Welcome back to another Spark Social Report by Spark Growth! If you want to stay in touch with the latest and most relevant digital marketing trends and social media updates, then stay right here! We’ve got you covered with trends and updates, including Twitter updating video playback in its new TweetDeck. Keep reading to learn more!
Social Media Trends
As social media gets more sophisticated and collects more user data, there’s a growing fear of safety and privacy breaches among users. More people are on social media than ever, but they’re also more concerned about the security of their personal information. When it comes to social media privacy, one study found that 81% of respondents were more concerned compared to last year.
Of course, it doesn’t help that a lot of high-profile hacks have taken place lately, and there have been reports of major companies misusing consumer data. It’s caused a lot of people to question just how social platforms use the information that we give them.
Social Media Updates
TikTok
TikTok is developing a life-like avatar that will allow users to turn their selfies into digital versions of themselves. After taking a selfie with their phone, users can further customize their look. Take a look at some examples below! There’s no word yet on when this feature will roll out.
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Avatars aren’t the only feature that TikTok has in the works! In the same Tweet, social media expert Matt Navarra lists a variety of other fun features that users may see in the future. Keyword filtering for feeds could help users find specific content or filter out content they’re not interested in. A group chat feature is also being developed, but it’s still in the early stages. This would allow users to send a link to invite other people to their chat.
We’re still not done with TikTok! The company is also developing an audio-only stream, similar to Clubhouse or Twitter’s Spaces feature. Although TikTok is jumping on this trend after the craze, there is still a lot of popularity for audio-only content (especially with Clubhouse still going strong).
Moving on, TikTok is also working on screen-sharing capabilities for its LIVE feature. Livestreams are also getting subscriber-only emotes and commenting, which adds more incentives for those who are on the fence about subscribing. Users can also check their LIVE subscriptions in the settings.
Next, TikTok may be resurrecting the feature that previously allowed users to see who viewed their profile. This feature was available on TikTok once before. Back then, the app showed who viewed user profiles via the notification section, TikTok then removed this feature with a newer update, giving users room to view users profiles as often as they like.
While a release date for this feature hasn’t been announced, users can expect to see a profile view history that covers the past 30 days.
TikTok is working on a LinkedIn-like Profile Views feature
The feature will let you view who visited your TikTok profile in the past 30 days.
h/t @adrianokev1 pic.twitter.com/eMnYtgyUq0
— Matt Navarra (I quit X. Follow me on Threads) (@MattNavarra) January 23, 2022
TikTok has joined forces with Zefr to ensure brand safety and suitability when it comes to in-feed ads. The move will give advertisers insights into the safety and appropriateness of their TikTok campaigns. With TikTok being one of the largest social platforms out there, this partnership is significant because it provides high-quality data analytics that Zepr can measure against previous and future campaigns.
Finally, (seriously!) TikTok is launching an “Instant Pages” ad display option that would give users the ability to see videos and images, swipe through carousels, and more, all without leaving the app. Think of the TikTok Instant Page as a less complex landing page within the app. The company even says it’ll load 11x faster than a standard mobile page. With studies showing how users will exit a page if it takes more than a few seconds to load, this development is sure to be exciting for businesses that have ads on TikTok.
Snapchat
Snapchat is upgrading its augmented reality (AR) shopping experience. Users can check out a new Shopping Lens that allows them to swipe through different products. Shoppers will also see product descriptions and special links to make purchases. In one study, Snapchat found that 93% of users who use AR features in the app want to use AR for shopping as well.
Reddit has thrown itself into the mix by experimenting with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The company is capitalizing on the interest of its highly engaged audience, which made cryptocurrency the most talked about subject on Reddit last year. Although the talk about crypto and NFTs have been largely negative, it’s telling that Reddit is committing to including NFTs on its platform.
#Reddit is working on #NFT profile pics as well! pic.twitter.com/l2cqfSuIbK
— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) January 21, 2022
Instagram is further cracking down on hate speech. The company will now reduce the reach of posts and Stories that “likely” violate their anti-hate and bullying rules. In its blog, Instagram notes that it will look at similar previous posts which violated their rules to determine whether a post or Story violates their rules presently.
Next, Instagram has also opened up its remix option feature to all videos, rather than just Reel clips. The company wants to give users more ways to repurpose content and tailor it to their interests. It hopes this feature will give users new ways to join forces and foster collaborations on the platform.
Moving on to Twitter, the company is making some updates to TweetDeck, a dashboard that allows users to quickly catch up on the latest Tweets and manage their own content. Users can now continue watching a video even after they’ve scrolled past. Check out the GIF below to see it in action!
https://twitter.com/TweetDeck/status/1485999171354120202
Next, Twitter is testing a new feature called “Flocks,” which will provide users with additional control over who sees their content. This is similar to Instagram’s “Close Friends” feature that allows certain followers to see private Stories. Early screenshots of this feature show how users can add up to 150 people to their “Flock.” Here’s some good news. To make things less awkward, users won’t be notified if you remove them from your Flock. There’s no release date yet, so stay tuned.
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Twitter has launched a new NFT profile image in Labs. Now, NFT and crypto users can display their digital goods directly on their profiles. The update is currently available for iOS users.
Thanks for reading our Spark Social Report! Don’t forget to check us out on Twitter to stay updated on interesting digital marketing news and social media updates.
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