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Don’t become yesterday’s news. Stay in the loop with the latest social media updates and predictions for brands and businesses.
Sometimes, the only constant we can rely on is the certainty of change.
As trends rise and fall and fads diminish, we can at least depend on social media as our boiling, bubbling pot of progression.
But how is it changing today, and what does tomorrow look like?
In this blog, you’ll find regular updates on all the latest social media movements with new features for each platform while leaving some room for a few cheeky predictions.
But first, let’s look at the latest general social media updates worth noting for your business.
General social media updates
You may have noticed that when one platform introduces a popular feature, others quickly pay attention and perhaps even copy it.
In their own way, of course.
Before we know it, it can get tricky for the average business owner to differentiate one platform from another.
But while each platform likes to release new updates and features to stay ahead or keep in touch, here are a few inclusive points that involve the lot.
AI in social media
Yes. Artificial intelligence continues to make leaps and bounds in society, with social media no exception. Already, social media uses AI in its automatic algorithms, evaluating user interests, ages, locations, preferences, and purchase habits.
And AI in social media is only going to advance! Mordor Intelligence reveals that the AI social media market will increase at a CAGR of 28.77% in the decade between 2018 – 2028!
With Chat GPT setting the staple for automated-generated speech, there's no doubt that more platforms will advance their user-generated speech technology across their messaging tools. This movement includes AI-generated content ideas too, with AI automating content creation tasks ideal for posting multiple variations of the same content.
LinkedIn became the latest to introduce this feature alongside Grammarly Go as an advance to its superior spell-checking capabilities.
However, remember AI is still a working prospect and will not provide you with the best quality content unique to your brand.
For example, tone of voice (TOV) is vital to building trust and identity with your audience. So, if you haven't already, you should establish your unique TOV in your brand guidelines.
After all, AI is a learning process. It can’t contend with the creativity and imagination of a human. And let’s not be quick to forget that what makes social media so great is the authenticity that inspires us.
Because if everyone starts applying AI-generated content, things will quickly turn a bit samey and ordinary. (Don’t underestimate the power of storytelling.)
So, despite AI being on the rise, it’s not always best to opt for the easy option.
But one thing’s for sure. We can expect much more from AI in social media over the next few years!
Growth across social media platforms
When it comes to platform growth, there’s been a lot of movement between 2022 and 2023.
- Snapchat – 13%
- Instagram – 5%
- Tik Tok – 4%
- Facebook – 1%
- Twitter – -3%
It may come as a surprise, but Snapchat has witnessed some serious growth. Based on these percentages, it’s more than the other platforms combined!
Why?
Significant statistics point to people using Snapchat over other platforms to socialise with friends and create memories. Therefore, it appears by putting the social back into social media, Snapchat is enticing more followers and increasing its popularity.
Can it keep up its momentum and translate into a more professional, B2B space?
Unlikely, but who knows? Only time will tell.
The best times to post on each social media platforms
According to Sprout Social, here is a quick overview of the best times to post across social media (global timeframe).
- Instagram – 9 am - 1 pm
- LinkedIn – 10 am - 12pm
- Tik Tok – 2 pm - 6 pm
- Facebook – 8 am - 1 pm
- Twitter – 8 am - 10 am/6pm-9pm
But these are just general markers, not absolute gospel.
At the of the day, your best times to post will depend on your post type and how that relates to your target audience.
And sometimes, finding your niche time to post can come down to a little experimentation. As is so often the case with marketing. Trial and error are sometimes our best decipherer.
Social media updates per platform
Now let’s get breaking social media updates down to each platform, starting with our professional networking hub over at LinkedIn:
Having recently celebrated its 20th birthday, LinkedIn is making some “new-me” updates as we head towards 2024.
Messaging on company pages/profiles
LinkedIn has made efforts to enhance its messaging tool and honour its overriding professional contingent. Now company profiles can send and receive messages with specified conversation topics, such as “service request”, “request a demo”, “support”, “careers” and “other”.
