The ever changing world of Social Media.
In this continually updated blog we’ll be rounding up the latest platform changes in social media.
We’ll be predominantly looking at the big 4 (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn) with occasional forays into other platforms.
Alex McCann, owner of Altrincham HQ, has guided thousands of businesses in social media strategy over the last 15 years. With a client list featuring BBC, Manchester City, Selfridges, and Costa Coffee, his Manchester-based company manages over 200 hours of campaigns monthly, adapting to social media shifts in real time.
A former journalist with blogs reaching over half a million readers, Alex also led a 15,000-capacity arts festival. With 700+ customer reviews, Altrincham HQ is ranked the UK’s top social media marketing service on Freeindex, working with businesses nationwide on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
More info on our Social Media Training and Social Media Management
Instagram Limits Hashtags To Five …
But if we’re honest it doesn’t really make a difference.
In the old days of instagram hashtags would make about 30% difference to how a post performed.
They genuinely made a real difference to how many you reached.
Nowadays for the average business they make less than 1% difference to the reach of a post.
There are exceptions like events – I’m a runner so obvious hashtags like #Altrincham10k and #ManchesterMarathon are really useful – but in the main if you see hashtags on our posts it’s down to old habits rather than them making an meaningful difference.
Facebook tests £9.99 monthly subscription for sharing more than two links
I’m going to proceed with caution here … and also offer 2 warnings
– Firstly … I don’t think this will roll out fully. I might regret posting this in the future, but I feel there will be too much kickback against it.
– Secondly … links still do drive traffic to websites, but they’ve always been the worst performing type of content in terms of engagement. So many people have already been in the practice of posting links in comments and also turning content on websites into graphics, videos and images.
– And if Facebook is your only platform to market your business you might want to consider other options as well. We’ve seen in the past where businesses who only use Facebook have closed down after shifts in the algorithm.
TikTok rolls out a ‘Nearby Feed’ to display local content in select countries
This is the feed I need now – and I’m gutted it’s not rolled out to my account yet.
Announcing on the TikTok blog they say
“Today we’re announcing the Nearby Feed to help our community discover and connect with the world around them. Whether you’re looking for a new restaurant close to home, or a new place to explore during your next trip, the Nearby Feed makes it easy to discover and connect with local content, creators, and businesses wherever you are.
The Nearby Feed helps people explore what’s happening close to them, from discovering local creators and trending spots to everyday moments that reflect their community. To improve this experience, people will soon see the option to share more accurate information if they choose when they access the Nearby Feed. This helps TikTok show content and recommendations that are more relevant to your location, making it easier to discover what’s trending nearby.”
I’m intrigued as to whether for us local would mean as hyper-local as Altrincham … or it would mean Manchester.
Either way when everyone gets it, it’s a big boost for local businesses on TikTok.
A lot of our local Altrincham content gets 5 figure views on the platform.
LinkedIn Launches It’s Year In Review
Call it Spotify wrapped for LinkedIn.
Not everyone on the platform has access to it, this year, but if you have you’ll see the option at the top of your profile
What stood out for us
– I joined LinkedIn in 2009
– I’ve been on LinkedIn 344 days this year (and still days to go)
– Top 5% of users
– I’m a catalyst
Many of the results are coming up the same for people, but it’s worth noting a lot of superusers will be sharing their boastful stats.
The best part for me is the most connected person. You can see mine above and I’ve know Rachel for over a decade.
I’d love a top 3 next year (or top 5).
To make it even more Spotify like.
Instagram Launches TV APP
So you can watch Reels on the big(ish) screen.
Whilst the jokes have been “The one thing I want from instagram is to watch Reels on my TV … said no-one ever” it highlights that Instagram is basically a Video app that sometimes shows photos rather than the photo sharing app it started out as.
Instagram Introduces a new way to see and control your algorithm
I’ll be honest – I don’t go to the Reels tab on Instagram that often
I’m 1. Instagram Feed 2. Instagram Stories 3. Instagram Reels – in that order.
So whilst I won’t use this feature often it is useful for regular reels users.
You simply go to the Reels tab, click settings (2 lines) top right and changes what you want more or left of
1. See your top interests: View a summary of the topics Instagram thinks you care about most, right at the top.
2. Tune your preferences: Type in the topics you want to see more or less of, and your Reels will reflect your choices.
3. Share your algorithm: If you’d like, you can share your interests to your Story, so friends and followers can see what you’re into.
