Over the past 3 months, social media channels have undergone numerous changes and alterations to adapt to new trends, support society challenges and enhance content creation. Some changes have brought great business opportunities whilst others have brought some potential implications. In this blog post, we have highlighted the latest trending social media channel changes for you to be able to plan how to efficiently navigate your social media marketing strategy around these updates.
Social Media and Mental Health
The impacts of social media on mental health have continuously been proven over time. Alongside being a positive tool to help people develop and grow personally and professionally, social media has also proven to be a double-edged sword. We live in a digitally-driven world, where metrics such as the number of followers, likes or views on a video can say a lot about someone’s success. Consequently, this has proven to take a toll on people’s self-esteem and anxiety levels, leading to serious mental health issues.
To target the negative impacts of social media on mental health, Instagram and Facebook have taken serious action and are working towards minimising and eradicating the issues. Here are some ground actions:
Removing likes:
Instagram and Facebook has begun testing the removal of insights which allow users to see how many likes a photo has received as well as who has liked it. As part of a global trial to figure out how to “remove pressure” on users, Instagram is now hiding the number of likes on some posts in the UK.
Banning ‘plastic surgery’ effect filters:
Instagram has also banned filters that give the illusion of a plastic surgery operation on users face. These effects essentially give users a warped reality of themselves whilst creating a stereotype of what beauty standards look like. This image editing filter is the cause of a phenomenon called “Snapchat dysmorphia” resulting in patients visiting plastic surgeons and requesting to look like the “filtered” version of themselves. On top of this, filters have proven to have a damaging effect on those diagnosed with BDD (body dysmorphic disorder).
Banning Self-Harm Images:
Instagram is now expanding to remove more types of self-harm related content, as it seeks to better protect vulnerable and at-risk users. They have also filtered accounts which are found to be sharing this type of content so that they will no longer appear as recommended in search or discovery surfaces such as explore.
Social Media and E-commerce
Tik Tok purchasing:
TikTok the short-form video sharing platform used in majority by the Gen Z audience, is now enabling users to purchase products associated with a sponsored Hashtag Challenge, without leaving its app. Viewers will now be prompted to post videos showing a brands content, for example, go-to outfits with a trending hashtag in the description of the brand exposed. The new e-commerce feature, in addition to creating and viewing videos featuring the brand’s sponsored hashtag, will additionally offer an in-app experience where products from the campaign can be purchased within TikTok itself.
Instagram product launch reminders:
The Instagram shopping feature is now running live testing on product launch reminders, enabling e-commerce businesses to preview their products on their social media pre-launch and create anticipation and buzz amongst their followers. It is believed that this feature will also enable eCommerce businesses to gain insights on product supply demands.
Instagram product shopping – explore page:
Instagram’s explore page now has a section specifically for posts which utilise the product purchasing feature. This will enable these posts to reach a larger audience, enabling businesses to further benefit from this feature.
Social Media and events promotion
LinkedIn Launches New Events Feature:
The events feature is going to make networking a great deal easier for you than ever before. This feature is aimed at small and large businesses looking to set up networking events within their company. Simple and straightforward, all you have to do is navigate into the community section of your company’s LinkedIn and click on the ‘create event’ button. As a result, you will be able to create an event with drop-down sections that allow you to customise all the relevant details for your event. Once finalised, your company members will be able to view the event and click to confirm attendance.
Social media and news
Favouring realistic content:
Over the past year, people have favoured more real and candid photos, rather than highly-edited and sometimes deceiving photos. They did this as a way to escape the high-pressure environment of their hyper-curated main accounts. Since this trend shift began, there have been hints that unedited content and more “authentic” looking images are performing better on the platform.