Social media news round-up (late June 2023)

We’re sharing the latest news and tips for social media marketing success

Welcome to The Content Emporium’s ‘Social Media News Round-Up’, your go-to source for the latest news, updates and trends in the social media world.

Whether you’re a seasoned social media marketer or just starting out, we aim to provide you with actionable insights into the latest social media news to elevate your strategy to new heights.

This week's social media news brings an abundance of exciting updates on Instagram, AI advancements for Meta, removal of creator features from LinkedIn, and much more.

You can now download Instagram Reels

Instagram is currently rolling out the ability to download Reels shared by public accounts directly to camera rolls. This new feature, which is only available in the US for now, will allow users to download Reels they love with a simple click of a button. Reels from private accounts will not be downloadable, and public accounts will have the ability to turn off the download feature in account settings.

Image: Instagram/Adam Mosseri

Meta is putting AI at the forefront of platform developments

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, has announced plans to put generative AI into all of its flagship products, including Facebook and Instagram. Here are a couple of recent developments:

New generative to create music from text prompts 

Meta’s latest generative AI model, ‘MusicGen’, uses text or melody prompts to create completely new music. In essence, you can specify the type of track you desire (or even hum a melody!) and it will generate different audio variations based on your input.

Ability to generate comments with AI

Instagram is currently working on the ability to generate comments with AI. According to Alessandro Paluzzi on Twitter, it seems commenting on a user’s post will be as simple as clicking a button to reveal AI-generated comment suggestions.

Image: Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) on Twitter

New option to include music tracks rolled out in Notes

Instagram has now added the ability to “share your current vibe” by adding songs in Notes. Notes could previously only include text and emojis but users will now be able to share a 30-second clip of a song.

Image: Instagram

It has also been announced by Alessandro Paluzzi that Instagram is also currently working on the ability to create audio notes within Notes as another way for users to express themselves through the feature.

Broadcast Channels feature officially launched on Instagram

As of this week, Instagram has expanded the Instagram broadcast channels tool globally. Broadcast channels allow creators to directly reach and engage with followers at a large scale through public, one-to-one messaging. They can use text, photo, video and voice notes to share their latest updates, and followers can then react to the content and participate in polls.

Image: Instagram

Facebook releases own version of TikTok’s Creative Center

In order to spark creativity and generate new ideas for content, Facebook has introduced the ‘Inspiration Hub’ which can be found in the Professional Dashboard. The feature, much like TikTok’s Creative Center, allows creators to explore popular Reels, hashtags, topics, and music all in one place. Additionally, the Reels Composer now includes the Templates Hub, where you can discover trending, high-quality templates that simplify the process of creating captivating Reels.

Image: Facebook

New screenshots of Meta’s upcoming rival Twitter app released

Employees at Meta have been shown new screenshots of Instagram’s upcoming app, currently known as ‘Project 92’, or sometimes, ‘Barcelona’. In the meeting, Meta’s chief product officer Chris Cox called the app “our response to Twitter” and revealed it will integrate users’ account details from Instagram, helping to streamline the transition process for Instagram users.

Image: The Verge

LinkedIn is removing carousel post feature 

LinkedIn has announced that, from the 26th June 2023, it will be removing the ability to create carousel posts. A carousel post allows users to combine multiple images and/or videos into a single post, but this feature will soon be phased out, though current posts will still be viewable. This news also comes along with the announcement of the removal of profile videos and in-image links on LinkedIn.

More in the world of social media…