The biggest updates in social media | March 2023
Summary/Overview
It’s time for your monthly installment of social media news, where we keep you up to date on all the most important data, trends, and new platform features so you can stay firmly on the path to social media success.
Prefer to watch?
Every month, Andy and Jordan talk us through the key updates that you need to know to stay ahead of the social media curve. Watch their March roundup here:
Data
Substack passes 2 million subscribers
Substacks has surpassed 2 million paid subscriptions, demonstrating an increase in appetite to pay for the content you enjoy.
Brands are seeing less organic engagement
Data from RivalIQ shows that engagement rates are declining for Instagram for the third year in a row. However, Twitter and Facebook are holding steady, with TikTok engagement flourishing in comparison, especially for those in the higher education industries.
Posting frequency is declining
This report from RivalIQ also shows that posting frequency for Instagram is flattening out while Facebook and Twitter have seen a 20% decline.
Every brand should be posting Reels
RivalIQ reveals that Reels are officially the most engaging post type, finally overtaking the well-loved carousel format.
The content that makes up a Facebook feed
Data from Meta shows that the typical Facebook feed of a person in the US is made up of 32% content from friends, 18.7% content reshared by friends, 16.8% from people to whom you are not connected, 15.6% from groups, 8.7% from other sources, and 8.2% from Facebook Pages you follow (which is bad news for marketers).
Low reach on Facebook for posts that include links
This same report from Meta also shockingly reveals the difference in views for Facebook posts with and without links, when posted by friends, within groups, from Pages, from unconnected accounts, and from other sources. All in all, this data shows that Facebook posts without links perform better across the board.
New features
Multiple collaborators for posts
Live soon
Collaborative posts allow your post to appear on the page of everyone marked as a collaborator. This saves you from posting the same post multiple times on more than one social channel, as well as allowing a single post to get exposure to double the audience.
Collabs coming to Stories
Live soon
Much like the previous feature update, Instagram is looking into adding Collabs to Stories. This will allow for one Story to appear on multiple accounts and appear in front of multiple audiences.
React to Stories using a green screen
Live now
This new feature allows you to use a green screen to add yourself into your friends’ Stories to create fun reaction videos.
Reels “Watch time” stats coming to Instagram Insights
Live soon
Soon an update will be made to Instagram Insights allowing you to view the “Watch time” and “Average watch time” for your Reels.
“Top 3” Sticker for Stories
Live soon
Instagram’s “Top 3” Sticker is designed to allow creators to list their top three favorites on whatever topic they please. For example, this Sticker could be used to list their top three meals, their top three creators to follow, their top three films, etc. Serving as a content prompt, use of this Sticker could be a good way to encourage conversation with one’s audience.
“Add yours” prompts coming to feed posts
Live soon
“Add yours” prompts exist on Stories and Reels already but are now coming to feed posts to encourage further interaction. “Add yours” prompts allow you to share something (such as a picture of your dog) and then use the “Add yours” prompt to encourage your audience to do the same.
Facebook introduces “Quiet mode”
Live now
Facebook’s “Quiet mode” allows you to mute most push notifications. This helps those running business pages to set boundaries and have a better work/life balance.
Insights for Facebook Stories
Live soon
Data pulled from the performance of your Facebook Stories is soon to be available within Facebook Insights.
“Broadcast channels” coming to Facebook Messenger
Live soon
Facebook Broadcast channels will allow you to create a channel for people to join and send one-way updates and messages to the channel via DMs.
Facebook allows for 90-second Reels
Live now
Aligning with Instagram, Facebook has expanded the length of its Reels to a maximum of a 90-second time limit.
Ready-made Reels from Story memories
Live now
Facebook now allows you to share ready-made Reels using clips taken from your Story memories — all ready to share with a single tap.
Facebook Reels “Groove” feature
Live now
Facebook’s new Groove feature will automatically synch the motion of your video with the beat of your chosen song.
