Tag Archive for: Instagram

New Social Media Survey Gives Insights To Reach Your Audience

A new nationwide survey conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that YouTube and Facebook may still be the most widely used social media platforms by adults, but TikTok is continuing to grow significantly.

Based on the survey results, YouTube and Facebook remain the most widely used social media platforms across the US. More than three-fourths of American adults (87%) reported using YouTube, with 68% saying they used Facebook.

Most other platforms have retained approximately the same level of usage from past surveys, with the largest (Instagram) seeing use from around 50% of adults.

TikTok, however, saw a jump from 21% of US adults using it in 2021 to 33% of adults in the latest survey.

Age Continues to Influence Social Media Use

Just as in past surveys, Pew found notable differences in social media use depending on age.
For example, adults under the age of 30 were significantly more likely to say they used Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok compared to older adults.

YouTube and Facebook, however, were more likely to be used by adults of all ages – leading to their overall dominance. At the same time, Pew noted that both platforms were still more likely to be used by younger adults than older respondents.

Demographics Also Influenced Social Media Usage

  • Along with age, the Pew survey identified notable differences in the demographics that used each platform:
  • Instagram: More usage among Hispanic and Asian adults, women, and people with some college education.
  • TikTok: Increased usage rates among Hispanic adults and women.
  • LinkedIn: Most widely used among Americans with higher educational attainment.
  • Twitter (now “X”): More likely to be used by those with higher household incomes.
  • Pinterest: Still most popular among women.
  • WhatsApp: Receives more usage by Hispanic and Asian adults.

Why It Matters

As a business, you must know where to reach your audience where they are already spending time. When scrolling social media, adults tend to be more likely to engage with branded content, connect with unfamiliar brands, and discover products that they will later purchase. By making sure you’re there when your ideal audience logs on, you can give yourself the best chance to turn strangers into followers and followers into customers.

For more insights you can use to target your audience on social media, check out the full Pew report here.

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Fear of Missing Out Is Keeping Most Students On Social Media Despite Lack of Enjoyment

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Does anyone actually enjoy using social media? 

According to a new survey conducted collaboratively by the University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, Bocconi University, and the University of Cologne, the majority of users (particularly among young people) believe they would be happier if social platforms like Instagram and TikTok weren’t in their lives. 

However, the students also said they continue to keep using the sites because they are afraid of missing out on what’s popular with their peers.

About The Study

The study surveyed over 1,000 college students across the U.S. on their social media habits, focusing primarily on Instagram and TikTok use. 

The survey first asked students how much they would need to be paid to deactivate their Instagram or TikTok accounts for four weeks while their friends and peers continued using the platform. 

From there, the students were asked how much money it would take to have their entire university network (including themselves) deactivate their accounts on the platform for four weeks. 

Lastly, the survey asked how much people value the platform when everyone else is on it compared to when no one else is. 

The Results

According to the findings, students said they would need to be paid $59 a month on average to deactivate their TikTok accounts, and $47 on average to deactivate Instagram for one month – assuming their peers remained online. 

Notably, those numbers both dropped if the students and their peers were all to deactivate their accounts. In fact, students said they would be willing to pay $28 on average to delete TikTok and $10 to remove Instagram. 

As the authors of the study wrote in their findings:

“Taken together, these results imply the existence of a ‘social media trap’ for a large share of consumers, whose utility from the platforms is negative but would have been even more negative if they didn’t use social media.”

In other words, the only thing keeping many people on the most popular social networks is the fact that their friends and peers are also on these platforms but the platforms themselves are viewed overwhelmingly negatively. It is purely fear of missing out which is keeping people coming back. 

These findings highlight how toxic many people see social media as, and suggest there is a large opportunity for a radically different form of social media. The trick is establishing such a platform and drawing enough of a user base without falling into any of the pitfalls other platforms have trapped themselves in.

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Instagram Threads Introduces First Paid Promotion Tools

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Threads may be the hottest new social network, but its fast development and release means there is little in the way of actual marketing tools for brands. In fact, the platform doesn’t currently serve ads of any kind.