What does this mean for your business?
People can be even more targeted in what they want to see – so go niche and deep in your interests.
LinkedIn aims to smash engagement pods
LinkedIn’s VP of Product Management Gyanda Sachdeva posted on LinkedIn
“Sharing an update on how we think about keeping conversations authentic on LinkedIn. Importantly, I want to reinforce that engagement pods – a coordinated group of people who like, comment and share posts to boost virality inauthentically – violate our policies on LinkedIn. Our goal is to make engagement pods ineffective. We are continuing to invest in smarter tools and stronger policies to make LinkedIn a safer, more trusted space for professionals. I’ll continue to share updates on this front.”
If you’re part of an engagement pod – NOW is the time to leave.
Learn how to create content that stands up on it’s own rather than relying on your Whatsapp Group
Instagram Adds Competitor Insights for Professional Accounts
Advance warning: only 1 of 7 accounts we manage the social media has this feature.
Instagram is rolling out a new Competitive Insights feature for business and creator accounts. You’ll find it in your Professional Dashboard, and it lets you track up to 10 competitor accounts to see how you stack up. You can compare follower growth and posting activity side by side—everything from Reels and feed posts to ads and beyond.
It’s another feature than Instagram has seemingly “borrowed from somewhere else. In this case LinkedIn where company pages have had it for a long time.
TikTok has accidentally become big on News
In 2025 more than half (55 per cent) of TikTok users say they regularly consume news on the app.
A quote from a publisher said
“f your newsroom isn’t visible in the first hour, you’re invisible in the conversation that follows. Data shared by TikTok itself during one of its News Summits organised for media outlets consistently shows that audience interest peaks between 30 and 120 minutes after an event. Miss that window, and the algorithm will push someone else’s version of the story.”
On TikTok for us at Altrincham HQ it’s often where we’ll produce local news stories that we then roll out on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube shorts. One such video this week reached 100,000+ people within 24 hours.
OpenAI says it’s fixed ChatGPT’s em dash problem
OpenAI just announced that ChatGPT will drop the em dashes if you ask it to. You know the ones—those telltale dashes that have been showing up all over social media
They’ve basically become the unofficial signature of AI-generated text, and people have been calling out writers who use them for taking shortcuts with chatbots instead of doing the work themselves.
Don’t take this to mean you lazily use ChatGPT though – the em dash was just one of about 7-10 easy giveaways.
More info: https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/14/openai-says-its-fixed-chatgpts-em-dash-problem/
Instagram is testing 20 minute reels
Yes you read that right – 20 minute reels.
But we’re going to keep this very brief.
Unless you have a loyal dedicated fanbase nobody will watch your 20 minutes reels.
This move is all about instagrams ability to put more adverts in 20 minute reels.
Replying to comments on your own social media posts BOOSTS engagement but up 42%
It’s pretty much the most basic advice ever – but so many businesses don’t do this.
They leave people hanging
Buffer has done the heavy listing and researched 2 million posts from over 220,000 accounts
Across the board, social media posts with replied-to comments outperform those without — by anywhere from 5% to over 40%.
Here’s the breakdown for each platform – we know most of you aren’t on Threads, but it works on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook
| Platform | Engagement lift (vs. baseline) |
|---|---|
| Threads | +42% |
| +30% | |
| +21% | |
| +9% |
Read the full research
https://buffer.com/resources/replying-to-comments-boosts-engagement/
How much time are people spending on social media
2h 23m per day / per user 18h 36m per week—across all demographics.
It’s been that level for years now.
Social Media is the way people spend their spare time now.
Instagram New Interface Rolls Out
Instagram is prioritizing growth areas on the app and has put Reels and Direct messages at the centre of that
Instagram’s refreshed interface puts Reels in the second tab and DMs in the third for faster access.
Create has now move to top left of the app
We’re advising a lot of clients to be reels 1st and photos 2nd when looking at Instagram. Take a look at our feed to see us walking the talk.
LinkedIn Limits Competitor Analysis for Non-Paying Company Page
One of the most frustrating parts of LinkedIn’s removal of free features.
