Latest social network features
Facebook Reels will soon be a thing. Yes, Reels are coming to Facebook. In the US initially, followed by a global rollout.
Comment: FB is clearly worried about TikTok stealing all its users scrolling time. I’m not sure how Facebook users will take to Facebook Reels though with Stories yet to get much traction.
Instagram is working on an Undo option for Stories editor.
Comment: This will be really handy if launched.
Instagram now has an audio tab in search, to help you find music trends to tap into for Reels.
Instagram is working on a ‘Search In Conversation’ feature for Direct Messages.
Facebook is adding end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to voice and video calls on its Messenger application.
Some Twitter users on Android and the web can now subscribe to Revue newsletters via their Profile. You may be able to see how this works on my Twitter profile, but if not you should be able to soon.
Twitter is working on adding scheduled Spaces to Google or Apple calendars.
Twitter may start using phone numbers to verify user accounts.
Comment: Not before time. Whilst Twitter recently stated that 99% of users involved in racist abuse following the Euro 2020 were not anonymous, a recent Guardian investigation discovered that out of 56 persistent offenders, 30 have respawned their accounts with new user names.
Twitter’s Business Profiles are getting closer. Twitter is working on a ‘switch to professional’ button on the edit profile page.
Twitter is testing letting Spaces hosts include up to three topic tags to increase reach. Users can then search for new Spaces by topic.
Twitter is testing a new feature for users to report Tweets that seem misleading – as you see them. Starting yesterday, some people in the US, South Korea, and Australia will find the option to flag a Tweet as “It’s misleading” after clicking on Report Tweet.
Reactions are getting closer on Twitter. Soon you’ll be able to hover over the Like button for more options…just like Facebook and LinkedIn.
Twitter is working on a new ‘leave conversation’ feature with 3 options:
- Untag your username throughout the thread
- Keep you from being mentioned again in that conversation
- Stop further notifications
LinkedIn Stories disappeared for 3 days this week with no explanation from LinkedIn but they’re back again now.
Talking of LinkedIn Stories…LinkedIn are working on a new Polls sticker.
I’ve now got LinkedIn’s native video calling option available in Messaging and have used it a couple of times.
Comment: It’s very basic and no group conversation available, but I like the way it displays your and the connection you’re talking with Headlines on the screen although only on desktop. Another reason to work on a great headline! Have you used LinkedIn’s native video calling yet?
TikTok
TikTok is working on Storefronts and Product Links as it moves into social shopping.
TikTok is looking to improve safety restrictions and protection for its younger users and will now switch off messages for users aged 16-17 by default. It will also prompt them to review and confirm their privacy settings when they go to use the feature for the first time. TikTok will also let under 16s choose who can see their video and add further explanation on how people can save and share their content.
Snapchat
Snap has launched a new Trends tool to show what’s popular with Snapchatters. Snapchat Trends shows an overview of the most popular keywords used on the app at that time as well as showing what Snapchatters are talking about in their Stories. There’s also a search tool and database so you can look for specific topics and segment your results by region.
WhatsApp on the web is getting simple image editing tools like annotations and overlays.
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