social media apps

It’s vital to keep up with the ever-changing social media landscape, as trends come and go and platforms are constantly evolving, to ensure business success. Here’s a round-up of what’s changed throughout May and key trends to keep on top of across various social channels.

Instagram introduces a new story format

Throughout May, Instagram have started testing a new format on the home feed to prioritise video for mobile phone users. Both static assets and video will cover more of your screen and will be in a taller format, 9:16. This appears to be moving closer to TikTok’s full screen format, which Instagram reels have already adopted.

Instagram have also been testing a new format for stories, showing only the first three per account before skipping to the next account’s stories. This appears to have been rolled out among just a small test group – but it’s one to consider when partnering with content creators for story content. You will want your content to appear in the first three stories on their account for that day in order to maximise engagement.

Facebook removes unpopular features

Facebook have continued testing their reel function throughout May, with plans to implement monetisation of reels to follow in the form of overlay ads, offering another stream for brands to reach their target audiences. It will be interesting to monitor how Facebook reels continue to form and whether they will be as successful as on Instagram.

It’s also been highlighted that Facebook is removing a variety of tested features due to low usage, including background location, location history, weather alerts, nearby friends and podcasts – the latter of which only launched a year ago.

Twitter hints at moving towards pay to play

With the Elon Musk Twitter takeover in April, it’s been rumoured that impending changes on the platform will focus on allowing free speech, including bringing back banned accounts, and also more transparency with users about the algorithm and how tweets are shown to them.

It is also rumoured that Musk hopes to reduce the reliance on funding through advertising, looking at a “pay to play” system instead – which is one to watch if you currently do advertising on Twitter.

Throughout May, there are no drastic changes that have been implemented and the platform continues to be an outlet for discussions about important causes with Ukraine War updates and, in the UK, discussions on the cost-of-living crisis among users.

Twitter hints a move towards pay to play

LinkedIn announces a clamp down on engagement baiting

LinkedIn have recently announced a change in their algorithm to downrank posts that are ‘engagement baiting’, such as polls requesting users to like/heart react to vote, or for users to comment their opinion. This is an important change for business accounts, as social media managers will have to reconsider their language in posts to avoid being down-ranked.

Alongside this, changes have been made to make feeds more relevant after user feedback, to show users more targeted activity from their network, more news, and more insights from accounts users want to learn from. The option to add a website at the top of profiles has also been recently implemented.

Tik-Tok becomes more personal

Tik-Tok introduces a ‘Friends’ tab to their toolbar in May, with a slow rollout as an initial testing phase. This change allows users to easily connect with friends from their phone contacts and Facebook friends, with suggested accounts too.

This change shows a slow move into becoming more of an interpersonal connective app as opposed to just the “For You” feed full of trending videos. Prompting interpersonal connections and sharing in this way crosses into Snapchat territory, so it will be interesting to see how this change develops.

The platform has also made changes for crediting viral content creators, allowing users to credit their inspiration to the user who created the trend.

TikTok content creators are able to be credited for their viral trends

 

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.

For more interesting articles from us check out these posts:

  1. 3D Avatars Launched by Instagram and other social media trends
  2. Top Tips For Small Businesses Considering Social Media Advertising
  3. How effective is video on social media? 

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