In our recent poll only 32% of voters users, 31% had never heard of it and 38% didn’t use it.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t useful.,
We changed our whole LinkedIn company page strategy from data within the insights.
Free company page users can still have competitor analysis vs 1 competitor whilst paid for premium users can track 9 other companies.
TIKTOK EXTENDS BIO LIMIT
Putting your whole business into 80 characters was damn near impossible
So they’ve extended it to 160 characters which is still short, punchy and to the point.
Update your bio now and use the most of the characters.
Mine is now “Manchester, UK based social media company. Worked with BBC, Costa Coffee, Selfridges, NHS. We improve your visibility, engagement & sales. 800 customer reviews.” – that’s right up to the 160 to give you an idea of length.
THREADS IS ON TRACK TO OVERTAKE X / TWITTER IN TERMS OF DAILY USERS
We rarely featured platforms outside of the big 4
But did you know this?
Threads is now on par with X, in terms of daily active users, and is even exceeding it on some days.
Threads is META’s version of Twitter.
Still, vast majority of social media users don’t want platforms as noisy as X / Twitter or Threads.
They’re more comfortable with FB, Insta, TikTok, LinkedIn
FACEBOOK OFFERS £2.99 MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FEE TO STOP ADVERTS
Facebook and Instagram to get £2.99 UK monthly subscription fee to stop ads.
I’ll be honest – often the adverts of useful and targeted so I don’t feel the need to remove them.
On the other hand LinkedIn’s adverts often seem general and not relevant.
HOW OFTEN TO WORK WITH A CREATOR ON YOUR BRAND?
Although the survey happened in March 2025 – the results have just been announced
“28% of worldwide consumers say they need to see a creator promote a product 3 to 4 times before making a purchase, according to a March 2025 impact.com and EMARKETER survey.”
We’ve often said one of the 2nd biggest mistake a business makes when they open is only working with us once for their launch.
The biggest mistake of course is not working with us at all.
So if you’re looking to work with us consider how you can not only do a launch campaign but a campaign in month 2,3,4 as well
Email us on alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk to get on board
LINKEDIN CRACKS DOWN ON ENGAGEMENT PODS
We’re praying and hoping this is true.
Oscar Rodriguez, VP of Product at LinkedIn, has posted on the following in a Linkedin article
“Our goal is to make engagement pods ineffective. We’re continually improving our systems to spot suspicious patterns, flag posts that look artificially boosted, and limit their reach in the feed. We’re also cracking down on third-party tools, like browser extensions or plug-ins, that enable this type of manipulation.
Beyond that, we’re reducing the number of low quality posts, including click bait, promotional content and automated comments. When we detect patterns that suggest a person or company may be creating this type of inauthentic engagement around their own posts, it can affect how that content is distributed across the platform. Additionally, we pursue legal action, when appropriate, against third-party tools that try to game the system.”
Time will tell.
Every LinkedIn trainer worth their word will tell you not to join an engagement pod.
So if you’re in one … leave immediate and post the Link to this article before you leave to warn others.
LINKEDIN WANTS YOUR POSTS TO TRAIN AI (and you have to opt out)
If you didn’t get the memo – LinkedIn are making changes on November 3rd!
“Starting on November 3, 2025, we’ll also use data from members in your region to improve the content-generating AI that enhances your experience and better connects our members to opportunities. This can help hirers find and reach you more easily, and assist members in creating content such as profile updates, messages, and posts. This could include data like details from your profile and public content you create on LinkedIn; it does not include your private messages. You can opt out anytime in your settings if you’d prefer not to have your data used in this way. If you’ve already submitted the Data Processing Objection Form, please check your settings to make sure your choice to opt out is shown.”
You can change your settings here https://www.linkedin.com/mypreferences/d/settings/data-for-ai-improvement
INSTAGRAM “FIXES” INSTAGRAM STORY ALGORITHM
Please note, Adam Mosseri (head of instagram) has only just announced this and we’re yet to test how true it is.
We’ll be testing in the next 48 hours to see if it’s true.
But Instagram have listened to the problem every account has had with sharing multiple stories in one day.
You’ll probably have noticed we used to share around 4 stories a day until Instagram punished our reach if we shared more than 1 or 2. On days we’ve had our local networking events we’ve seen huge drops in reach as we try to share every story we get tagged in.