However, the company announced it is launching tools to let marketers develop their own paid promotion opportunities until more robust advertising options arrive. 

Threads’ Paid Promotion Tools

In essence, Threads’ is borrowing Instagram’s already existing paid promotion tools for influencer campaigns and collaborations. These tools let brands and influencers properly tag content that may include paid promotions or professional collaborations to maintain transparency with users. 

Specifically, Threads requires that:

Brands use the branded content tools when working with influencers on sponsored content

Only brands have access to paid partnership labels to posts

Brands clearly disclose paid partnership collaborations

100 Million Users But No Ad Tools?

So far, Threads and its parent company, Meta, have been quiet about the development of advertising tools or services for the platform. With the announcement that Threads has already gained over 100 million users since its recent launch, though, it seems highly likely that proper ad tools are on their way. 

The current lack of these tools highlights how quickly Threads was developed in the face of Twitter’s ongoing collapse. Despite the limited features and tools for brands, however, the platform appears to be an immediate hit with users who have long been vocally unhappy with Twitter’s direction and leadership.

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Meta’s Version of Twitter is Here and It’s Called Threads

Meta is launching a new app called Threads set to challenge Twitter following Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s repeated blunders.

Threads launched on July 5th and has already accrued over 30 million users within 24 hours. The app is largely similar to Twitter with an emphasis on short text-based posts. On the download page, Threads is described like this:

“Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creators and others who love the same things – or build a loyal following of your own to share your ideas, opinions, and creativity with the world.”

Why Meta Is Trying To Challenge Twitter Now

Though Elon Musk claims Twitter has seen record-breaking engagement since his takeover of the platform, other metrics suggest the app is losing both users and advertisers daily. 

Overall, users are unhappy with recent changes which include limiting the number of posts users can see, prioritizing paid users, and cutting off third-party access to its API. 

Additionally, the app itself has been increasingly unreliable with long periods of downtime or issues accessing content. 

Tied To Instagram

Users can sign up for Threads using the same information they use for Instagram. The app will also let you automatically follow those you’re connected with on Instagram and auto-fill your profile based on your Instagram profile. 

Verified status on Instagram will also transfer to Threads.

For more, check out the app’s site at threads.net or download the app via the Google Play or Apple Store.

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Instagram Broadcast Channels Roll Out To All Users

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Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, revealed this week that Instagram Broadcast Channels will soon be available to all Instagram users around the world. 

Instagram Broadcast Channels are private, one-way messages to either your followers or paid subscribers, making them a new way to reach your followers with text, photos, videos, polls, and even voice messages no matter where they are in their busy lives. 

While the feature is coming to all worldwide users on the Instagram app, it will not be available on desktop devices using the web-based version of the platform. 

New Instagram Broadcast Channels Experimental Features

Along with the wide launch, Instagram announced a number of new experimental features such as:

  • Feedback prompts for ask-me-anything content or surveys
  • A new dedicated inbox tab for channels
  • Collaborators to invite new audiences to your broadcast channel
  • Expiration dates and times for broadcasts
  • The ability to add content moderators
  • Preview links to promote your broadcast channel
  • Send notifications to let followers know when you launch a broadcast channel

The wide launch of the feature occurred via the new Meta Channel on Instagram, but more information should be available as users get access.

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Instagram Adds Post Scheduler For Professional Accounts

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Instagram is finally making it easy for many users to schedule posts or reels up to 75 days in advance without the use of third-party tools or services.

In the past, the only official solution to scheduling when content goes live on the platform was through the desktop tool Meta Business Suite. 

Now, many users and almost all brands will be able to schedule content drops up to 75 days ahead of time directly from the iOS or Android Instagram apps. The only catch is that users must have a professional account which is free for brands or professionals on the app.

How To Schedule Posts on Instagram

Professional accounts can now schedule posts containing the most popular types of content on Instagram including:

  • Single Pictures
  • Image Carousels
  • Videos
  • Reels

Currently, the feature allows users to schedule these posts up to 75 days before they are to go live. 

