We’re now into week 9 of lock-down in the UK, and one thing that has become abundantly clear is how important the role of social media has been in keeping everyone connected, especially businesses.
This time has also given the social media platforms time to take stock, and we’ve seen some interesting new feature roll outs over the last week.
LinkedIn Stories
That’s right, LinkedIn are getting in on the Stories action now, originally announced back in February this year, it’s currently being made available in just Brazil and the Netherlands, but it is preparing for a wider roll-out soon.
The feature will look the same as Facebook and Instagram with them showing at the top of the page, and it is also worth noting that it will only be launched on Mobile first.
The stories will be 20 seconds long and only last 24 hours.
Ephemeral content has been popular since SnapChat debuted nearly 10 years ago, but has gained in popularity most recently, and where a lot of people spend their time on social media platforms these days.
You can find out more info on LinkedIn’s help centre here.
LinkedIn Polls
Not so much a new feature, but one that has come back from the dead.
LinkedIn used to have a polls feature, which they axed back in 2014, much to the annoyance of those who used them.
Now they are making a comeback, gradually being rolled out across the network, in fact you may have already seen people utilising this feature.
You can find out more about polls on LinkedIn’s help centre here.
Reply-limiting on Twitter
Twitter have come out with another new feature, and no it’s not an edit button.
Twitter have added in a feature to help you limit who can reply to your tweets, previously any Tom, Dick and Harry could reply to your tweet (as long as your account wasn’t private). Now Twitter have given you some options; Everyone, People you follow, Only people you mention.
Of course, people have worked out pretty quickly if you choose ‘Only people you mention’ without mentioning anyone it means that no-one can reply.
This could be useful for companies who want to make statements without getting lots of notifications. Of course this doesn’t stop people retweeting the tweet and adding a comment that way.
Why it may not seem like a massive new feature, or even one that gets used a lot of the time, it is certainly a useful one.
Share live stories to IGTV
The first of our Instagram updates, this one may seem a bit boring in comparison, but actually is a lot more useful than you’d first think.
And that is the ability to share live stories, once ended, to your IGTV.
Previously, you could only save it to your Instagram Stories feature, which was a bit annoying as it broke them up into 15 second chunks and was only available for 24 hours.
With this new roll-out you’ll be able to save the video with the same integrity as it was filmed, in full and available for forever in the IGTV section of your profile.
This is great for events or live Q&A sessions.
Shops @ Facebook and Instagram
This week Facebook rolled out their Shopping feature on both Facebook Instagram
Facebook had Marketplace which allowed you to sell/buy items through the platform, but they are now taking it one step further in allowing shops to upload their whole catalogue of products and build a fully fledged Facebook shop.
Meaning that you’ll be able to buy directly from a company’s or person’s Facebook page or Instagram profile.
It will certainly go some way to helping businesses recover from the Covid-19.