It seems just like yesterday when we were celebrating the start of a new year and just like that, September is over already. As ever, so much has happened in the ever-busy world of social media, and it’s practically impossible to catch every update.
So we figured, why not highlight some of the biggest news-worthy stories on social that might impact your brand’s social media marketing. Of course, if there are any updates we’ve omitted but are definitely worth mentioning, please feel free to let us know about it.
TikTok bans ads for weight loss related apps and products
Popular video-sharing social networking service, Tiktok has effected a new policy that outlaws advertisements related to fasting apps and weight loss products. The company cited the need to protect its platform users (a majority of whom are in the young demographics) from harmful content.
In a blog post published on September 23, Tiktok’s Safety Policy Manager, Tara Wadhwa stated
“As a society, weight stigma and body shaming pose both individual and cultural challenges, and we know that the internet, if left unchecked, has the risk of exacerbating such issues. That’s why we’re focused on working to safeguard our community from harmful content and behavior while supporting an inclusive – and body-positive – environment.”
Additionally, the platform has partnered with the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) to support the Weight Stigma Awareness Week held last September 28 to October 2.
Twitter tests audio messaging feature in DMs
The ability to send and receive voice messages on social media is nothing new. Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, WhatsApp voice notes — all boast this feature — and Twitter may soon become the latest social media giant to join the train. Twitter is testing out audio messaging allowing users to record audio and send the clip via direct message.
In other news, Twitter recently shared insights on how it is prompt– asking users to actually read the content before retweeting it, has changed user behavior over the last few months. Based on the data releases, people are 40% more likely to open and read an article after seeing the prompt.
Facebook introduces Rights Manager tool for images
Prior to this announcement, the existing Rights Manager was designed to help Facebook find text content on its platform that infringed against copyright regulations. This latest update expands that functionality to images and has been enabled on Instagram.
In a September 21 statement published by Facebook’s Product Manager, Creator, and Publisher Experience, Dave Axelgard, the company wants to ensure that Facebook and Instagram remain a safe place for people to create and share their content.
“Today we’re introducing Rights Manager for Images, a new version of Rights Manager that uses image-matching technology to help creators and publishers protect and manage their image content at scale. Page admins can submit an application for the content they’ve created and want to protect, and Rights Manager will then find matching content on Facebook and Instagram.”
To access this tool, Page admins simply need to apply for a particular piece of content that they’ve created to be protected. Rights Manager will then flag any matching text or images across Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook launches Business Suite tool
On September 17, Facebook announced the launch of a new management tool to help businesses save time and effectively manage their pages from a single command center. Facebook Business Suite as the tool is called, helps business page owners and admins manage their Facebook and Instagram pages — posts, insights, notifications, alerts, profiles, etc.
Additionally, the tool boasts an analytics feature that provides comprehensive insights so you can easily identify what’s working and what needs tweaking. Will this tool expand to accommodate WhatsApp?Too soon to tell.
Story Pins from Pinterest
Stories on Pinterest just got a lot more exciting with the Story Pins feature. Unlike Facebook stories that disappear after some time, you can save Story Pins to boards and find them anytime. You can also distribute them across the platform including the home feed and the search results page. Creators can create custom content using video, images, and text.
Note that this feature has not been fully rolled out yet so only a select number of creators can access it. If the results from this beta version are as good as expected, then it’s only a matter of time until it is introduced to a larger audience.
That rounds up all the major social media updates from September. Tulumi will continue to monitor the web and curate the best news items for the month. In the meantime, talk to us about your social media marketing needs today. Simply call (800) 481-1720 or visit our contact page to get started.