This feature may change how a company wishes to post now they know they can receive a more direct connection and engagement withtheir audience beyond comments. It can also boost B2B marketing efforts with direct company-to-company messaging.
Now you know, establish a company profile admin, so you can be more active on your company profile and not let messages slip through the net.
AI enhancements
AI tools are being developed and added to ‘Premium LinkedIn’ accounts only. This move includes AI-generated prompts and ideas for creators while testing AI post assistance with drafts using AI.
Instagram is a top choice for many brands now on social media as a great way to utilise influencer marketing and brand awareness.
The latest features include:
Collaboration features
Instagram is introducing more collaborative features!
One feature includes the ‘Collaborate in Instagram Broadcast Channels’ (currently only available in the US).
This new feature allows you to set up a broadcast channel to speak to multiple people and invite guests to join your discussions.
Another feature to add to this collaborative push is the “Collaborative Group Stories”. Instagram now strives to push its users to work with others and interact with as many people on the platform as possible.
Don’t fancy collaborating? No problem. Instagram has a new ‘Open to Collaboration option’, so you can choose whether you want to hop on this “get-together” or not.
Plus, this collaborative feature will come in handy for influencers and brands alike who are open to collaborative posts.
Music is back on photos and carousels
Music is crucial to content creation on some platforms, with TikTok setting the staple for creative content founded on music and audio. And now, Instagram is following this trend by allowing users to add music to still images and carousels.
Choose who sees your notes
‘Notes’ is a feature that gives flashbacks to status updates on Facebook.
But now, instead of sending your note for every follower to see, you can choose who you want to share it with on Insta.
Gifs in the comment section
We already know Instagram is “like so cool and on-trend”. But now they’ve taken it to a whole new level. Instead of commenting on a witty sentence or funny emoji, you get to state your reaction using a GIF.
Yep. This update opens a whole new door for different CTAs on posts and innovative ways of reacting to content. But be aware of spending far too much time trying to find the perfect reply.
See who liked your story for longer
As businesses, we know engagement is everything, and we all desire high engagement rates on our carefully curated content.
So, this latest feature in seeing how long people engage in your stories helps you evaluate who liked your content more (or less). As a new metric, this could be incredibly beneficial by seeing if people are watching your stories the entire way through.
Instagram adopts text base platform (version of Twitter)
As Twitter user rates decline, is Meta trying to compete with them and pinch users for their platform?
Saucy!
A new app (currently with no name) is being trialled as a text-based platform for conversations (like Twitter), allowing Insta users to open up and talk directly to their audience and peers, potentially reaching new audiences, tuning out the noise, and bringing their fans with them in a new direction.
More promotion options for user-generated content
To be as transparent as possible, Instagram is introducing more features to give users the option of how open they are to user-generated content with partnership ad updates.
In the same way, Instagram is making user-generated content easier to use.
Native-only checkouts (Facebook and Instagram)
If you run your Facebook or Instagram shop to another checkout page, you only have until the end of the year until payment is native checkouts only.
TikTok
The somewhat ‘newbie’ on the block is still taking the social media game to new levels with its updates and popularity. And believe it or not, more young adults (Gen Z) these days are turning to TikTok rather than just Google when searching.
So, what are they doing right now to enhance its success?
Geo-tagging
40% of Gen Z audiences go to TikTok (And Insta) first to discover new products.
So, geo-tagging fits into the rise of “TikTok SEO” perfectly, making adding locations to uploads and recommend places easier, alongside more searchable content and pages.
Adds a new question sticker
This addition is a new feature to consider in your content creation plan and a perfect way to prompt interaction, participation, and engagement.
An all-around bonus!
AI-generated avatars
AI is everywhere. And like Snapchat, TikTok is following in its footsteps having your AI-generated avatar.
Is this authentic? Or is it beneficial by allowing people to feel more comfortable? We’ll let you decide.
Add a cover for multiple pictures in photo mode
Believe it or not but photos are becoming increasingly popular on TikTok.