To do this, open the Instagram post composer and tap “Advanced settings” to find the option to “Schedule this post.”

From there, you can select the exact time and date you want the content to be published. 

This will let you get the most impact out of content releases by getting in front of your audience when they are most receptive. You can also use this to synergize content releases with the content being published on other platforms or product releases to amplify your content’s influence. 

For more, check out the announcement from Instagram here.

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TikTok Reveals Its Latest Exciting Feature – Pictures

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Though TikTok is mostly known for its video content, the platform’s latest feature is a throwback. Along with new editing abilities and longer captions for content, TikTok has revealed it is introducing a Photo Mode within its app.

What Is Photo Mode?

As announced in a recent blog post, TikTok’s Photo Mode is a new post format that creates a carousel or slideshow of still images for users to share.

Along with their original images, users can add music, filters, stickers, and more to the carousel.

Ironically, the new post format is very similar to the type of content found on Instagram – which has been repeatedly accused of copying TikTok’s features.

Though nearly every popular social network has incorporated aspects of TikTok’s layout and features in the past year or two, Instagram has received the most criticism for the ways it has borrowed from the newer platform. This may be partially because many view the two platforms as rivals.

Enhanced Editing Features

Along with the reveal of Photo Mode, TikTok introduced new editing tools for videos, photos, and more. 

As the blog post says:

“TikTok’s enhanced editing tools allow you to easily adjust clips, sounds, images, and text in a new editing environment, all within TikTok’s creation flow.”

With the new tools you can:

  • Edit clips: Stack, trim, and split video clips.
  • Edit sounds: Cut, trim, and set the duration for sounds.
  • Edit and position text: More easily edit, position, and set the duration for text.
  • Add overlays: Add photo and video overlays for picture-in-picture (or video-in-video) stacking.
  • Adjust video speed: Speed or slow the pace of video clips.
  • Frame content: Rotate or zoom in and out of frame of individual clips.
  • Add sound effects.

The new features, including Photo Mode, have been rolled out to all users in the U.S. and most other countries.

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Even The Head of Instagram Says The New Redesign is ‘Not Yet Good’

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Since it started testing a new fullscreen redesign, Instagram has come under heavy criticism from users – including high-profile figures like the Kardashians. 

Now, in a recent video, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri seems to agree that the new design is not delivering the quality experience the company had hoped for.

In the video shared on Twitter, Mosseri explained the redesign is “not yet good” and that the new layout will likely see some revisions before it becomes the default for all users. 

However, Mosseri also emphasized that the platform will not be backing away from its current direction. Recommended posts and a new emphasis on video are going to be major parts of the final redesign despite the public demand to “make Instagram Instagram again.”

More Changes Are Likely

The ongoing test has made quite a splash, but it is actually only being shown to a relatively small number of users.  While it captures what Instagram is trying to achieve, it is not up to the standards of the company.

“It’s a test to a few percentage of people out there, and the idea is that a more full-screen experience, not only for videos but for photos, might be a more fun and engaging experience. But I also want to be clear. It’s not yet good, and we’re going to have to get it to a good place if we’re going to ship to the rest of the Instagram community.”

Photos Aren’t Going Anywhere

Much of the anger about the new layout comes from the opinion that Instagram is becoming too much like TikTok by prioritizing video content. 

Though Mosseri emphasizes the platform is always going to be a photo-sharing app at its core, it also needs to grow and expand.

“I want to be clear — we’re going to continue to support photos. It’s part of our heritage. I love photos and I know a lot of you out there love photos too. That said, I need to be honest, I do believe that more and more of Instagram is going to become video over time. We see this even if we change nothing.

We see this even if you just look at chronological feed. If you look at what people share on Instagram that’s shifting more and more to videos over time. If you look at what people like and consume and view on Instagram, that’s also shifting more and more to video over time even when we stop changing anything. So we’re going to have to lean into that shift while continuing to support photos.”

Recommended Posts Are Staying In Your Feed

Another major complaint from users revolves around the inclusion of recommended content in the main feed. 

