Dear Readers,

Research by Global WebIndex discovered that approximately 60% of the world’s population uses social media platforms. If this blog has found its way onto your screen then you, my friend, are no stranger to this majestic magical world of memes, reels, posts, and tweets.

But is scrolling through the home feed all there is for social media enthusiasts?

Of course not!

We cover the most exciting social media updates every month so you don’t have to.

Stay on top of your social game by utilizing these interesting news updates

1. Reddit Promotes Off-Platform Content Distribution

Reddit has come up with multiple updates to facilitate a better off-platform distribution of its content. These updates are the finest yet and will enable Redditers to share content links without displaying their username.

Yay Reddit for respecting user privacy!

Following is the list of new features and how they can be utilized.

Reddit Content Instagram

Gone are the days when Reddit URLs/Screenshots were a must to share its content on Insta Stories. With this new update, you can share Reddit posts to your Instagram Stories in sticker format.

As seen in the above image, Reddit posts will now provide users with a link in a native sticker format. This will allow users to display images attached to the link without the hassle of taking screenshots.

Reddit Content Messaging Apps

Reddit is all set to expand its limit. While Instagram is one of the most used social channels, many users still prefer the classic messaging chains. Hence, Reddit has decided to allow a  link-based sharing process for messaging apps.

The process includes posts automatically reverting to a visual preview format.

Full Content DisplayImage Sharing

If it isn’t clear by now, Reddit is on a spree to eliminate sharing of screenshots. The primary reason is the need to increase traffic and active users on the platform.  While sharing screenshots plays a part in Reddit’s fame, it does little to nothing to increase traffic.

Contrary to this Reddit’s recent one-tap screenshot-sharing process allows users to

• Easily share the entire post and not just an image
• Direct the receiver to the app

Other new features include

• Default sharing option to your most-used channel: This is to promote easy sharing with your friends and family.
• New embedding tool for publishers: This is to simplify displaying Reddit content on external sites.

2. Meta Quest Gaming Showcase to Present Meta’s Devotion to VR Development

In a recent earning report, Meta announced that its VR development unit – Reality Labs recorded a  $3.99 billion operation loss. Sales, on the other hand, primarily by VR headsets, have brought in $399 million for the quarter. This accounts for a total of 50% year-over-year decline. Additionally, negative press around the Metaverse has impacted Meta’s VR take-up.

Based on the above data, it’s clear that VR tools aren’t yielding any profit at this point.

Then why does Meta continue to invest in VR development?

The company has claimed (several times) that VR development is critical to its growth plan. 

While it has never disclosed any reason behind it, its initiatives say much.

Two possible reasons make VR incredibly important for Meta,

• Its popularity among young users
• Scope of Gaming worlds as the new social media

Let’s understand these in detail and in relation to each other.

Meta realizes the potential of young users as the ‘next-generation’ of users. They are the first to become digital world natives and hence are continuously looking for ways to connect with peers.

Thus, the current growth plan of Meta aims at making gaming worlds the new social media for this group. Its interactive surfaces like Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and more, are already contributing to the popularity of the Metaverse among youngsters.

Simply put, Gaming acts as a bridge for Meta’s Metaverse vision.

This is precisely why Meta has been focused on this year’s Meta Quest Gaming Showcase.

As per Meta,

“This is a banner year for VR, and the third annual Meta Quest Gaming Showcase is our biggest celebration of the depth and breadth of content across the Meta Quest Platform yet. We’ll have over 40 minutes of content, including a brand-new pre-show of game updates and debut trailers to help you count down before the Showcase kicks into high gear, as well as a post-show developer roundtable for a deep-dive conversation around some upcoming games. And as in years past, you can expect new game announcements, gameplay first-looks, updates to existing games, and more during the main event.”

Despite the current media representation, Metaverse isn’t going anywhere. It will likely take a few killer VR applications to bring Meta’s vision to life. And the ongoing Meta Quest game show will provide a peek into the bug VR title all set to make VR a more desirable product by Christmas.

3. WhatsApp Launches New Updates to Improve Communication

WhatsApp introduced new chat elements to help improve engagement and contextual understanding for its users. These updates seem promising as they will help users streamline their WhatsApp interactions,

The updates were launched globally and are expected to be available to everyone by 1st June.

