We just love December, well, who doesn’t? It is festive, colder, and of course the holiday season that leads to a new year. 2021 at Social Champ has been all about newness and evolution meanwhile social media saw significant developments in-app and, in general, globally.
We started this year with the launch of Social Champ 2.0 in January, which further led to the addition of Instagram Direct postings in March, integrating Canva, Crello and Wave.Video in April-June and closing the year with our ultimate favourite, YouTube integration.
Being a competitive social media management tool in the market could be tricky yet very rewarding when your customers shower their unconditional love over you and this is what keeps us going to strive for better.
So this was our December, but how did social media celebrate it?
Let’s take a quick overview of all the major updates from the last month of 2021.
A More Lively and In-The-Moment Reddit Features
Reddit has been trying to maximize engagement and facilitate deeper conversations since some good times, and achieving these goals; they created both text and audio chat rooms.
This month Reddit launched a couple of new and much interactive features to the platform, including:
Animated Comment Count: From static comment and vote counts to animated and non-static numbers in feeds on posts as the vote counts go up or down in real-time.
Typing and Reading Indicator: For Redditors, when more than one or more will be typing to comment within posts, an anonymous avatar in comment windows will be shown. Similarly, reading indicators note when five or more Redditors are reading a post by displaying grouped anonymous avatars in a pill at the top of comment sections in posts.
New Comment Indicator: Now, when new comments are added to a stream you’re in, this new indicator will help you stay on top of the evolving discussion.
Facebook Adds Inspiration Hub to Creator Studio
Facebook further strengthens its Creator Studio by now introducing the ‘Inspiration Hub’ feature. This particular feature will help you stay updated with the recent trending posts and hashtags related to your niche and business type.
According to the social media expert Matt Navarra, the new Inspiration Hub will be accessed from the Home tab in Creator Studio once it is available for all. To access all top trending content, Facebook will provide several filters like time frame, platform, page category, language, and more.
New Topic Option by Clubhouse
Over time, we have seen how a platform with discoverable depths works more among the audience than others. Like Twitter, who recently tested their deeper search option within profiles, Clubhouse rolled out the feature ‘Topics,’ also formally known as Interests.
Topics will have a broader and better list of topics that will make it easier to discover rooms and clubs, as well as the option to display topics you follow on your profile so people can quickly see what you’re all about).
As stated by Clubhouse:
Topics help you find the rooms, clubs, and people with shared passions or relevant expertise. Starting today, Topics will be more extensive, more helpful, and available in more places so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for on Clubhouse.
Clubhouse will be rolling out these features on both Android and iOS devices. With this said, they left readers with a bit of hint that users may create their own topics very soon.
Instagram’s ‘Dancify’ Option for Reels
According to the app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi
#Instagram is working on “Dancification”, a new feature for #Reels that can automatically dancify your clip to any track
What exactly is ‘dancification’ here?
If we aren’t wrong then this is similar to TikTok’s ‘auto-sync’ feature where a user can sync their uploaded videos with any music track available within the platform. Instagram just named it differently as ‘Dancify’ for this new Reels addition. This is confirmed that it is yet a prototype and not in testing.
LinkedIn to Launch Hindi Language Support
Say ‘Namaste’ to LinkedIn in Hindi – is exactly how LinkedIn shared this news with its audience this month on launching the first Indian regional language on LinkedIn to support the vast Hindi-speaking community. India is the leading user market for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Clubhouse. It is yet the second leading region for LinkedIn after the US, but it growing fast.
With this new implementation, users can now create their profiles in Hindi for Hindi-speaking users and recruiters.
LinkedIn stated:
We understand that community and conversations are extremely personal, and so is language. To support more local language content, we will continue to add more Hindi publishers and creators to the platform over the coming months.
Auto-Delete or Disappearing Messages on WhatsApp
Since the launch of Meta, the company looks quite focused on user privacy after introducing end-to-end encryption features by default to all its apps. WhatsApp launched the disappearing messages last year and more recently this with images and videos to be viewed more like Snapchat.
Initially, the disappearing messages were just an option between ‘on and off’, but this month WhatsApp introduced more depth into it by enabling how long you stick around messages, with default disappearing messages and multiple durations: 24 hours and 90 days, as well as the existing option of 7 days.
