October was a busy month in the social media world. Various social networks introduced new functionalities and updates. Here are 18 social media updates from October 2017.
Facebook is introducing the ability to order food with its mobile app for users in the U.S. Food can be ordered for either takeout or delivery from local establishments without having to leave the Facebook app. To facilitate food orders through its mobile app, Facebook is utilizing the services of third parties such as EatStreet, Delivery.com, DoorDash, ChowNow, Zuppler, Slice and Olo.
Learn More: Facebook Brings Food Ordering to Its Mobile App
Facebook is making ‘Stories’ available to all pages in a push to increase usage of the feature. It’s no secret Stories have been floundering on Facebook since being introduced earlier this year, but Facebook isn’t about to give up on them. Rather, it’s making Stories more widely available. Now pages, in addition to individual users, can publish stories if they wish.
Learn More: Facebook Introduces Stories for Pages, Will Anyone Care?
Facebook rolled out a possible solution for improving the organic reach of posts published by pages on the desktop site.
Over the past several years, Facebook has become notorious for stifling the organic reach of content published by pages by prioritizing paid posts, giving more weight to posts from friends and family, etc. Facebook made it difficult for pages to extend their reach without coughing up advertising dollars.
Facebook’s Explore feed is designed to change that. Within the Explore feed you will find posts from pages you don’t follow, which would be unlikely to show up in your news feed otherwise.
Learn More: Facebook’s ‘Explore’ Feed May Improve Pages’ Organic Reach on Desktop
A study published by Quintly shows that videos uploaded natively to Facebook receive 530 percent more comments than videos shared from other sources. In total, 187,000 pages and 7.5 million posts were analyzed. From this sample size, it was found that native videos make up 92 percent of all videos published to Facebook.
Learn More: Facebook Native Videos Receive 530% More Comments [STUDY]
In an effort to help users make more informed decisions about which stories to engage with, Facebook is going to start providing additional context about publishers.
Learn More: Facebook’s News Feed to Provide Additional Information About Article Sources
Instagram added a new feature to Stories which will let users ask questions and have their audience vote on the answer. To use the new feature you simply go through the process of adding to your Story as you normally would. Then tap on the icon at the top to add a sticker and look for the “POLL” option.
Learn More: Instagram Stories Can Now Have Interactive Polls
Instagram has a new effect for videos that could end up being one of its best original features since the Boomerang. Those dramatic zooms you may see users adding to videos manually can now be done automatically, thanks to a new feature called ‘Superzoom.’ When getting ready to record a video, right next to the Boomerang option will be Superzoom. Long pressing the shutter button will create a dramatic zoom using either the rear or front camera.
Learn More: Instagram’s Superzoom Could be the Next Boomerang
Instagram introduced the ability to add another person to your live videos, making it possible for two accounts to broadcast together at the same time. While broadcasting a live video there will be a new icon at the bottom of the screen, which you can tap to invite someone else to join the live video.
Learn More: Instagram Lets Users Add a Friend to Live Broadcasts
Shopify is rolling out its “Shopping on Instagram” feature to thousands more merchants, just in time for the holiday season. Selected merchants can choose whether or not to take part in what is still a test program. Those who choose to connect their Shopify catalog with Instagram can create sales posts by tagging them with products.
Learn More: Turn Instagram Posts Into Sales With Shopify Integration
LinkedIn is bringing smart replies to its messaging platform to help keep conversations going. Finding the time to reply to messages on LinkedIn can be a challenge, the company admits, but failure to respond could result in missed opportunities.
LinkedIn promises to shave time off the process of sending messages back and forth with its new smart replies. Smart replies are suggested responses you can send with a quick tap.
Learn More: Quickly Respond to LinkedIn Messages With New Smart Replies
LinkedIn is the latest social network to begin selling autoplaying video ads. These ads will look just like other video posts, and will play without sound unless clicked on. In order to create video ads, advertisers can start a sponsored content campaign out of video uploaded through campaign manager, their company page, or showcase page. Existing ad targeting options can also be applied to video ads.
Learn More: LinkedIn is Testing Autoplaying Video Ads on Mobile
LinkedIn is working on a new tool called Talent Insights, which is designed to help companies make data-backed decisions when recruiting and managing talent. With access to rich global datasets, LinkedIn aims to empower recruiters when it comes to making more intelligent and strategic talent decisions.
Learn More: LinkedIn is Working on a Recruiting Tool Called Talent Insights
Businesses of all sizes can now run self-serve search ads on Pinterest, which are available through the Pinterest Ads Manager. Pinterest introduced search ads to larger brands back in January — now all businesses can take advantage, and there are even new features that weren’t available before.
Learn More: Pinterest Search Ads Now Available to All Businesses
Snapchat
Snapchat recently updated its iOS app with a feature that was previously only available on Android — link sharing from third-party apps. When you’re viewing content in another app and tap the share button at the bottom of the screen, you will now see Snapchat as an option for other apps to share to.
Learn More: Now You Can Share Links to Snapchat from Third Party Apps on iOS
Next time you’re curious about what you see in a Snap, new context cards from Snapchat will have the answer. Context cards allow users to search for more information about what’s in a Snap simply by swiping up. Information is sourced from TripAdvisor, Foursquare, Michelin, and goop — all of which are Snapchat partners.
Learn More: Snapchat’s New Context Cards Make Snaps Searchable
Twitter introduced a new ad unit called the Video Website Card, which allows advertisers to use videos to drive traffic back to their website. As a versatile ad unit, the Video Website Card is designed to fulfill several different brand objectives. Whether it’s showcasing a location or announcing a new product, “the Video Website Card removes friction for the consumer to engage, learn, or convert at their own rate.”
Learn More: Twitter Introduces New Video Ad Unit for Increasing Website Visits
YouTube
Google AdWords upgraded YouTube ads with location extensions and the ability to measure in-store visits. According to eMarketer a whopping 90 percent of global sales will happen in a physical store this year, making store visits measurement all the more pertinent for the upcoming holiday season.
Learn More: Google’s YouTube Ads Upgraded With Location Extensions and Store Visits Measurement
YouTube for iOS has been updated with iMessage support, which will let users watch and chat about videos without leaving the app. After tapping on the share button in the YouTube app, there is now an option to share via iMessage.
Learn More: Share YouTube Videos With iMessage Contacts Without Leaving the App
