Social media is forever changing which makes it easy to miss an update from time to time. Twice a month, we look into three of the latest key updates from the past few weeks from the various social media giants. Here’s what’s been happening recently…
Instagram’s Chief Outlines the Key Areas of Focus for the App in 2022
Throughout 2021, we saw Instagram copy virtually everything that TikTok has to offer, and according to Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, you can expect even more of the same in 2022, as the platform looks to focus on its key areas of growth – and in particular, consolidating its video formats to maximise engagement. Check out the video below, where Mosseri sums up the past year and what we can expect 2022 to look like..
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Twitter Tests New Topics Bar Above the Main Timeline to Highlight Relevant Discussions
Twitter’s trying out another way to improve tweet discovery in the app, with a test of a new topics bar above the main tweet timeline, providing a quick link to real-time discussions in the app.
As you can see in this example, posted by user Chloe Korzh (and shared by Matt Navarra), the new topic listings appear in bubble tabs above your main feed, which provides an easy way to tap through and immediately connect to the latest discussions on a given subject.
Those topics would presumably be linked back to your tweet activity, which, ideally, could get more people more involved in expanded discussion in the app, and help Twitter maximise engagement.
It seems Twitter still has a way to go in determining what each user might be most interested in, and if it can’t get that element right, the addition of topic tabs above the main feed probably won’t have a significant impact.
But if it can get it right, and highlight key topics of value to each user, it could be a great way to connect people into real-time, trending discussions of interest.
TikTok Leads Christmas Day Download Charts
TikTok looks set to continue its growth momentum well into 2022, with the short-form video app topping the download charts on Christmas Day in the latest data from app tracking company App Annie.
On overall downloads – as you can see in the below chart, globally, TikTok lead the way on Christmas, ahead of Instagram and Facebook.
Snapchat also remained popular, along with the top messaging apps, while Shopee, a key eCommerce platform in Southeast Asia, also gained momentum among consumers.
TikTok editing app CapCut also made the top 10, further underlining the popularity of the app, and with projections that TikTok will reach 1.5 billion users sometime in 2022, it’s pretty clear that it’s now the main app of choice, especially for young users, which is an important shift for all social media marketers to note.
If you don’t have a TikTok strategy now, whether just for listening in and monitoring the latest trends, or for broader advertising and outreach, it’s clearly time to give it some extra consideration.
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