The social media world continues to change and update as platforms try to keep up with one another and introduce new features. Take a look at the most important updates here:

Instagram expands story time limits

Instagram have recently increased their story limit from 15 seconds to 60 seconds – each story would previously cut off after 15 seconds meaning that users would watch them across a split of various stories. This has been well received by users and content creators, as it’s easier to communicate with their audiences when they have longer time to do so.

This update should improve the user experience for both viewers and creators, as text and stickers used on stories won’t have to be repeated on every 15 second clip as they have in the past. This comes as Instagram continues to double down on video as part of their 2022 plans, after extending reels to 90 seconds after the previous 60 second limit. Video is king when it comes to content…

Meta merges platforms

Meta have started testing an update on their accounts centre worldwide on both Android, iOS and the web, making it easier to switch between Facebook and Instagram accounts, or create new profiles. This update works towards Meta’s goal to consolidate their family of apps, merging them so that they’re no too dissimilar from one another.

Meta have also been testing a range of new ads, including “post-loop ads—4 to 10-second skippable and standalone video ads that play after a reel has ended” – and a variety of others. Should these be implemented permanently, they will open up an array of opportunities for advertising on their platforms.

Twitter introduces two video updates

Twitter have introduced two updates related to video viewing on the platform, including an immersive video player and a video carousel on their Explore page.

Similar to “for you pages” on other platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, once users click on a video to expand it to full-screen, the immersive video player will enable them to swipe up and view recommended videos based on their activity on the app.

There may be potential for new advertising opportunities on Twitter with this update, similar to ads on the TikTok feed – this will be one to keep an eye on as it could offer brands a further way to reach audiences.

TikTok update policies

TikTok have updated their policy on countering misinformation – their integrity policy aims to promote an authentic experience on the app and thus misleading information that could be harmful is not allowed.

This focuses heavily on misleading COVID-19 or voting information, but extends to anything that could mislead the community – content violating these policies will be removed from the platform. For TikTok, it is clear that the platform is focusing on ensuring authenticity and keeping the app a safe place for users! We certainly welcome this.

LinkedIn expand their advertising tools

LinkedIn have launched an array of new ad tools, including document ads which allow the advertising of long-form content, with a preview in the feed and a push to download the full piece of research. A lead generation form can be added to this in order to gather more insight into the users who are interested in your content, which provides new opportunities for sales generation on the platform.

LinkedIn are also due to introduce A/B testing, click to message ads, and ads within the Discover tab, as they continue to keep their platform up to date with the latest demands from businesses. This is great for any B2B marketing as more opportunities to reach audiences become available, alongside the continued testing of LinkedIn Business Manager to coordinate all activity in one dashboard.

At Prohibition, we work with a range of brands across all sectors to create engaging social media marketing strategies that allow brands to stay up to date with the latest trends and updates. Get in contact today to find out how we could help you.

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