Social Platform Updates: July 2019
Photo by Rob Hampson on Unsplash
It can be challenging to keep track of all the updates that social media platforms are making every day! Once a month we’ll be posting every recent platform update so you can stay on top of your game.
JULY 2019
Chat Stickers: You can now add a chat sticker to your story that invites your followers to join a group chat. You can select who gets to be in the chat.
Ad placements in the “Explore” section: Users will now see ads when scrolling through their Explore feed
Stories camera storage: The Stories camera will now save photos for up to 7 days
Instagram is continuing their test of hiding likes. At the time of publishing, the test is in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand.
Instagram is testing new anti-bullying features, such as pop-ups asking users to reconsider certain comments.
Top Fans Targeting: Facebook pages with more than 10K followers will now be able to opt to share content only with their top fans who are the most engaged.
Mobile News Feed: Starting in August, the mobile news feed will be compressed and easier to read.
Cracking down on “sensational health claims.” Facebook is identifying and restricting misleading ads for health products in the hopes of cutting back on spam.
YouTube
Community Guidelines: YouTube has created new videos explaining their Community Guidelines. They also launched a Creator Academy course with explanations of all their policies. Additionally, viewers will see reminders to follow the Community Guidelines when posting in the comments.
Snapchat
Multi-Snaps: Snapchat is testing a multi-snap option that allows you to post a string of snaps together at the same time.
Bitmoji: Snapchat is testing the use of Bitmojis in the reply tray
Events: Snapchat is also testing group event invitations.
New desktop view: This month, Twitter announced an entirely new view for their desktop site. This includes a variety of updates including:
More color and theme options, expanding on dark mode
Seamless switching between multiple accounts without having to log off
Direct messages can be accessed within the main Twitter view. You no longer have to switch between screens.
Content available in other apps, just as Explore, local moments, and live video has been brought over to desktop
TikTok
Grid Layout: TikTok is testing a grid layout that would work similarly to Instagram’s Explore page.
Other IG-Inspired Features: TikTok has several new features that appear to be inspired by Instagram, including:
A Discover Tab
Suggested Users and Hashtags
Displaying like counts and downloads
The ability to switch between multiple accounts.
TikTok made a huge splash at VidCon. We will be keeping a close eye on this platform as it continues to grow!