WhatsApp added:
WhatsApp users will now have the option to turn on disappearing messages by default for all new chats. When enabled, all new one-on-one chats you or another person start will be set to disappear at your chosen duration, and we’ve added a new option when creating a group chat that lets you turn it on for groups you create.
Instagram Adds Custom Text to Link Stickers
After quitting Swipe-Up Links and replacing them with Link Stickers, Instagram now paints it more colourful by adding the capacity to add custom text to link stickers.
This just doesn’t seem to be a good marketing strategy from Instagram’s side but will give great creative liberty to Gram users to attract more engagement on their stories which they can push directly to their websites.
Pinterest Acquires Video Editing App Vochi
Vochi is a video creation and editing app with quality tools for creators. The good news is that Pinterest announced this month that they had acquired Vochi to help creators bring more quality video content onboard.
Our vision is to create a place where Pinners can go from inspiration to realization, and having more creator tools can help us further this vision,…We’re excited to work with Vochi’s talented team to bring more video creation tools and quality content to our more than 400 million Pinners around the world. – Bin Liu, Head of Creators Engineering at Pinterest.
Vochi enables users to remove items from clips, add 3D effects, and add other specialized visual features that can make your clips stand out in feeds. Vochi will continue to be available as a standalone app for now.
Twitter Acquires Messaging App Quill
This month, Twitter acquired Quill, a business-focused messaging service meant to compete against the likes of Slack and keep people, well, more focused.
This is just a step to diversify the platform further to make it more efficient for messaging communication via advanced layout and sorting options, which are more specifically aligned to professional than personal communication.
Nick Caldwell stated:
We’re bringing their experience and creativity to Twitter as we work to make messaging tools like DMs a more useful & expressive way people can have conversations on the service.
In May, Twitter acquired content subscription platform Scroll, which it hasn’t actually integrated so far, but has instead included as an element within its Twitter Blue offering. Twitter also acquired newsletter platform Revue in January, which now serves as a mostly separate, supplementary element to the tweet experience.
Sensitive Images and Videos in Tweets Can Be Marked
Twitter is now testing new reporting options for images and videos when tweeted by a user to avoid unnecessary exposure to sensitive content. Twitter always had a self-reporting-based option where Twitter itself used to detect sensitive or violent content, which wasn’t the perfect system. This extra measure would enable more people to flag their content to avoid any potential restrictions or penalties for posting.
According to Twitter
People use Twitter to discuss what’s happening in the world, which sometimes means sharing unsettling or sensitive content. We’re testing an option for some of you to add one-time warnings to photos and videos you Tweet out, to help those who might want the warning.
As it can be seen, when a user selects a video or image, they can choose an option to flag their tweet with the visual hidden behind a blurred pane.
Twitter Tests Full-Screen Display for Explore
If your explore bar looks different, you are indeed in the new test version. Just like TikTok, Twitter tests full-screen display for its explore tab to help you discover the best content that’s trending.
It’s currently available in certain countries for some of you who use Twitter in English on Android and iOS.
New Tools for Live-Stream on Facebook
Facebook recently launched a newer look and a much-simplified navigation menu for creators to go Live with Facebook on both mobile and desktop. This will make going live more accessible, and the main insights and tools one needs before and during your live broadcast will be more visible.
Since the launch of Live video on Facebook, a total of 10 billion broadcasts have been done by people. The new Facebook Live will include the following features as per Facebook:
Featured Links: Featured Links will allow creators to add third-party links, one or multiple, to their live broadcasts, and viewers can visit these links without leaving the live video.
Polls: The polls experience, which was Previously done only on desktop, is now being tested on mobile phones.
Live With: We are expanding the number of people you can co-broadcast using Live With on Facebook. Creators will soon go live with up to three additional guests, opening up opportunities to go live with other creators, friends, and fans.
Live In Stories: Now, creators can share their live broadcasts directly to Facebook Stories as another way to maximize the reach of the content with their audience.
Badges: Facebook rolled out a redesigned Badges experience to allow creators more clearly recognize the fans who support them with badges next to their names.
Front Row: Facebook is introducing the “Front Row” section for a live broadcast where creators can easily know who their most devoted viewers in the video are at any time.
YouTube Tests New Features in Videos
YouTube is testing a new option that will automatically provide a new link format for any places mentioned within YouTube clips. At the same time, it will also now enable creators to edit auto-chapters with text descriptions.
As described by YouTube:
This new feature, within the video description box, will give users an easy and engaging way to find out about places mentioned in a video.
