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…
TikTok Maintains its Download Momentum, Leading the List Once Again in July
In news that will likely come as no surprise, TikTok was once again the most downloaded app in July, according to the latest data from app analytics platform Sensor Tower.
That shouldn’t be surprising, because TikTok has been atop the monthly download charts for the past year and a half, with the only two exceptions being November last year, when WhatsApp briefly re-took the top spot, and January this year, when Telegram saw a sudden download surge (as a result of WhatsApp’s controversial data privacy update).
As explained by Sensor Tower:
“TikTok was the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide for July 2021 with more than 63 million installs. The countries with the largest number installs were from Douyin in China at 15%, followed by the United States at 9%.”
So despite its significant market presence, TikTok is still gaining users in its primary, established markets, it’s not only getting attention in new regions where it’s just been released.
Are you an avid TikToker? Will the TikTok craze slow down or do you think it’ll eventually overtake Facebook as the new big fish?
Twitter Updates In-App Visual Elements
When you logged onto Twitter recently, you may have noticed some subtle changes to the design and layout and small tweaks in formatting which may have felt like a glitch. Well, it isn’t a glitch!
Today, Twitter’s design team has outlined a range of updates that have been implemented to improve in-app presentation, in line with the company’s branding refresh which it announced earlier this year.
Notice anything different?
Today, we released a few changes to the way Twitter looks on the web and on your phone. While it might feel weird at first, these updates make us more accessible, unique, and focused on you and what you’re talking about.
Let’s take a deeper look. pic.twitter.com/vCUomsgCNA
— Twitter Design (@TwitterDesign) August 11, 2021
First off, the updated Twitter format now utilises Twitter’s custom ‘Chirp’ font, which it introduced back in January within its branding update. So your tweet test will now look a little different, while all Western-language text now aligns left, making it easier to read as you scroll. Non-Western languages remain unchanged.
This is not a huge change, but it is noticeable, and is likely the most obvious shift that’s messing with your perception in the app. Those letters look a bit thinner or something? Yes, they do, because the font has changed, which has had an impact on presentation.
In addition, Twitter says that it’s updated its in-app colours ‘to be high contrast and a lot less blue’. The change is designed to draw attention to the photos and videos in the app – which are also set for another, more significant update soon.
Maybe they could increase the text count again, now that would be handy!
Instagram Adds New ‘Audio’ Tab to its Search Options to Boost Reels Engagement
Instagram has added the capacity to search for audio specifically within the search tab in the app, making it easier to tap into trends based on music clips, with a focus on Reels creation based on the same.
As you can see above, when you search on Instagram, you’ll be able to switch across to a new ‘Audio’ tab, which will highlight the various tracks available for use within the app. Tap on any track and you’ll see a TikTok-like display of the Reels that have utilised samples of that song.
You can then save the audio for your own usage, while also getting a full overview of relevant trends and clips for inspiration.
It is pretty much a TikTok feature, replicating the ‘Sounds’ tab, down to the example clips that use each track.
So it isn’t anything new, as such, in a broader sense. But with Instagram looking to push Reels usage, in an effort to fend off rising competition from TikTok, it makes sense for it to align with usage trends, and facilitate related discovery as best it can.
Will that get more people creating trending Reels too?xd
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