Following are the updates with details

Single-Vote polls

Have you ever dealt with your customers voting for multiple options, leading to a confusing outcome?

Nothing to worry about anymore. This is just the update you were waiting for!

This new feature will restrict the amount of response each participant can provide to a poll question. Although a relatively minor tweak, it sure will make for more interesting, indicative poll responses. Useful to clarify debates in group chats

Perfect to clarify debates in group chats.

Moreover, users can also search for polls within the chat by filtering messages. Just how you would filter the chat to look for images/videos. All you need to do is press Search on the chat’s screen, then Polls.

As per WhatsApp,

“For when you need a definitive answer, we’re introducing the option for poll creators to allow people to vote only once. Simply turn off ‘allow multiple answers’ when creating a poll.”

Add Captions to Images/Video Before Sharing or Forwarding

In this new update, WhatsApp will let you either keep, delete, or even rewrite a caption when you share an image. You can also add captions to photos or videos before forwarding them.

This is simply to facilitate content distribution with more context in the chat.

Add Captions to  Documents in a Chat

As explained by WhatsApp, this new feature is

“Just like when sharing images or videos, the documents you share may require a little explanation. Whether it’s when sending a newspaper article or a work document, now you have the option to add a caption before sharing.”

A great way to manage your shares in-stream!

Needless to say, WhatsApp is sure to provide a range of ways to improve communications between brands and customers!

4. Pinterest Simplifies Its Pin Creation Flow

Pinterest has rolled out several new features to facilitate more business potential and revenue generation options within the app.

First, in an attempt to simplify its creation flow, Pinterest has combined all of its creation features into a single stream. This includes functionality as well, that until now was only available in certain Pin formats.

Pinterest explained,

“Pinterest users will now be able to access features that were previously only available to certain Pin formats or users with a business account, including links, post-publish editing, and flexible aspect ratios. All content creators will also be able to include expressive features like music, text overlay, and stickers to their Pins.”

To understand this better, let’s take a walk down the memory lane.

Up until now, while creating a Pin you were required to choose Idea Pints to add video. However, now, all of those features will be integrated into a single flow.

So, you no longer need to know which elements incorporate which posting features.

Additionally, the platform is also rolling out enhanced metrics on Pins to easily track and measure performance Pin performances. This will primarily include Views and Watch Time.

However, nothing beats the newly introduced capacity to add links to all images and videos in the app!

This will not only enable you to drive traffic from every Pin type but will also guide users back to your website. You can also view it as a referral marketing tool.

Talking about marketing, Pinterest’s looking to enhance its market value with the below-mentioned new features.

• Paid-Partnership tool
• Product Tagging using Affiliate Link Options
• Emoji Reactions on all Pin types

5. Instagram Introduces GIFs in Comments

In a broadcast channel with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram Chief Mosseri announced the introduction of GIFs in Instagram comments.

As you can see in the above example, users can now search and share Giphy GIFs in the comment stream.

The feature is a bit of a ‘finally’ feature, as was also accepted by Mosseri. This is especially unusual if you consider Instsgram added the capacity to stories with GIFs in 2020. The ability to use GIFs in stories itself has also been a thing on Instagram for some time now!

Hence, it’s not a major shift as such, but an awaited one for sure.

However, whether it\’s an exciting or annoying update is up for debate! What do you think? Is it Yay or Nay for GIFs in the comments for you?

6. YouTube Rolls Out New Features to Promote Shorts

In a series of new update launches, YouTube tries to promote its most celebrated feature – Shorts. Without any delay, let’s have a look at these features.

Analytics Card in YouTube Studio

This new update will show you the content format that is most preferred by your viewers. In other words, with the help of this Analytics card, you can see the content type your viewer is interacting with the most.

This analytics card breaks down user behavior into consumption time within videos, shorts, and Live.

As claimed by YouTube, this is to guide Youtubers to understand what type of videos to upload to maximize attention. However, in reality, knowing the popularity of Shorts, this is a nudge towards it.

The idea is to show creators just how much time viewers are spending on Shorts to prompt them to try the same.

Scrubber on Shorts

Shorts are typically no longer than a minute. Yet, not being able to directly see the part of the video you are interested in is surely a source of frustration for many. As a result, YouTube has added a new scrubber on Shorts clips.

Now, you can easily skim through them faster.

