27/02/2024
Each year sees lots of exciting social media updates making their way to pretty much every platform.
Last year we saw Tik Tok become a search engine, we saw stricter controls on Instagram and of course the robots were everywhere.
AI. We hear about it everywhere.
And according to a Hootsuite survey, in 2024 the use of generative AI in branded social media will have truly arrived.
Organizations report that they’re planning to double their use of generative AI across various activities—even tripling or quadrupling it in some cases.
Generative AI is a type of AI that produces various content – think text, images, audio. It’s not new (it’s been around since the 1960s, but it wasn’t until the the GAN machine learning algorithms came about in 2014, that AI was really capable of working in the way we think of it today – the songs, the short form vids and the reams of text created with a couple of prompts.
Do the robots come in peace? Well, they’re coming, peaceful or not.
And while it may seem like a quick-content-win, the Hootsuite survey also showed that audiences are not embracing AI and AI-generated content as much as social marketers are jumping to use it.
People are sceptical of AI-created content, so use it wisely. Keep it authentic.
Tik Tok is no longer seen as the likely fly-by-night platform it was when it first launched in 2016. Eight years later, it’s moved away from teenager dance routines and is attracting an older generation.
Why?
Well, Tik Tolk is really pushing shops and is focusing on delivering a seamless shopping experience. It has something for everyone and it’s fast becoming the new search engine. Think creative content, products from Tik Tok shops and reviews. Perhaps you’ll even have a few laughs along the way. That’s why.
Instant messaging app Telegram gained popularity when Whatsapp privacy came under fire. People switched, but many also switched back.
These days Telegram is still used for things like file sharing and joining communities.
What’s more, (following Telegram’s 40% yearly growth rate since it began in 2014) by the end of 2024 it will have 1 billion users.
It was a busy year for Instagram’s social media updates.
“probably one of the most requested features we’ve had,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Yes, Instagram now allows the use of up to 5 links in your Instagram bio, which is great news for businesses and influencers. It’s simple to add and remove them, just head to ‘edit profile’ and click ‘add link’ or ‘remove link’ to delete one.
Not going to be in? Don’t worry because as we mentioned last year the testing of in-app scheduled posts has been rolled out for everyone. See how to manage and schedule posts on Instagram’s support pages.
Instagram also launched a range of age-appropriate updates, such as turning off ability to receive messages from anyone they don’t know.
“To help protect teens from unwanted contact on Instagram, we restrict adults over the age of 19 from messaging teens who don’t follow them, and we limit the type and number of direct messages (DMs) people can send to someone who doesn’t follow them to one text-only message.”
There’s also an additional step that helps ‘protect teens from unwanted contact by turning off their ability to receive DMs from anyone they don’t follow or aren’t connected to on Instagram – including other teens – by default’.
Meta’s new text-based social platform Threads is an Instagram app where you can view and share real-time conversations. You can also post threads, reply to others and follow profiles you’re interested in. It’s designed for short pieces of text, links, photos, videos or any combination of them. Think Twitter (of course now X) or old Facebook.
Why?
IG users were growing frustrated that video-first content was dominating “photo-sharing app”. It was getting spammy too.
Threads got 10 million sign-ups within seven hours of launching… is it the app you never knew you needed? Time will tell.
Instagram was also busy testing a variety of brand-new features. Here were some of our favourites…
TikTok is growing in popularity, so much so that niche communities are starting to emerge. Users with similar interests are finding shared experiences through areas such as Booktok, dedicated to book reviews and recommendations and Planttok, a community for those interested in plant care and gardening.
Perhaps defining the niche-ness of some of these communities is the popular Cottagetok, which celebrates ‘cottagecore’, the aesthetics and lifestyle of quaint country living. And that’s just rosy.
Importantly, the advent of these communities has significantly impacted the volume and diversity of content and the number of users on TikTok, which is now the most downloaded app in the world.
AI is massive on TikTok. And it keeps getting bigger with each of the platform’s social media updates. AI manga filters that turn you into a manga character get millions of views. AI generated music on TikTok posts has seen its share of virality too. Here, the AI Generates songs from your text prompts (with help from the Bloom language model). Write out lyrics on the text field when making a post and TikTok suggests the perfect AI Song to add sounds to the post.
So, what else happened in the world of TikTok?
Twitter went through some big changes, with Elon Musk buying the platform. With that said, there were new features to be aware of.
Elon Musk has called the ability for creators to monetise the content they share with users on the platform a “no brainer”. His thinking is that if creators can make money from their X (Twitter) content, they will post there as a matter of course. It makes sense. But this plan goes head to head with platforms such as Patreon, where users pay a subscription fee to engage with a specific creator’s content. X monetised content would be an on demand service, not a subscription, but if those same creators are posting on X, users might prefer the pay-for-play service that Musk suggests. Maybe…
X is still the dominant site for making the best of geotagging and hashtags. Continue to tap into trending hashtags to optimise your content’s reach… if you’re not already doing it.
Multimedia ‘tweets’ have arrived at X too. With one simple post you can share videos, images and gifs.
Facebook reels first launched in 2021 shortly after Instagram in 2020, and they were still playing catch-up. But these new social media updates may improve the popularity of video on the platform.
The top line is that AI became a huge part of the Facebook algorithm. It helps better personalise content. Shops and stores have become more prominent too. Facebook’s online storefront means people can browse, explore and purchase your products directly. With customisable collections and simple design tools, you can ‘showcase featured products, bring your brand to life and make shopping seamless for your customers’.
Instagram and YouTube have continued to follow the path of TikTok with short, easy-to-digest video content. The global launch of YouTube Shorts and the push of Reels on Instagram and Facebook make it clear that snappy video content continued to be a focus.
TikTok Shop is following Meta’s digital footprints. This feature means brands and creators could feature and sell products through their videos, live broadcasts, and the showcase tab. Additional paid social campaigns became available through this new feature, and more to come.
Celebrities and high-profile influencers have been using their personal brand and status to sell products for decades now. Think Molly-Mae Hague, Mrs Hinch, Joe Wicks, the Kardashians.
But the public has become conscious of it, they know they’re being sold to. It’s less effective than it used to be.
In come micro-influencers with loyal followers who trust their opinion. They can offer smaller brands with smaller budgets cost-effective content which drives genuine interest from their audiences. And that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.
It gave smaller brands the chance to collaborate with micro-influencers who have an engaged following. They create high-quality, usable content on top of sharing your brand with their audience.
With the rise of subscription content in recent years, we’ve seen influencers capitalise on their personal brand by creating a community paywall behind platforms such as Patreon, Fanvue, Tribe and Kickstarter.
On top of this, we saw the gaming-centric platform Discord become an avenue for community engagement for content creators. It gave their audience a space for a one-to-one engagement and allows followers to engage with other fans. Discord also started to work with musicians by giving them a platform to share new releases, unreleased tracks, and content updates with their fans.
