The Social Media News You Can Use in September
After spending Labor Day at the Arc Music Festival, followed up by a client presentation, the start of September has flown by for me. Just because it's a short week doesn't mean nothing is going on in the social media and influencer marketing world.
This week, we’ll talk about a new feature Instagram is testing, the business impact of TikTok, and Instagram rolling out a “Close-Friends-only” option. Let’s dig in.
Instagram Testing Location Tags In Notes
Instagram added music to their Notes inbox prompts in June, and now Meta has stated that Instagram is also testing the option to add a location tag. Notes allow users to start private discussions quickly by sharing up to 60-character messages that will appear at the top of their inbox and be visible to all their followers. Sharing Notes is especially popular among younger users, and Meta is looking into further Notes functions to keep the growth in DM conversations going.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, "...people are using notes to share thoughts, moods, and even locations." We want to make it easy to connect over where you're hanging out and obtain fresh ideas for places to explore."
Does It Always Make Sense To Follow TikTok?
TikTok has been an enormous success, and other platforms like Amazon, Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube have all tried to copy its short-form video format. But is this a good strategy for YouTube? According to 9to5 Google, some senior staffers at YouTube are reportedly concerned that the company's focus on short-form content is coming at the expense of its long-form content. Long-form videos are more lucrative for YouTube because they can accommodate more ads and have higher click-through rates. However, creators may not care because short-form videos are quicker and easier to make, and brands are willing to pay for them.
If YouTube wants to keep up with consumer tastes, especially those of Gen Z and millennials, it must offer short-form video content. But that doesn't mean YouTube has to abandon long-form content altogether.
Want to see a Shorts featuring one of our clients at the Motion Agency? Click here to see some of our work at the Motion Agency, with YouTube influencer Ben Sullins discussing the Tesla integration with myQ.
Instagram Rolls Out Option to Share Feed Posts With 'Close Friends' Only
Instagram is introducing a new feature that allows you to in-feed posts with close friends only, giving you another choice to pick who you want to share material with and creating a more personalized experience. Some users now see a new 'Audience' option within the flow to produce posts, allowing them to share their feed post with 'Close Friends' alone, rather than all your followers as you would typically.
In 2018, Instagram introduced the ability to share Story posts with Close Friends. IG has since added the ability to Notes and Reels, but you still can't create in-feed posts for Close Friends only.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said, "Instagram users now share way more content via DMs than they do in feed posts or Stories." As a result, developing the option to share in-feed posts with a select audience was a natural next step. This new feature isn't a tremendous shift for Instagram to implement, but it would help Instagram tap into recent user patterns.
Once you’re caught up on the latest social media news in September, be sure to check out more of my writing, like covering my favorite social media tools to use, like GoCharlie.ai. and more deep dives on specific topics on my blog.