The scrubber bar will appear on the screen if the Shorts is for 30 seconds or longer. For shorter videos, it will appear when the video is paused.

More Insights in Content Remixes

Knowing that Shorts is the fastest-growing feature for YouTube this makes sense.

According to this new feature, creators will now be able to see how their Shorts’ reach is expanding. This will also provide you with more specific insight into how your content is being perceived by the viewers.

Super Thanks Decoration

YouTube’s adding a new Super Thanks decoration in the comments in YouTube Studio. This is to help creators differentiate between subscriber comments and comments from other viewers.

The updated feature will also enable creators to recognize fans. This is especially beneficial in encouraging more engagement and Super THANKS activities from them in the future.

More Insight into Revenue Breakdown Screen

As per YouTube,

“Up until now, YouTube Analytics offered only a single view for all revenue analytics, which made it hard for creators to deep dive into a particular revenue source. We’re happy to announce that we’re restructuring the YouTube analytics revenue page by adding detailed pages to surface important metrics, and allow creators to deep dive more easily across earning methods side-by-side.”

Have a look at the below image.

As you can see, creators will now be able to access summaries of all revenue data and select deep-dive pages for each monetization method.

Although no announcements were made, it\’s pretty clear that Shorts is the main focus for YouTube in the upcoming future.

7. Twitter Experiences a Drastic Drop in Engagement

Pew Research has presented some interesting insights into Twitter engagement. According to the study conducted, more and more users will take a break from Twitter. Moreover, in about 12 months, these inactive users are expected to stop using the app at all.

The study has revealed since the Musk takeover, almost 60% of US Twitter Users have taken a break from the app. A reduction in the in-app activity of the most active users has also been noticed.

As is visible from the above report, females and black users are the primary users that Twitter seems to be losing. Democrat voters, on the other hand, have also reduced their interaction with the app.

As per Pew,

“The most active users before Musk’s acquisition – defined as the top 20% by tweet volume – have seen a noticeable posting decline in the months after. These users’ average number of tweets per month declined by around 25% following the acquisition. Despite this, eight-in-ten of the most active adult Twitter users between Jan. 1 and April 14, 2022, have remained among the most active users in the months after Musk formally acquired the site in October 2022.”

Hence, while most Twitter users are still tweeting, the decline in usage is not small.

This also leads to the point,

“The survey also asked current and recent Twitter users how likely they are to use the platform a year from now. A plurality (40%) say they are extremely or very likely to use the site in a year, and 35% say they are somewhat likely to use it. But a quarter say they are not very or not at all likely to be on Twitter a year from now.”

Does that mean people expect an alternative to rise? Or are they just done with Twitter?

Whatever the case, it isn’t a positive sign for Twitter’s growth plan!

Another alarming point raised by Pew Research was that engagement on the app comes from a small sector of people.

“A minority of adult Twitter users in the US continue to produce the bulk of the content. Since Musk’s acquisition, 20% of U.S. adults on the site have produced 98% of all tweets by this group.”

The claim was previously made by Twitter as well when it revealed that 80% of Twitteratis view the app in ‘read only’ mode. This means only 20% of Twitter users engage with tweets in any way.

This number is also viewed as a critical flaw in Musk’s Twitter Blue expansion plan. Most of the Blue incentive is tied to the tweet functionality or amplification. As a result, it is taken up by less than 1% of the app’s total audience.

One piece of data, however, that is bound to make the Twitter CEO happy is,

“On average, adult Twitter users in the US mentioned Musk in a tweet just once between January 1st and April 13th, 2022, before he announced his intention to acquire the platform. Since then, however, references to Musk have become much more common on the site. These users tweeted about him an average of three times between April 14th and October 26th, 2022 – while Musk was in the process of acquiring the platform – and an average of six times in the months after the sale was finalized.”

8. LinkedIn New Feature to Uphold Safety in Job Post Listings

Last month, LinkedIn announced a series of verification means to add another level of trust in its listings. The most important feature was enabling users to upload their Govt. assigned IDs to their profiles. The initiative (not yet active) was to add a confirmation note to respective profiles.

Recently, LinkedIn started testing a new verification element within job posts. This is to provide more context as to who the prospective employer is.

As shown in the above image, users will be able to see the ‘Show Verifications’ option on some job posts. When tapped, this will display a listing of confirmed ID elements from that business.