Meta begins work on text-based social media to rival Twitter
Meta is looking to Twitter for inspiration as it begins to put plans into motion for a text-based social media platform.
Meta “Verified” subscription platform launches
Live now
Meta Verified has now rolled out in the US, allowing those who subscribe to get a badge, proactive impersonation protection, and direct access to customer support.
Bookmarks become trackable
Live soon
Bookmarks on Twitter are to be treated as a measurable form of engagement with a bookmark counter visible on each Tweet.
Twitter Blue subscribers to get prioritized ranking in comments
Live soon
Elon Musk has announced that Twitter will begin prioritizing replies by people you follow, verified accounts, and then unverified accounts, giving Blue subscribers the chance to rank higher in comments than other Twitter users.
Text formatting to come to Twitter
Live soon
Twitter will soon allow users to add formatting to their text by including the options to italicize, bold, or underline their copy.
“Star” important LinkedIn DMs
Live now
LinkedIn now allows you to “star” messages, enabling you to easily save and segregate your most important DMs.
Interest-based ad targeting
Live now
LinkedIn now allows you to be more precise with the targeting of your ads by providing you with the option of targeting your audience based on specific interests.
AI-powered collaborative articles
Live now
This new LinkedIn feature (not available for all just yet) uses AI to generate article prompts for experts in your field with which they can collaborate and contribute.
AI-powered assistant for creating your headline, about section, and job ads
Live now
You can also make use of AI on LinkedIn to help you automatically generate a headline and about section, and write job ads based on insights gathered from millions of other profiles.
The Podcast Academy
Live now
LinkedIn has launched the Podcast Academy to give guidance to those running and producing podcasts, especially targeted to those running B2B podcasts with advising on how to grow.
Follow other companies from a company page
Live now
You can now follow company pages on LinkedIn from your own company page. In the past, it was only possible to follow company pages from personal profiles.
Live Audio rooms come to company pages
Live now
LinkedIn Audio rooms are interactive audio-only events on LinkedIn; they are now available to join and host via a company page.
TikTok
TikTok now displays a re-post tab
Live now
A re-post tab has now been added to TikTok profiles where you can view all of your re-posted content.
Multiple posts can be added to TikTok Now
Live now
Multiple photos can now be added to the TikTok Now area of the app.
App links can be added to bio
Live now
If you’re the owner of an app, you now have the option to add a link to your app within the app store in your bio.
TikTok introduces TikTok Series
Live now
Creators can now use Series to share a collection of TikToks with their audience as premium/paid content.
TikTok keyword research tool
Live now
It is now possible to carry out keyword research on TikTok using their new keyword tool to determine which keywords are ranking and which ones to use in your captions.
Refresh TikTok feed
Live now
TikTok is now giving the opportunity to start from scratch with a fresh feed of content. Selecting this option will remove any assumptions the algorithm has made about your content preferences based on your previous engagement and will treat you as if you are a brand-new user.
Could TikTok be banned?
The noise around the potential banning of TikTok in the US is only getting louder with concerns around the sharing of sensitive user data. There has yet to be a final decision on the matter.
YouTube
Upload and manage podcasts on YouTube Music
Live now
Podcasting will now receive dedicated support on its subscription music app, which is great news for anyone looking to grow their podcast further.
More detail added to YouTube Shorts analytics
Live now
Shorts continue to grow on YouTube. As a result, more analytics and features are coming to help users make and better understand their YouTube Shorts.
Pinterest Idea Pins extended to five minutes
Live now
Idea Pins can now be up to five minutes long, allowing creators to go into much more detail in their Pinterest content.
Your Key Takeaways
- We’re seeing the dawn of “Premium” social media.
- We’re starting to see AI becoming more integrated with social media platforms.
- TikTok and short-form video continue to be the best way to fight decreasing reach.
- But could a United States TikTok ban be in the cards?
- Podcasts continue to grow, and LinkedIn and YouTube could be good places to leverage this.
- Collaboration and increasing interaction are crucial for growth.
- Building a community around a specific topic has never been so important.