Social media news – October 2020
Digital Marketing Specialist Nick Munday rounds-up the latest social media news and updates from October 2020. Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat posted strong revenue gains in Q3, as brands increase marketing spend after a dip due to lockdown.
FACEBOOK NEWS OCTOBER 2020
Facebook announce new advertising options for the holiday season
With Christmas just around the corner, Facebook have implemented new ad tools for marketers. Their main update is allowing Instagram ads with product tags. While product tags on organic posts aren’t new, now brands can add them to paid ads through Ads Manager. These are available as photos, videos and carousels.
They’ve also added a new Shopping Engagement Custom Audiences tool for retargeting users who have shown interest in a product or brand by doing things like saving a product, viewing a shop or initiating a purchase. There’s also a new discount feature for shops (US only). [source]
Facebook publish guide on ad tactics from successful brands
This new guide outlines six key strategies that successful brands are using on the platform to “build enduring connections and drive exceptional results” through their digital marketing efforts. These insights came from an analysis of 67 brand campaigns from 2019, which Facebook has collated as some of the most successful of the year. [source]
INSTAGRAM NEWS OCTOBER 2020
Instagram Live stream limit extended to 4 hours
During lockdown Instagram Live has been hugely popular for creators, with virtual events including classes, DJ sets and workouts. As a result, the time limit for these streams will be extended from 1 hour to 4 hours.
When lockdown started in the US, Live usage jumped 70% over pre-coronavirus numbers. Until now the only way to save live broadcasts has been to publish to IGTV immediately, or download it for other platforms. Soon, creators will be able to save their live streams to an archive, though these will only be saved for 30 days before being deleted. [source]
Instagram roll out Fan Badges for Live streams
Instagram have rolled out fan badges in Live to an initial group of over 50,000 creators. These will offer their fans the ability to purchase badges during their live videos to stand out in the comments and show their support. Twitch and YouTube have similar systems in place, while Facebook Live also has a virtual tipping mechanism.
Users can contribute either $0.99, $1.99, or $4.99, and receive a heart badge next to their name when leaving a comment on the creator’s live stream. [source]
TWITTER NEWS OCTOBER 2020
Twitter change the retweet function, leading to criticism from artists
In the lead-up to November’s US presidential election, Twitter changed the way users retweet a post. Their aim is to prevent abuse and the spread of misinformation. Clicking on the retweet button currently takes users to the Quote Tweet composer, encouraging them to add a comment, or this can be left blank to be retweeted as normal.
We’ll temporarily ask people to add their own commentary before amplifying content by prompting Quote Tweets instead of Retweets. We hope this encourages everyone to consider why they are amplifying a Tweet, and brings more thoughts, reactions & perspectives to the conversation. pic.twitter.com/SGabVDtZlZ
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 9, 2020
However, artists have criticised the change, explaining that quote tweets take attention away from their profiles and make it harder for them to be discovered. [source]
Twitter test prompts to recommend users hiding potentially offensive replies
At the end of 2019, Twitter introduced a ‘Hide Replies’ option to help minimise trolling and abuse on the platform. Their latest test involves a prompt that would ask users if they want to hide a tweet to avoid arguments. Twitter’s system would detect any potentially offensive comments, suggesting the user hide the reply instead of engaging with it. [source]
Twitter consider Suggested Follows option for account discovery
Twitter are also testing a new feature to help users find other accounts to follow. ‘Suggested Follows’ will pop up when a user has just followed somebody, suggesting a list of other accounts they may be interested in. While users are already presented with potential follows when doing this, the new option groups a larger number of accounts together that you can follow with just one click. [source]