Recommended posts show content from other users you don’t currently follow. The inclusion of this type of content upset many users who found the recommended content irrelevant or poor-quality. 

Though these recommended posts are going to be sticking around, Mosseri said it is a work in progress and offered tips on how to improve the quality of recommendations:

“Recommendations are posts in your feed from accounts that you do not follow. The idea is to help you discover new and interesting things on Instagram that you might not know even exist. “It’s a test to a few percentages of people out there.”

Now, if you’re seeing things in your feed that are recommendations that you’re not interested in, that means we’re doing a bad job ranking, and we need to improve. And you can X out a recommendation, you can even snooze all recommendations for up to a month or go to your ‘following’ feed.

But we’re going to continue to try to get better at recommendations because we think it’s one of the most effective and important ways to help creators reach more people. We want to do our best by creators, particularly small creators, and we see recommendations as one of the best ways to reach a new audience and grow their following.”

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Instagram Is Getting Into Local Search With New Map Features

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Instagram is making it easier to find nearby businesses and places using its interactive maps.

The feature was revealed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a post showcasing the new maps features:

In the past. Instagram’s maps were limited to strictly showing popular posts from users nearby. With this new update though, users can search or filter the maps to find local businesses similar to how Google Maps lets users search for local businesses.

What sets Instagram’s map features apart is how they function. 

Firstly, only businesses with a professional Instagram account are eligible to be included in Instagram’s maps, unlike the automatically populated maps found on Google.

Secondly, the feature is still focused on the social experience. Rather than giving users a wealth of contact information like Google Maps or Google Business Profiles, when users tap on a business they are given the option to visit the associated page. save the company’s page for later or immediately start following the brand’s Instagram account. 

Why Is Instagram Getting Into Local Search?

It might seem odd for a social network to be essentially establishing a local search engine, but trends indicate many are already using social media for this purpose. In fact, just recently Google Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan addressed this exact trend at a conference, saying:

“In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people, when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram.”

With this in mind, it is clear Instagram is simply making it easier for users to do this with the introduction of its new map features.

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The Latest Instagram Update Might Limit Who Can See Your Posts

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Instagram is rolling out an update that expands its sensitive content filter in ways that may reduce how many people see some content.

Though the Sensitive Content Control was launched almost a year ago, in July 2021, the tool only influenced the type of content users saw in their Explore feed.

According to a new announcement, though, the newly updated version of this tool lets users control how much “sensitive content” they see across practically every section of Instagram including:

  • Search
  • Reels
  • Accounts You Might Follow
  • Hashtag Pages
  • In-Feed Recommendations
  • How Instagram is Controlling Sensitive Content

As the company explained, this does more than limit obviously inappropriate content, including graphic violence or illegal acts. It also covers “posts that don’t necessarily break our rules, but could potentially be upsetting to some people.”

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Content showing violence, including fighting between individuals
  • Sexually explicit or suggestive content, such as people in see-through or revealing clothing
  • Content promoting controversial or dangerous products such as tobacco, vaping, adult products, or pharmaceutical drugs
  • Content promoting or showing cosmetic procedures
  • Content or pages which sell products or services targeting health, including weight-loss supplements

Following the new update, users can select between three different levels of sensitive content moderation:

  • Less: Restricts sensitive content to the greatest amount
  • Standard: The default state for all users, which automatically limits some sensitive content
  • More: Users over the age of 18 can opt-in to see the widest range of content, including sensitive content which does not directly violate Instagram’s rules and guidelines.

Why This Matters

While most upstanding brands are normally unaffected by these types of updates, this could potentially have a much wider effect on companies or pages across a huge range of industries. 

The undefined nature of what constitutes “sensitive content” raises eyebrows, especially when it includes some content many users may not find controversial or objectionable. Additionally, users are having some content filtered out by default and must essentially opt out of this tool if they are of age. 

This creates the potential for Instagram to start limiting the reach of content from many companies who had previously found success using the platform to reach their audience. How large the impact of this is yet to be seen. If you see a significant drop in the number of people seeing your Instagram posts in the next few weeks though, you probably know why.

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