It’s a new year and the spottydog pack are back to deliver your monthly boost of new social media updates!
In our latest blog, hear from Communications Consultant Zoe Barlow, who outlines the key social media updates that brands need to know for their own communications strategies in the new year.
Update #1: LinkedIn launches native post scheduling in the App
LinkedIn is finally providing users with the capability to schedule and plan posts in advance — a feature that has been in high demand for some time. The feature is currently being rolled out to users, so take a look to see if you have this new update yet!
The process is pretty straightforward — simply tap on the clock icon next to the ‘Post’ button when you are creating a post. Then, enter a date and time for when you want you post to go live (up to 90 days in advance).
Why is this important?
Brands can make the most of this new tool to maximise their presence on LinkedIn.
With this latest update, you can now edit and schedule posts on the go, making LinkedIn social media management easier and more organised than before.
Whilst you could previously schedule LinkedIn posts through various social media scheduling platforms, native scheduling can be more reliable, particularly for tagging and visualising how your post will appear once it goes live.
Update #2: Instagram rolls out ‘Candid Stories’
Instagram is beginning to test ‘Candid’ stories, a new way for users to capture and share what they’re doing in that moment, in a story that’s only visible to those who also share their own.
Users can capture a ‘Candid’ through stories, the multi-author story at the top of feed, or from the daily notification reminder that starts after their first candid.
This fun new feature follows in the footsteps of BeReal, one of the latest social media apps, which became the most talked-about platform in 2022!
How could this update impact brands?
Instagram stories are already a great way for brands to reach their audience through bite-sized interactive content, so it makes sense that ‘Candid’ stories are the next level up.
The spontaneous nature of ‘Candid’ stories could also work in your favour, as embracing the feature will allow you to show a more relatable and authentic side to your brand’s personality.
Sharing unedited, raw content through Candid stories will also encourage your audience to engage back with their own user-generated content — a great tactic for increasing engagement.
Update #3: Twitter brings back ‘swipeable’ feeds
Twitter’s ‘Home’ timeline approach is quickly going to become a thing of the past, as Musk reintroduces a ‘swipeable’ feed to the popular microblogging social media platform.
This new navigation will allow users to conveniently swipe between tweets, topics and trends – something users previously were able to do with the old interface.
Currently, the platform lets users swap between a chronological timeline that shows the latest tweets in order, and the Home timeline, which displays recommended tweets, by tapping the stars icon in the upper right corner of the screen. But this new feature will take things a step further by adding extra views and making them easier to access through swiping.
Why does this matter?
Twitter updating its interface shows the importance of platforms being smart and user friendly in the digital day and age.
As TikTok has shown, when done right, artificial intelligence-based recommendations lead to higher engagement and user retention. This latest update from Twitter is an attempt to maximise engagement further by showing more people more tweets that they’ll like in the app. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months!
Stay tuned for our monthly Social Spot updates and, if you are looking to enhance your social media strategy, get in touch.
