August was a busy month for all social media platforms, with some of the biggest updates coming from Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. As a leading social media firm, we’re staying on top of the latest platform updates so you don’t have to.
On Monday, August 30th, Instagram replaced the Swipe Up feature with a Link Sticker. The company is retiring the Swipe Up feature to “streamline the stories creation experience” and offer more “creative control.” The Link Sticker allows creators to customize the design of the sticker and place it anywhere on the Story for maximum engagement. Additionally, Story viewers will now be able to react and reply to posts that have the Link Sticker attached. As with the Swipe Up feature, users have to be verified or have at least 10,000 followers to gain access to Link Stickers. However, Instagram says it’s evaluating whether to expand link access to more accounts in the future.
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On August 24th, TikTok unveiled an expanded partnership with Shopify to include TikTok Shopping. The feature will be pilot tested among a select group of Shopify merchants in the US, UK, and Canada in the coming weeks. According to TikTok, “TikTok Shopping will bring new features that help Shopify merchants create engaging, organic content that sends consumers directly to their online store for checkout, making it easy for people to explore and buy the products they discover on TikTok.”
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Facebook Reels will give Facebook users the ability to create and share short-form video content directly within the News Feed or within Facebook Groups. Additionally, Instagram creators in the U.S. will now have the option to have their Instagram Reels shown as recommended content on Facebook, which will place their videos in the “Reels” section in users’ News Feed, alongside other Reels created on Facebook. The new Facebook Reels display was made available to a small percentage of users in the US on August 19th, while it was already available to some users in India, Mexico and Canada.
Full story here.
To keep up with the latest social media news and trends, reach out to info@socialflyny.com and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter!
Written By: Breann Antokal, Business Development & Marketing Manager