The latest updates to social media platforms include:
Facebook:
- Toughens efforts against exploitation with revamped detection and reporting tools for content that victimizes children
- Lifts political ads ban while also adding controls for users to be able to switch them off
- Expands short video monetization options
- Tests allowing sharing IG Reels to News Feed
- To develop Instagram for Kids to increase the user base for a so-far untapped audience
- Updates its brand safety controls for creators to opt to collect ad earnings on their copyrighted content
Instagram:
- Launches multi-participant ‘Live-Rooms’ for users to go live alongside up to three more participants
- Rolls out Music & Reels to the Middle East, finally
- Is working on auto-captions sticker to Stories to improve accessibility for videos
- Considers a ‘Remix’ option which is basically the same as the TikTok ‘Duet’ feature
- Tests an expands quick reply options for Stories
Twitter:
- Rolls out ‘Twemojis’, stickers for Fleets
- Rolls out revamped alerts for harmful content, including a prompt that will appear if tweets contain potentially offensive language
- Is working on a ‘Safety Mode’ that will activate auto-block and mute with one tap if your tweets get sudden negative attention
- Gives Spaces a privacy and compatibility overhaul, including expansion to Android
- Revamps e-commerce features including upcoming shopping cards and business accounts
- Considers ‘Unsend’ button, which will give users up to six seconds to stop a tweet from going live
- Introduces conversation settings for ads, giving advertisers the option to decide who can reply to promoted tweets
- Is testing vertical image & video display which will prevent portrait media to be cropped in the standard timeline view
- Tests a dedicated tab for exploring and discovering Spaces
- Is sending out a survey to crowdsource speech rules for users to decide the best actions to take when public figures reproduce hate speech
- To let YouTube videos auto-play on timeline
- To add more background options for Fleets, including support for camera snapshots
- Develops ‘Communities,’ a group-like option that will enable users to tweet to a specific audience
Snapchat:
- Launches site for advertisers to navigate Apple’s privacy changes by offering alternatives to app tracking
- Considers a ‘Remix’ option which is basically the same as the TikTok ‘Duet’ feature
TikTok:
- Launches ‘Top Ads,’ an ad library featuring the best performing auction ads
- Introduces auto-reply messages for business, including a welcome message for DMs and auto-replies-based comment keywords
YouTube:
- Launches a parent-child connected experience which will allow parents to monitor their children’s viewing activity through a supervised Google account
- Starts rolling out ‘Shorts’ beta, their own TikTok clone
Google:
- Allows political ads again after they were stopped due to the US Capitol riots
WhatsApp:
- Rolls out voice & audio calls on desktop
