New social media features and updates you need to know this week
Updates from Threads, LinkedIn and, as always, X.
When was the last time we had a boring week in social media? Probably sometime before November 2022, if we had to guess.
Threads continues to make slow progress to turn its rushed launch into a full-featured product, finally rolling out a desktop version. Meanwhile, Elon Musk is once again making big promises about features — will any actually come to fruition? And of course, other social networks are making incremental changes to improve their services without making nearly the same waves as those two titans.
Let’s get into it.
Threads
Two months after its launch, Threads has rolled out a desktop version of what had previously been a mobile-only experience. Users can now browse and post from their computers, though major features like general and hashtag search still languish. Will this be enough to counter its dramatic decrease in daily users?
Go deeper: The cautionary lessons from Threads’ meteoric launch — and decline
Twitter/X
In a move that Elon Musk claims personal responsibility for, X will soon do away with the headline previews that currently appear just above hyperlinks, leaving only a preview image. Musk says it will “greatly improve (aesthetics),” though it will likely also strike a blow against news outlets and other organizations that seek to push traffic from X to their own websites. As always, keep in mind that announcements Musk makes should be taken with a grain of salt — the grad pronouncements he makes don’t always come to pass. We’ll see if this one does.
In more concrete news, X is rolling out a beta version of a new feature called X Hiring. According to a tweet from the service’s official account, this service will allow Verified Organizations (read: paying organizations) to display job postings directly on their X profile. Apply for the beta here.
Meta
Messenger Lite, an app originally created as a lightweight option for Android phones, will be sunset on Sept. 18, 9to5Google reported. Previous users will have to go with the bulkier, standard Messenger experience.
Meta continues to roll out improvements to its metaverse, Meta Horizons World. In a release notes update, a special focus was put on making it easier to access safety tools like block, mute and report.
New safety features are also rolling out at Pinterest, the company announced. Users of all ages, not just those under 16, will now be able to choose to set their accounts to private, where they will only be discoverable by those with a link to their profile. Everyone will also have the ability to remove followers. For those under 16, messaging features have been restricted to “mutual followers who have been accepted through a unique profile link that expires after 3 days or when they get 5 new followers with the shareable link, whichever comes first,” according to the company announcement.
YouTube
Responding to quickly evolving questions surrounding AI and music, YouTube has announced new principles governing its actions. This includes the launch of YouTube’s Music AI Incubator in partnership with Universal Music, which the company says, “will help gather insights on generative AI experiments and research that are being developed at YouTube.” There are no hard-and-fast rules in the new principles, just governing ideas and concepts as we all work to confront our new reality with AI. It’s worth familiarizing yourself with these ideas as we move forward.
Google has updated a number of policies to comply with new EU privacy regulations, mostly focusing on transparency surrounding policies, ads and data access for researchers.
BeReal
BeReal is struggling to regain its relevance with new features including a Friends of Friends feed to aid discoverability, @ mentions and pinned posts, the company announced.
The app is rolling out new advertising tools: Reddit Brand Lift and Reddit Conversion Lift, Search Engine Land reported. Brand Lift uses a survey to oversee the success of various campaign factors, including calls to action, as well as overall brand perception. Conversion Lift analyzes actions taken, like apps downloaded, purchases and more.
TikTok
TikTok will shutter its Storefront service on Sept. 12, the app announced, and transition to TikTok Shop, which “enables brands to showcase and sell products directly on TikTok through shoppable in-feed videos, LIVE shopping sessions, and a product showcase tab on your TikTok profile page,” according to the announcement.
LinkedIn has announced a revamped look for its popular newsletter feature. A new article editing interface is designed to simplify the writing process with a cleaner CMS and tools including save draft and scheduling features. You can now also customize an SEO title, which could prove a big boost for discoverability, as will a new auto-follow feature for subscribers. You’ll also be able to create up to five newsletters per LinkedIn page or profile, allowing for better audience segmentation.
Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