The creators have had to add in-text links to additional information about places mentioned in the video. The new feature will automatically add a new visual link format for videos where YouTube can detect a place mentioned. YouTube says that it will begin testing the format with selected food and drinks videos, with more to come in the future.
YouTube is also testing the ‘Collections’ option for channel subscriptions, which will make it easier for users to find videos in different categories, based on the channels they’ve chosen to follow.
Explained by YouTube:
To make it easier for viewers to organize and find content quickly in your Subs feed, we’re testing out customizable ‘collections’ that will appear at the top of your feed. If you’re in the experiment, you’ll see we’re starting with a ‘Favorites’ collection, which is based on subscriptions you’ve recently watched. You can edit your collections, including the Favorites collection, by simply adding or removing channels from your Favorites. You’ll also be able to create new collections around topics, creators, and other content you enjoy.
Instagram Adds Reels Replies
Initially, it was testing, but now Instagram has officially launched Reels Visual Replies. Yes, these visual replies will be a comment reply to a reel which will pop up as a sticker.
According to Instagram,
That’s why we’re excited to launch Reels Visual Replies, a new feature to interact with your audience. You can now reply to comments with Reels, and the comment will pop up as a sticker.
It’s another way to integrate Reels into the Instagram process and to help Instagram boost engagement. Instagram has been working hard to get hold of the trending short-form video trend, and unsurprisingly, this new feature is identical to the same feature that TikTok added in June last year.
Reply With an Idea Pin On Pinterest
Pinterest announced something similar just like other social media networks, a more engaging and attractive aspect to the Pin commenting, now with an Idea Pin. Now there will be more ways to engage with your community on Pinterest. Respond to all the comments, questions, and requests with a tailored Idea Pin reply.
Instead of writing long, descriptive replies, one can simply take a picture of the thing and attach it as an idea-pin in the comments. Simply tap on the three dots menu next to any comment, which will give you an option to ‘Reply with new Idea Pin.’ That will then open up the full-screen Idea Pin composer to add more context to your response.
Preview Voice Messages on WhatsApp
This month WhatsApp added a handy addition. You can Preview your voice messages on WhatsApp before sending them. So now there are fewer chances of making mistakes and sending them broken, incomplete, and whispering voice messages to anyone.
For a long time, people wanted to have something like this, which could make them feel more confident about sending voice messages, and the majority used to send one and hear it later to be sure.
TikTok Tests Live-Streaming App on Desktops
According to journalist Zach Bossey
TikTok has quietly launched its own streaming software called TikTok Live Studio.
So as read, TikTok is currently testing a new desktop streaming app, which would enable users to broadcast directly from their PCs to TikTok Live, facilitating more ways to connect with the TikTok audience. The app seems to be focused on game streaming, with various gaming elements built-in. An added capability to stream from the desktop could facilitate a range of new use cases, with brands also, potentially, able to broadcast more professional streams directly to audiences via these new control and editing options.
TikTok Tests ‘Re-Post’ Option
While other social networks are busy imitating features from TikTok, TikTok itself is currently testing a new ‘Repost’ option with some users, enabling them to re-share TikTok clips to their followers, with the re-posted clip then displayed in their connections’ feeds.
As posted by user Kev Adriano, some users can now see the ‘Repost’ button in their sharing options, which essentially amplifies that clip by re-sharing it in both the ‘Following’ and ‘For You’ feeds of your connections. When you re-post a clip, your connections will be able to see that you’ve re-shared it in the video details, along with any comments you’ve added to the clip.
Clubhouse Launches Saved Replays
Just before the festivities start and holidays kick in, Clubhouse announced the new feature integration, the ‘Saved Replays’ option. This specific option will enable users to save the audio from recorded Clubhouse chats to listen to at a later stage.
Save replays for a room will work by tapping on the three dots menu from the live room, within which you’ll now see an option to ‘Save Replay’ for later. You’ll then be able to find your Saved Replays via a new share icon at the top of your profile.
That’s All Folks From the Much-Awaited Month of December…
As we all are closing the year 2021, we are eagerly looking forward to how the digital space will grow and how the metaverse situation evolves. 2022 will be about what new trends will explore the digital market, and eventually, will there be an end to pandemic, lockdowns, and work from home culture?
Social Champ has some power-pack new year alerts for everyone, which we will be disclosing one after the other, but until then, we wish you all a very happy new year 😀
