time…
