During the recent holiday season,, the social media world didn't sleep but released updates again . Accordingly, TikTok is testing a new type of ads, Instagram is launching templates for reels, and YouTube is giving new insights and presentation options. Twitch also offers new insights and analytics for streamers, as well as a new Shield Mode, and Amazon solidifies its position in social shopping with a personalized feed.
Every month there are various updates to and from social networks, which we regularly feature on Kolsquare’s influencer marketing blog . Therefore, today we present you the news from TikTok, Instagram, and Co.
TikTok gives users more transparency, as they can now find out why a video is shown to them on the “For You” page. In the window titled “Why you’re watching this video,” TikTok selects the reason from a list that includes, for example, “This video is popular in your region” or “This video was recently posted by an account you follow.” So far, however, it’s unclear when the update will go live.
Image via Daily Mail by TikTok
This update gives a small hint about how the social network’s algorithm works. The algorithm successfully suggests new videos to TikTok users and keeps them on the app. However, recent research by the Daily Mail also shows that controversial and dangerous content is promoted by the algorithm. Within minutes of creating an account on TikTok, new profiles are sometimes shown content about self-harm and suicide.
TikTok states in a blog post, “At TikTok, we want people to feel empowered to create, connect, and engage on our platform.”
Have you seen the “Create Your 2022 Recap Reel” on Instagram? With these videos, Instagram encourages users to share their best moments from the past year. But now it’s getting even easier, as Instagram just offered a special template that helps to create these throwback videos.
What’s more, creators can take inspiration from others, as Instagram states:“After you choose your template and text, you manually select your own content – videos, photos, and memories – from the past year to showcase in your reel and share with your followers.”
For YouTube Shorts, the company is now adding new insights and presentation options. This means that influencers and marketers will get more data on the performance of their posts. As you surely know, statistics are relevant for every area of marketing, as you can use them for your strategic planning.
As YouTube itself states: “Currently, impressions are the only metric shown on the metrics map for posts in the Studio. This week, we’re adding more metrics to the map, including Likes and Subscribers on both mobile and web.”
The live video platform Twitch also announces new opportunities for analytics. The platform, which is still used a lot for broadcasting video games, is also interesting for influencer marketing campaigns due to the steady growth in users. Read on the Kolsquare blog how you can use Twitch for your influencer marketing strategy.
With the update, users can better understand who belongs to the target group and which content is well received and which is not. Consequently, there are probably new category suggestions, allowing for a more intuitive six-page navigation feature or an experimental viewer engagement panel.
Also new on Twitch is Shield Mode. This new feature is supposed to give streamers the possibility to preset security settings. Accordingly, various controls can be activated with a few clicks. These include channel modes, such as follower or sub-chats, general verification options for chats, and AutoMod levels. This update comes after many users called for eliminating the hate attacks on minority communities last summer and restoring a good coexistence on the app.
The shield mode can be activated through chat commands or shortcuts. Furthermore, there are two new security options. The mass ban can be used to block users who, for example, use tagged words in a chat. The first-time chatter ban prohibits users who are new to a chat from posting their comments in it. Twitch writes in a blog post, “harassment and hateful behavior can come in waves, such as through a targeted attack, and we hope this tool will make it easier to instantly shut down a hate raid if that ever happens to you.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2022 that Amazon was introducing a personalized social feed called “Inspire” that showed products in short videos and images. This will allow users to store products directly through Amazon without having to inquire or otherwise search for them first. Currently, the “store as you scroll” feature is available only in the U.S. but is expected to become available to everyone in the coming months.
Director of Amazon Shopping Oliver Messenger explains, “With just a few taps, customers can discover new products or get inspiration to buy tailored to their interests, and then purchase those items on Amazon.”
With the launch of “Inspire”, Amazon strengthens its own position in the field of social shopping and joins Facebook’s Meta Platforms , Alphabet’s Google and ByteDance’sTikTok, which want to profit from the popularity of short-format videos. For the update, Amazon recruited influencers to create relevant content.
Since there are regular updates from the social media world, you should also read the Kolsquare blog regularly so that you know about the latest features and changes. You can always follow us on LinkedIn as well, where we publish new articles directly.
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