May 2024 Social Platform Updates

LinkedIn and YouTube launched games. TikTok is testing hour-long uploads. And Instagram expanded its creator marketplace to 10 new countries.

Here's everything you missed from social platforms last month...

✦ Launched DMs.

✦ Announced it's working on custom gifs, OAuth, and more anti-harassment features.

Clapper 👏

✦ The TikTok lookalike shot up to the #12 highest grossing social app across Apple and Android app stores and has been averaging 200K new downloads per week.

Discord 👾

✦ Announced an app redesign that will return to its roots as a place for users to “deepen their friendships around games and shared interests.”

Facebook 👍

✦ Launched new advertiser tools to create marketing materials using gen AI prompts.

✦ Shutting down Workplace, its B2B messaging app that was meant to compete with Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Instagram 📷

✦ Testing the ability to cross-post images to Threads.

✦ Expanded its creator marketplace to 10 new countries, including South Korea, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, and France.

✦ Testing a feature called Peek that would allow users to post photos that can only be viewed once, a la Snapchat.

✦ Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses can now share photos directly to a user’s IG Story without using your phone.

✦ Added new features to Notes, including likes and mentions.

Today's issue of Social Navigator is brought to you by Measure Studio.

Want to make better social content?

Don’t try to go viral. Just get a little bit better with every post.

Measure Studio helps marketers apply the 20% rule to their social content:

  • The tool automatically benchmarks your content performance so you know what works (+20% better than average).

  • From there, you can double your output of any content that’s +20%.

  • Finally, cut any content that’s underperforming (-20%).

LinkedIn 🤝

✦ Launched games as a new way to engage with your professional network.

✦ Adding AI tags called “Content Credentials."

✦ Made it easier to search and find saved posts.

Substack ✍️

✦ Launched Substack Creator Studio, a fellowship program for emerging video creators to create Substack shows.

Threads 🧵

✦ Introducing a post view count.

✦ Testing a new multi-column layout for desktop users a la TweetDeck (now "X Pro").

TikTok

✦ Signed a new licensing deal with UMG to bring its music catalogue back to the platform.

✦ Added labels to AI-generated content uploaded from other platforms.

✦ Testing hour-long uploads.

✦ Launched a $1 million “Change Makers” program.

✦ Unveiled a new analytics dashboard called TikTok Studio.

Tumblr 📝

✦ Launched an open beta for “communities,” which allow users to connect around a shared interest.

Twitch 🎮

✦ Released content filters to allow viewers to exclude certain types of streams from recommendations, search, and browsing.

✦ Gave users the option to blur thumbnails for sexually themed content.

YouTube 🎥

✦ Testing a new YouTube Premium feature that lets users jump to the most popular part of a video.

✦ Rolled out a simple ad campaign creation tool within YouTube Studio.

✦ Enabled advertisers to buy 100% of ad inventory on the top 1% of creator channels.

✦ Announced Playables, a collection of 75+ free games that users can play directly on the platform.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on LinkedIn for the latest insights into social media and the creator economy.

Subscribe here to receive Social Navigator in your inbox every month.