Since the beginning of the year, and in an era where AI is becoming increasingly important, the major social media platforms have seen their fair share of changes, some more interesting than others, some more beneficial than others. The last few months have been no exception. Today, we’d like to take a look at what’s new this summer, and report on what’s new in social media and what’s to come.
Starting with Twitter, which has been surprising us with its latest innovations.
Bought out in October 2022 by Elon Musk for the “modest” sum of $44 billion, the application has been steadily adding paid-for features ever since, including certification for the famous blue tick.
The social network’s first change, and not the least, is its new name! Since July 2023, Twitter has been known as “Explore”, with its new “X” logo.
The latest innovation for certified accounts is the possibility of making long tweets. Farewell to the 600-character limit, now 2,500 characters are allowed. The reason: screenshots that seem to bother Elon Musk. He would like to see tweets published less on platforms other than his own.
Find an interesting tweet and want to keep it under wraps? You can now save tweets with a bookmark. A more anonymous way of finding tweets, rather than “traditionally” via likes.
Another change, and not the least, is that those who don’t pay for the blue dot will be out of luck, as access to content will be restricted.
Indeed, since the introduction of €11-a-month “Twitter Blue” subscriptions, only holders have access to all Twitter features. Otherwise, your news feed will be limited to 1,000 tweets and 600 for new subscribers per day, compared with 10,000 for subscribers.
With all these constant changes, thousands of users have migrated to similar, less controlled applications.
The social network that appeals to young and old alike has also decided to change some of its functionalities and come up with a host of new ideas to keep us entertained.
Have you heard of notes? Available since the beginning of the year, they allow users to share a short text message with their followers via a notes feed appearing at the top of the Instagram inbox.
Well, it’s now possible to share music as well as notes! The character limit is still 60, and you can share a 30-second song extract.
In early June, Instagram introduced a brand-new feature: broadcast channels. Mainly used by content creators, this more intimate exchange space allows them to share exclusive videos, launch polls and talk with subscribers registered to the channel, who themselves have the option of reacting with emojis. All this takes place via private messages.
How do I join a channel? All you have to do is receive an invitation, or join the channel yourself.
instagram @tsew_tk – montage travel insight
Perhaps you’re already using the “collaboration” feature when setting up influencer missions? Well, this feature is evolving, and it’s now possible to identify 3 people in “collaboration” mode when you post a publication on your profile. If members agree, the photo will appear on all 3 pages. For trio photos, no more jealousy!
Facebook Paradiski – montage Travel Insight.
Facebook remains the world’s most widely used social network, with over 2.8 billion monthly users. The Meta Group’s application continues to evolve and develop.
Like Twitter, Meta has also launched a paid subscription to certify your account on Facebook and Instagram. The subscription costs €13.99 per month for Desktop and €16.99 for iOS and Android. Zuckerberg’s group justifies this choice by security: to fight against fake accounts, as you need to provide proof of identity to obtain the blue dot.
For the time being, the offer is only available to individuals, particularly content creators, who want to guarantee the authenticity of their account to their community. To date, the Meta group has confirmed that the accounts of brands, public figures and companies already certified via the free verification process will not lose their blue dot. However, the introduction of a verification offer for businesses in the future is being considered.
The protection of minors is a growing concern for social networks. That’s why Facebook has decided to implement reinforced measures.
In addition to the digital age limit raised to 15 by the French government, the app has taken the decision to limit the exposure of minors, who can now hide their age on their profile and also have access to targeted advertising.
Protection measures will also be extended to content creators.
In the past, very little was done to protect them. It was easy to usurp a project and difficult to report it. Now, it’s possible to make “claims” and protect your assets.
TikTok
With over 500 million monthly active users, TikTok is set to become the world’s most downloaded app in 2023! And it’s making its presence felt, as the app attacks on all fronts and doesn’t let its doyens intimidate it.
With its multitude of video recommendations for cooking, tips, recipes, travel or reading, TikTok is all-in-one.
As we have seen in this article, TikTok acts as a real search engine for Generation Z. This represents a major disadvantage for the Google search engine, which is seeing its search rate drop. And understandably so! Young people have access to TikTok, and are above all looking for honest opinions and quick recommendations without having to go to several sites. And that’s what they find via TikTok: in just one click, they can get a filmed review of a restaurant, for example, along with the address, menu, reviews, etc.
Nevertheless, Google retains its clear lead, as searches on TikTok remain superficial and not always precise.
After Google, the Chinese network has not said its last word when it comes to competition… Spotify, the music network, podcast and radio channel, also seems to be under threat.
Since TikTok’s inception, the music industry has taken a completely different turn. Young artists are using the platform to propel themselves, other music is becoming trendy and music from the 60s is emerging once again.
Developed in just 2 countries, TikTok Music aims to compete with the music app industry. A monthly subscription set at just $4 per month for the time being. No major differences in terms of features offered by other apps, except for user comments on songs.
via Billboard.com
From travel, to home decor, to outfits of the day, Pinterest is THE network from which to draw daily inspiration. The app launched in 2010 was in need of a refresh too, perfect for this summer 😊
Pinterest opens up the field for brands to grow and become more visible. The application has introduced new advertising tools:
Premiere Spotlight, which enables the insertion of widescreen videos in priority locations. This represents a considerable advantage for advertisers, who will be able to choose their location on Pinterest’s search page. In total, on this page, more than half the space will be devoted to your video or photo, ensuring that your visibility is optimized, with an average video view rate of 51% (according to MRC (Media Ratings Council)).
