If you’re in the online marketing business, you’re sure to keep a close eye on all the news and what’s trending. Facebook and the new algorithm, Instagram’s IGTV feed, Twitter and its return to a chronological feed – one person doesn’t have the chance to cover everything. That’s why we’ve put together a recap of the past year. We’ll leave the review to you.
Instagram brought a lot of news
New algorithm. Not all of the innovations Instagram came up with last year make us happy. One of the ones that will still bother us is the algorithm change. In the past, posts in the feed were ordered chronologically, but now engagement is what matters. What does that mean? The more your posts are commented on, marked with a heart, etc., the more likely they are to be seen by more users.
Shopping tabs. Instagram has added a tab with sales offers and Stories of brands you can shop through. A small step for Instagram, a big leap for ecommerce.
#Hashtags. There is a new option to follow hashtags, you can add hashtags and link to other people’s profiles in bio.
Starting IGTV. This channel builds on vertical videos and could be considered a competitor to YouTube.
Instagram Stories. You can keep your “stories” on your profile indefinitely thanks to “highlights”. From Emoji Slider, Music to Question Sticker, you’ll find gamification elements in Stories. You can share posts from your feed to Stories. If someone tags your account in Stories, you can repost it.
Facebook is keeping pace
New algorithm. Yes, that’s right, even the mighty Facebook has adapted its newsfeed to the new algorithm. The latter should focus more on interpersonal relationships, so you’ll see more posts from your friends and family. The downside, above all, is that instead of spending time with your family, you’ll probably spend your evenings strategizing how to outsmart the new algorithm.
Data leak. The whole Cambridge Analytica and data theft scandal is one of the annoyances that has caused more than one wrinkle on the forehead of Facebook’s founder.
Breaking news. During the past year, Facebook has allowed breaking news to be tagged with a “Breaking News” label. The goal is to make it easier for users to find news that is breaking and may be important to them.
Watch platform globally. Facebook launched the Watch platform some time ago, but until recently only users in the US could test it. Since it has proven successful, Facebook has opened it up to the entire world.
Canvas ads are no longer Canvas. Facebook has made a name change for Canvas ads to Instant Experience Ads.
What’s happened to Twitter?
Chronological feed is back. My customer, my master. Twitter apparently followed the same motto when it heeded the call of its users and allowed them to choose whether they wanted to see their posts sorted by algorithm or by time of publication.
Prioritization of live broadcasts. Twitter concluded that all users crave live broadcasts, so it decided to put those live broadcasts at the top of the newsfeed.
If social media is a rough sea for you, our specialists at Railsformers are happy to teach you how to swim in it. We’d be even happier to take the helm and make sure your content is of the highest quality and gets you the results you want :-).