LinkedIn explained,

“When you see verifications on job posts, that means there is information that has been verified as authentic by the job poster, LinkedIn or one of our partners. The verified information will show whether the poster is affiliated with an official company page, has verified their work email or workplace, or their government ID was verified through CLEAR.”

CLEAR is yet another key partner in LinkedIn’s personal ID verification process. The company would outsource some of the labor load to a third party. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the sole undertaker of the ID verification process.

If you’re wondering why there is a need for a third party, think about the numbers.

LinkedIn currently has 930 million members.

For one party to check all the profiles would be a lot of work. That is why other platforms have balked at the idea of offering a wide-scale ID verification process.

The process may sound similar to Twitter Blue sign-up process which includes phone number confirmation. However, it is not an actual ID verification process. Meta Verified, on the other hand, does include a govt. ID verification. But it is only available for paying subscribers.

The LinkedIn verification process is only active for users in The US right now. As said by LinkedIn the verification on job posts is rolling out in a limited capacity.

9. Google Testing Generative AI Waters

Seems like Google has finally given in to the latest trend of promoting Generative AI tools.

Earlier, Google expressed its concerns regarding the spreading of misinformation with OpenAI’s tools. Like many others, Google perceived ChatGPT as too prone to errors. However, the online chatbot soon gained people’s confidence and partnered with Microsoft. This has completely changed its image in the AI market and given way for generative AI traction.

This partnership and the growing acceptance of Generative AI tools has pushed Google to explore its own Generative AI integrations.

Nevertheless, the global search engine has not given up on its apprehensions. It is very cautious in implementing these new elements to its search engines.

Currently, Google is only focused on increasing the reach of its Generative AI tools. The global search engine has expanded its Search Labs early access program. The expansion is expected to nudge people towards its AI elements. This is primarily to enable searchers with more contextual information on their queries.

In an official statement, Google said,

“The new generative AI powered Search experience will help you take some of the work out of searching, so you can understand a topic faster, uncover new viewpoints and insights and get things done more easily. So instead of asking a series of questions and piecing together that information yourself, Search now can do some of that heavy lifting for you.”

As you can see, the new generative AI element is not much different than ChatGPT.

It will provide you with an overview of a topic and not merely search matches. An exciting update is Google trying to integrate these results into its SERPs.

Simply put, Generative AI results will not replace traditional Search. But, it will offer additional pointers and guidance within the process.

The result of this will be experienced while shopping.

This will help users to streamline their discovery process benefitting brands that are looking to address long-tail queries.

Two important benefits of this are,

• The additional notes will provide explainers and information on the products
• It will better align with user search making the experience unique and customized

There’s no doubt that it is an interesting approach and will keep Google aligned with its core business. Not to forget it will drive more benefits for both – Google and Search users.

10. Snapchat Introduced ‘My AI Snaps’

Mid-May. Snapchat Introduced its take on utilizing generative AI in social space. The feature initially known as Dreams enabled users to talk to an in-app chatbot. Users could also add their selfies to the app and have the AI algorithm spin out their fanatical pictures.

In a recent announcement, Snapchat took a step further and introduced the element ‘My AI Snaps’. Also known as ‘My Chatbot’ experience, the bot can now respond to visual queries along with text prompts, in the app.

You can now send My AI a snap, in the chat threat and it’ll respond with a related reply.

Snapchat explained,

“Snap My AI a picture of your pizza, OOTD, or even your furry best friend, and My AI may respond with a Snap back in reaction to what you’re doing. So, if you Snap My AI your latest grocery haul, it might recommend a recipe.”

As we all know, visual cues are the next big thing after text-based generative AI tools. Even OpenAI came up with Dall E.2. This new text-to-image generative AI tool enables users to get more customized and refined responses.

Snap’s My AI is built on a similar framework as ChatGPT. Hence, it will be able to respond to the same. This means more ways to engage with the chat app and build on your automated engagement.

The feature was originally made available only to Snapchat+ subscribers. However, the access has now been expanded to all users. Snapchat claims that the element has, thus far, proven popular.

In hindsight, the element has sparked some backlash with users being critical of the prominent placement of the My AI chat in the Snapbox.

What are your views on the current wave of Generative AI? Is there more scope to get more creative? Let us know in the comments.

We will be back again with more exciting updates.

Till then stay safe, stay savvy!