Because Pinterest leaves no domain untouched, tourism is also concerned! Especially since travel is the 3rd most-searched theme on Pinterest.
Now, thanks to Travel Catalogs, hotels and rental companies will be able to upload their entire catalog to the app at once. Pinterest will then automatically create product listings for each listing, displaying relevant details such as brand, price and descriptions directly on the Pin.
These Travel Catalogs are a quick way for users to organize their trips. They can also create their own Travel Catalogs and make their own recommendations.
This year, the social network is also tightening the screws on the importance of protecting minors on the application. And there are quite a few changes… For young people under 16, boards and all their accounts will be automatically private, messages blocked and restricted to friends, and if parents so wish, it will be possible to set a code to access the application.
For its part, the professional network is being refined with advanced artificial intelligence and a revised algorithm.
From now on, Linkedin wants to show more of the publications of people you follow – after all, we’re less interested in other people’s lives than we are in those of our friends. The content of those you don’t follow will be better chosen (more professional, more relevant comments, posts adapted to your content), so that it attracts you more!
No need to think about what to write in your posts, LinkedIn’s AI takes care of that for you. With a 30-word prompter and the option of reshaping the text afterwards. A real time-saver when you’re short of ideas!
via voicebot.ia
Over the past few months, a number of features have been removed that were deemed unnecessary or poorly exploited. One example is the photo carousel. Even though many people have embraced the concept, the application has decided to withdraw it, but leaves the possibility of sharing photos in PDF format.
The same goes for the video description in the profile photo, which didn’t last very long. Remember that it was possible to introduce yourself with a short video to make it easier for employers to get to the heart of your information.
While it’s hard to get organized between publication and newsletter, good news: it’s now possible to schedule your articles and newsletters to appear on your profile without your supervision. A feature that makes us very happy!
Snapchat
It’s no surprise that, after WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, Snapchat has its own paid feature: Snapchat+. It’s now possible to find your famous “flames”, create another avatar, set a background on a discussion, boost your story or even see who’s watched it several times. Priced at €12.99, the subscription is attracting more than a few subscribers…
If you hadn’t already accepted it, it was about to arrive, an AI recently developed by Snapchat. Named “My AI” and similar to Chat GPT, this character will answer all your questions. But above all, you’ll be able to converse with it, a major difference from Chat GPT, which doesn’t include affection in its responses. If you have the application’s paid option, you can also delete or personalize it!
via numerama.com
via twitter @PacersFamilyFR
No recent changes to the application other than a few additional physical modifications.
The Meta group’s application has changed very little since its creation, remaining focused on its core functions. But the advance of other networks is gradually pushing WhatsApp to reinvent itself and expand its options. For the time being, the majority of projects are under development.
WhatsApp wants to introduce usernames to replace phone numbers. For added security, the app would like registrants to be findable via the username they choose, as on Instagram, for example.
The application wants to make it easier to access important information at the click of a button. Soon, there will be no need to scroll through the entire conversation to find an important message, as it will be possible to pin a message within a conversation. The message will remain above the chat, despite the long thread of discussion it may be below.
You can also transfer your conversations if you change phones, making it impossible to lose them.
via Buzzwebzine.com
Because anyone who opens your WhatsApp account can access your conversations, Meta wants to introduce a “padlock” feature that will allow you to be the only person with access to your conversations, unlocking them with your fingerprint or facial recognition.
Another piece of good news for photo and video enthusiasts is that it is now possible to send larger files, such as videos or photos larger than 100 MB, without any loss of quality.
Finally, WhatsApp Business subscribers will soon be able to use a translation option to communicate with strangers, as well as “do not disturb” and “transparency” modes so that other users can’t see your connection status.
Threads
And finally, as you’ve all been waiting for, the biggest social media news of recent months is the appearance of Threads, a direct competitor to Twitter.
This brand-new application launched by the Meta group is breaking download records, with over 100 million subscribers on the platform in just 5 days!
As we saw earlier, Internet users are tired of all the changes applied to Twitter since Elon Musk’s takeover, and are looking for a similar network without the “constraints” imposed by the owner of the blue bird.
In a few words, to create and connect to your Threads account you can go via your Instagram account, the layout is similar to Twitter’s, and you can share videos, photos or simply text.
Currently adopted in the U.S. and the U.K., the application is not yet available on the European market… We’re curious to see what the outcome will be, whether the emergence of this new social network will really accentuate Twitter’s decline, or whether it’s one application too many that will weary Internet users as quickly as the interest it may have aroused on its release. We’ve already experienced this with ClubHouse
This year promises many more changes for our favorite applications, mainly with the introduction of paid features, as well as adjustments and reinforcements to user security. This echoes the growing awareness among Internet users of the need for greater transparency and security with regard to their personal information, as well as the introduction of new European Union legislation.
In recent months, the use of paid subscriptions in the world of social networking has seen a major break with the initial philosophy of the platforms. After years of devoting considerable resources to capturing the widest possible audiences, they are now seeking to qualify these audiences by generating new sources of revenue. This is a way of coping with the decline in their advertising revenues in the face of the unfavorable economic climate of recent months.
What will happen in the coming months? Stay tuned 😉