And just like you can choose a cover photo for your video upload, you can now do the same for your picture posts too.
If you aren’t already posting photos, it’s a feature to try out, as some impressive results are coming from this post option.
Textmode
Although TikTok is known for its visuals, adding a text mode is another effective way to optimise the amount of content people can contribute to and use on the platform.
As content creators, we love options!
TikTok now displays the most frequently used words in the comments
This feature lets content creators see the most popular words in the comments. Finding keywords amongst consumer needs benefits businesses selling products/services and links nicely to the “TikTok SEO” aspect we mentioned earlier.
Since the Elon invasion, Twitter has witnessed an overhaul with significant changes to direct messaging and the inclusion of encryption.
The latest Twitter updates include:
Verified accounts take priority
If you’re not paying for Twitter as a verified account, reaching people with your posts may be more difficult. Twitter is still a fine place to make new connections and engage in conversations. But due to this update, it may decrease as a social platform to publish if your account is unverified.
But on the flip, this presents an opportunity for verified accounts to reach more people than before. Therefore, the question is whether you’re willing to pay for it.
Open-source code for recommended tweets
In March 2023, Musk revealed how the recommendation algorithm worked by attempting to answer important questions. Twitter applied the data taken from tweets, users, and engagement to source more tweets and rank them while filtering the content less appealing to users.
So, Twitter is trying to make content more optimised and relevant for users. This move could help businesses engage new consumers and start more meaningful conversations.
After changing features to be more aligned with platforms like Instagram and TikTok, Facebook has suffered something of an identity crisis in the last few years.
However, boasting 2.91 billion active users with a millennial, male-predominant demographic, it certainly still serves a purpose for businesses and professionals.
Latest Facebook updates include:
Professional mode for profiles
Perhaps now taking a leaf out of LinkedIn’s book, Facebook has introduced a 'Professional Mode' for profiles.
In their words, the professional mode is to:
“Build a public presence as a creator and maintain your personal friends and family experience. Professional mode can help you build a public following and grow a global community.”
Facebook’s ‘Professional Mode’ gives access to professional tools, enhanced safety features and monetised products to help users build a professional presence and online reputation.
Improved features for groups/communities
Facebook introduces new features for group administrators alongside enhanced methods for members to engage and interact. This move may allow businesses to interact with customers in more relatable environments by participating in group discussions and hosting events with targeted content.
Social media predictions
Up to date on the latest updates, here are a few social media predictions:
YouTube is (literally) the new TV
45% of overall YouTube activity is happening on TV screens. That’s up over 15% since 2022! Does this mean YouTube is the new television, and if so, what does this mean for paid advertising opportunities?
Knowing that almost half of the YouTube experience takes place in people’s living rooms, can your business take advantage? Or do you at least have your own YouTube channel?
Twitter and the text-based mutiny
To become more text-based and take Twitter abandoners, will TikTok and Instagram take advantage via their new text-based apps?
In an obvious attempt to steal users, what will become of Twitter in its new age of verified profiles as those unwilling to pay now leave to find a new space to socialise online?
Collaboration as the next innovation
Instagram’s collaboration approach may make platforms more inclusive and collaborative with each other. Will there be a future where LinkedIn and Instagram users can interact together across platforms?
Instead of separate platforms existing in their own spaces, we may be looking at a melting pot of shared social media experiences foundedon collaboration incentives.
Social media as search engines
Social media has become a go-to search engine for information seeking, especially for younger generations. What does this mean for Google in the future? What seemed the only route for quick answers may lose users to search engines like TikTok and Instagram.
Will SEO take more priority and become more powerful on social media platforms soon? Time will tell. But we think the B2B space is safe for the foreseeable.
Speak to your local social media experts
Here at Content Chef, we love to keep up with the latest social trends while expressing our imagination in creative content across all platforms.
So, if you’re looking to see where your business fits on the social media spectrum, get in touch, and we can arrange a strategy that best suits your brand.
Written by Archie Edwards & Holly Ostle
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