Social Media Updates

Meta has released a guide to help brands adjust their advertising strategies in response to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) update. The update allows iOS users to opt out of data tracking across 3rd-party applications.

Launched on April 26th, 2021, the ATT update has had a direct impact on Meta’s ability to use user data to serve targeted ads on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. 

In response, Meta commissioned its 2022 Signal Resiliency Guide. “Signal resiliency” is Meta’s way of saying “how to target your ads with less data collected from 3rd party apps”. The guide will help social media marketers adjust their strategies for this brave new world of online data privacy.

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Instagram is testing a new post option that looks a lot like one of Twitter’s most popular features.

Reposting, or sharing others’ content with your followers, may soon be available for your Instagram feed.

The platform has been working on a repost feature since May 2022, according to app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi.

#Instagram is working on Reposts 👀

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) May 12, 2022

However, Instagram has now confirmed to TechCrunch that the feature is now in testing “with select users.”

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The Instagram Shop tab will soon disappear from the app, according to an internal memo released earlier this week.

The Information reports that Instagram will be scaling back its shopping features as the platform refocuses on generating ad revenue.

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Instagram is testing a new way to categorize Reels, according to social media consultant Matt Navarra.

New! Instagram lets you add 'Topic' tags to Reels

h/t @TSbyJacki pic.twitter.com/TVqdmH5bNa

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) September 5, 2022

The new option allows users to add “Topic” tags to their Reels when uploading. The topic tag should help users “reach people who share your interests.”

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Instagram is testing a new feature that looks very similar to BeReal, according to app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi.

#Instagram is working on IG Candid Challenges, a feature inspired by @BeReal_App 👀

ℹ️ Add other's IG Candid to your story tray. And everyday at a different time, get a notification to capture and share a Photo in 2 Minutes. pic.twitter.com/caTCgUPtEV

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) August 22, 2022

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Users can now schedule both Facebook and Instagram Reels through Meta’s Creator Studio app, the platform announced today.

Previously, Creator Studio only allowed Instagram users to schedule feed posts and videos, not Stories or Reels.

There are a few confusing caveats to this update, though.

1. You can only use Creator Studio for Instagram if your Instagram account is connected to a Facebook business page.
2. On the Facebook tab of Creator Studio, the Create reel option is easy to spot under Create post, but on the Instagram tab, you’ll select Instagram Feed or IG Video, depending on the length of your video. (Back in July, Meta announced that all Instagram videos are now Reels)

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Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the launch of new Reels-focused features for both Instagram and Facebook this week.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that Instagram is expanding support for its NFT feature to 100 countries.

The feature, which allows Instagram users to share their digital collectibles on the platform, was launched in May for select US creators and collectors. Today’s update opens NFT support to additional countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.

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In the past months, Instagram has been making big changes to the platform, focusing more on video and recommended content. Due to recent backlash, however, Instagram plans to take a step back from its new vision.

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, told reporter Casey Newton on Thursday that testing of a full-screen version of the feed (similar to TikTok’s) will pause in the next week or so. 

Instagram is also looking to lower the amount of recommended posts in the app as it tweaks its algorithm. Responding to complaints about the algorithm earlier this week, Mosseri admitted that users seeing content in their feeds that they’re not interested in means that Instagram is “doing a bad job ranking and [needs] to improve.”

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This year, in addition to placing a larger focus on video content, Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram have been serving their users more recommended content (similar to how TikTok enables discovery through the For You page).

According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s focus on its algorithmically recommended content is only set to increase.

“Right now, about 15% of content in a person’s Facebook feed and a little more than that of their Instagram feed is recommended by our AI from people, groups, or accounts that you don’t follow. We expect these numbers to more than double by the end of next year,” Zuckerberg said on an earning’s call today. 

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Video content, AI-driven recommendations, and feed algorithm experiments have become visibly more prominent on Instagram in the last few months. So prominent, in fact, that they triggered a Make Instagram Instagram Again movement, supported by both casual users and A-list celebrities.

The movement highlights just how many people are upset about how Instagram is testing fullscreen feeds (RIP square photos, you were once iconic) and how every video is a Reel now, as well as other changes that mimic TikTok.

Earlier this week, Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian joined the “backlash” by… reposting this in their Stories:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by ▵✖️tati (@illumitati)

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Instagram continues to tweak the platform as it works on redesigning its feed and making its messenger feature the go-to chat destination for online messaging.

According to mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi, Instagram continues to work on a “walkie-talkie” feature that will let chat members speak to each other by pushing a button whenever both parties are in the chat. Instagram users will have the opportunity to turn this feature on and off. 

#Instagram keeps working on the walkie-talkie feature by adding the ability to disable the feature in a specific thread 👀 pic.twitter.com/5m2kTWz2BU

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) July 25, 2022

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