Find out the latest social media news, trends, and tips. There’s several platform updates from the last month.
Instagram’s New Collabs
As a leading Instagram influencer agency, we constantly monitor the Instagram platform and were intrigued by the launch of “Collabs” this month. This means that users can collaborate on content together.
Instagram describes this new feature as a “test,” explaining that it will allow users to co-author both Feed posts and Reels. To utilize, users can invite another account to be a collaborator from the tagging screen on Instagram.
This feature would allow users to co-author and even share likes.
The “Collabs” feature is just one of several new features Instagram is rolling out. The “Link” sticker tool for Stories is available for all users, not just those with 10,000 followers.
Next, be on the look out for desktop posting and fundraiser tweaks. That’s right, Instagram is working on adding a “Fundraiser” option to the Create menu.
Last but not least, a few additions combine AR and music on Reels: Superbeat, Dynamic & 3D Lyrics.
- Superbeat – applies special effects to the beat of the sound or song.
- Dynamic Lyrics and 3D Lyrics – applies effects to bring new ways to display song lyrics on-screen.
Pinterest New Feed & New Potential Partner: PayPal
After Bloomberg first reported about the possibility of PayPal obtaining Pinterest, shares of Pinterest soared. No deal has been made yet.
According to Bloomberg, PayPal discussed acquiring Pinterest for about $70 a share, which would value Pinterest at about $39 billion. When Pinterest first went public in 2019, they were valued at about $10 billion.
During the pandemic, PayPal benefited greatly from the live shopping boom. Now, with competition like ecommerce platform Shopify partnering with TikTok, PayPal is trying to explore the opportunity that Pinterest offers.
Every Pinterest influencer marketing platform as well as other social media platform is trying to incorporate e-commerce seamlessly. A great example is how TikTok now has TikTok Shopping. One huge factor driving e-commerce is creators, who are native to the platforms.
In an effort to bring creators to Pinterest, the company has created a “Watch” tab, much like TikTok’s feed. The company announced plans of investing $20 million in “Creator Rewards,” as well as creator tools, like “Takes,” which would allow users to respond to someone else’s Idea Pin with their own take.
Another announcement by Pinterest stated:
“Today, Pinterest is expanding its product tagging tool to include the Amazon Associates Program so creators in the US can add affiliate links from Amazon and earn commission on qualifying purchases. Research shows shoppers who visit Pinterest weekly outspend non-Pinners by 2x every month and have an 85% larger basket size.”
Facebook’s New Name
Facebook influencer marketing just got a little more interesting with the unveiling of its new name: Meta.
“We are a company that builds technology to connect. Together, we can finally put people at the center of our technology. And together, we can unlock a massively bigger creator economy.”
– Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
This isn’t anything new. Google and Snapchat both did this in previous years. Google rebranded under a holding company called Alphabet, and Snapchat went to Snap Inc.
The purpose of rebranding is to establish the company as more than just what it’s known for. Facebook is going to be just one of the products under this new company name, along with Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and more.
In recent weeks, Facebook has been promoting the vision of a metaverse. A metaverse is a virtual realm that users would go to to escape from the real world, with use of AR, VR, and other technologies. More developments are on the horizon.
Twitter Ads in Replies
Twitter found a new and interesting way to advertise to its over 200 million active daily users. Since the platform has struggled to grow its user base, Twitter decided to try showcasing ads in existing users’ replies.
Starting today, we’re trying something different and testing a new ad format in Tweet conversations. If you’re a part of this test (which is global; on iOS & Android only), you’ll see ads after the first, third or eighth reply under a Tweet. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/kvIGeYt2vp
— bruce.falck() 🦗 (@boo) October 13, 2021
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