Social Media Updates

April saw the emergence of updates to video content production, more account personalisation options, and a greater focus on tackling misinformation. With more updates set to hit the screens and the social world continuing to become incredibly important for individuals and businesses alike, May is set to be an interesting month for social media. Here’s our May forecast for social media:

Facebook

Growth of the Metaverse

Meta's New 47.5% Fee on Metaverse Items Has NFT Twitter Pissed - CNET

Image Source: Meta

The Metaverse is set to skyrocket into the next stage of development after Meta announced its new creator funding options last month that will belter incentivise users to contribute to the virtual world. Meta is primed to invest more money into its Horizon World Creator Funding program, a VR sandbox that provides a stage for creators to build their own immersive experiences.

With more funding available, creators who contribute to the program will be able to earn money through their creations. This step will surely boost the development of the Metaverse and take it mainstream.

 

Instagram

A ‘Reely’ Good Month

Instagram Reels launches globally in over 50 countries, including US | TechCrunch

Image Source: Instagram

Reels are all the rage and are taking Meta by storm – the company recognises the huge impact that short-form videos have online and are seeking to develop opportunities for creators and developers alike. After integrating a ‘Share to Reels’ option for third-party developers, you can expect to see more reels floating around on Facebook.

 

Twitter

Under New Management

Elon Musk Could Buy Twitter: Everything You Need to Know - CNET

Image Source: Cnet

In April, Elon Musk tweeted his interest in taking Twitter private following his concerns regarding the platform’s attitudes to free speech. The billionaire quickly became the top shareholder and was offered a seat on the board, which he rejected following criticisms of how Twitter operates.

Following an exciting turn of events, Musk made an offer to buy all shares of the social media giant for $43 billion (£33.7 billion), which Twitter has accepted, stating that it is the best move for the company.

With a new owner at the helm, it will be interesting to see how policies change at Twitter and what this means for freedom of speech: Will Elon live up to his promises?

 

LinkedIn

Data Scraping Case – what does this mean for users?

LinkedIn Profiles Can Now Display Career Breaks

Image Source: Unsplash

Since 2017, LinkedIn has been in an ongoing legal battle against hiQ labs (a service linked to the platform) to restrict data scraping and the harvesting of personal information for third party providers. In the latest legal appeal, LinkedIn lost their case, with the court’s ruling that data scraping on public profiles for hiQ’s recruitment service is completely legal.

In response to the court’s decision, LinkedIn said in a statement:

We’re disappointed in the court’s decision. This is a preliminary ruling and the case is far from over. We will continue to fight to protect our members’ ability to control the information they make available on LinkedIn. When your data is taken without permission and used in ways you haven’t agreed to, that’s not okay. On LinkedIn, our members trust us with their information, which is why we prohibit unauthorised scraping on our platform.” 

It’s unclear what impact this may have on users’ experiences on LinkedIn, but this latest case could shape future changes for data policy on the platform.

 

The Updates We Would Like to See

Accessibility updates

Image Source: Pexels

The online world is a wonderful place to connect, communicate, and be inspired – all experiences that should be accessible for all. As technology and artificial intelligence improves, we would love to see more accessibility updates implemented for all platforms. Whether its colour changes, speech to text, or text descriptions of imagery, social media giants need to do their part to ensure everyone can stay connected.

 

Algorithm changes and transparency

Image Source: Pexels

Social media platforms are constantly changing to meet the current trends and reflect the behaviour of users. With this in mind, we are likely to see updates to social algorithms across the board: expect a greater focus on video content, human faces, and positivity.

Whilst we welcome changes, this cannot go unnoticed, and platforms should be transparent about the latest updates so that creators and businesses can alter their strategies if necessary.

It’s clear that social media giants such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are looking to improve the overall user experience to keep people scrolling and posting. You can expect to see more updates to your experience on apps, your newsfeed, and opportunities for creating content. May is set to be another huge month for socials, but who knows what will happen?

We know that social media can be tricky to navigate, especially with all these updates cropping up and changing the entire experience. At Pick & Mix Social Media Marketing, our team of experts understand the ins and outs of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

For information on how we can help you, please contact us at: info@pickandmixms.co.uk

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