What’s new in social: October 2021

Reels launches on Facebook in the US

It’s not a huge surprise to be honest.

In late September, Facebook expanded Reels to all Facebook users in the US, meaning they can deliver short-form video content to more people — over 250+ million to be exact. While this may be news to us, Facebook has been testing the functionality since March in India, where Tik Tok is banned.

“Reels on Facebook can consist of music, audio, effects and more. You can find them in News Feed or in Groups, and when viewing a reel on Facebook, you can easily follow the creator directly from the video, like and comment on it, or share it with friends.” - Facebook, 29th September

What I’m most interested in is the integration with Facebook Groups, where when you post a Reel, you will be able to share it to your news feed or directly to Groups you’re a member of. This opens up a world of opportunity where you could set challenges within groups to spark trends and high engagement amongst people with common interests. For example, Facebook created the example below with a trend of “blowing on your dog to see their reaction”. With over 1.8 billion people in groups globally, it’s a unique organic opportunity that Tik Tok doesn’t currently have.

The desire to gain traction in the algorithm is big for creators, so cross-platform sharing has also been incorporated in the roll out. Meaning you will be able to share Reels from Instagram to Facebook to reach new audiences, which is again an advantage over Tik Tok.

However, with Tik Tok reaching 1 billion users faster than any other social media app, and also appealing to a younger audience, time will tell whether Facebook can dominate the short-form content space!

Twitter launching Twitter for Professionals

Starting this month, Twitter will start to roll out a new part of the platform: Professional Accounts. Here, business users will be able to tap into Twitter Ads, Quick Promote and Advanced Profile Features. They will also be exposed to new updates that Twitter will release in the future related to ecommerce.

Twitter has said that Professional account profiles will help users to distinguish businesses from the general user.

Twitter Professional Profiles are comprised of two features:

1. The professional category is an indicator of a professional’s profile, showcasing what kind of professional they identify as. This information is collected when a professional converts to a Professional Account and can be updated at any time.

2. Profile modules are dedicated space on a professional’s profile to showcase what’s most important to them.

With these features, Twitter aims to empower professionals to control and enhance their identity on the platform. While not all users have the ability to switch account types just yet, it will become available in the months to come.

Instagram links with Whatsapp

Instagram has announced a new way for business users to connect with customers: WhatsApp.

With a connected WhatsApp account, you can now boost posts through Instagram that allow users to directly send a WhatsApp message — allowing more businesses to reach more people and excite customers through personalisation.

With WhatsApps automated responses, businesses can now streamline their messages and customer service. Having monitored user behaviour, where businesses would boost posts that pushed to WhatsApp through a third-party link, this launch will now provide a more efficient way for brands to connect.

Pinterest Announces Second Creators Festival Event

On the 20th October, Pinterest will host its annual Creators Festival, where the platform will present its latest features, highlight key usage trends and provide engagement tips for Pin marketers. Along with this, the festival encourages users to connect through the common passion for the site.

The festival will be hosted in local time for audiences in Australia, the US, Canada, UK, France and Germany.

Here’s the lowdown from Pinterest:

“With content and topics inspired by creators, the [Creators Festival] will feature internationally-recognised talent, top emerging creators, Pinterest executives and special guests, who’ll announce the company’s latest creator products, features and experiences.”

With special guests, including global creators, the festival will show users how to grow a community, prevent burnout, and create engaging content. You can find out more about the festival in Australia here.