Well here’s the words from Adam Mosseri today
“one thing I saw over and over again is that people were complaining about getting less reach with their stories if they posted lots of stories in the same day, and that is not at all the intended behavior of Instagram. So we looked into it, and we figured out what was going on, and we’ve addressed the issue. Now. It is still the case that not everyone who taps on your first story is going to tap all the way through to your last story, but no longer will posting more and more stories in the same day decrease the reach of your stories overall, particularly that first story. So if you want to post a lot in the same day, you can do so totally comfortably. And I will continue to scour those comments and those DMS for more opportunities for us to do a bit better. Thanks for the feedback. Peace.”
If you want us to share an update from your business in stories then please DM us in Instagram if it ticks the following 2 boxes
– A genuinely interesting story NOT an advert
– A story you feel our 8600+ Altrincham / Trafford / Manchester followers will be interested in
INSTAGRAM NOW ALLOWS ACCOUNTS TO PIN THEIR OWN COMMENTS ON POSTS
You’ve been able to post other people’s comment on your posts for a while.
Now you can in your own.
Simply long press on one of your own comments and the option appears.
Here are 3 ways you can use it
1. A Part 2 of the post: sometimes the instagram caption limits are too short.
2. Next Steps
3. A question to create more discussion
How will you use it?
INSTAGRAM LAUNCHES AN IPAD VERSION OF THE APP
And I know what you’re think – it’s just a bigger version of the Iphone App.
There are some major differences.
It will open up the app on the Reels tab provide a Reels 1st experience.
Which will annoy many (inc us) who remember the days when Instagram was a photos sharing app.
Reels actually make up 50% of the time people spend on Instagram itself so they’re catering for their audience.
TIKTOK NOW ALLOWS BUSINESSES TO SCHEDULE
You can now schedule TikTok’s from within the app.
This is making TikTok more accessible to business owners.
And like Instagram scheduling the option is hidden away in more options.
Produce your TikTok as normal and when it gets to the post option simply click “more options” and scheduling is right at the top.
Will you be using this feature?
Instagram now lets creators link multiple reels in a series
This has been one of the most requested features on Instagram.
But I feel it should go a step further.
We’re currently doing a series of photo based content on Lessons From 16 Years Of Altrincham HQ. So why is it only reels you can link and not photo series?
The Link a Reel feature is just beneath your captions when you post.
Social Media Referral Traffic in 6 year low
It’s been well known that social media platforms don’t like external links.
Why would they? They make all the money on the platform rather than news websites or your website
Facebook traffic to the publishers included in the analysis is down 50% since the start of 2019 from 984.8 million referrals in January 2019 to 474.6 million.
However it is currently 29% higher when compared to its low point of the past few years of 368.6 million in December 2024.
You’ll notice that whenever we talk about local news on Facebook we do so in the confines of Facebook rather than trying to drive people to a website.
Also reporting such as reels has kept people on the platforms
Full info: https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/media_metrics/publisher-traffic-sources-2019-2025/
NEW STUDY FROM INSTAGRAM REVEALS HOW OFTEN YOU SHOULD POST TO GROW FOLLOWERS
Buffer analysed the date from over 2 million posts
And the good news is it chimes with the frequency we suggest to clients.
Key takeaways
– Posting between 3 and 5 times weekly can more than double follower growth rate, compared to posting one or two times weekly.
– Posting 3–5 times weekly could boost your reach per post by around 12% compared to your baseline.
– posting 6–9 times per week could yield nearly 3.7× the increase in follower growth rate (0.44%) of posting 1–2 times per week.
– Posting 10 or more times per week could mean about a 5.5× increase
In social media training sessions we always say 4-5 posts per week is manageable for the average business owner whilst still keep quality up
Read the full info here
https://buffer.com/resources/how-often-to-post-on-instagram/
INSTAGRAM ALLOWS REPOSTS – BUT ARE THEY A FORCE FOR GOOD?
I’m torn on the latest update for Instagram
Is it good or is it bad?
First up here’s the update from Instagram themselves
“Repost your favourite reels and posts
With reposts, you can repost public reels and feed posts, making it easier for you to share your interests with your friends. Reposts will be recommended to your friends’ and followers’ feeds, and they’ll also be in a separate tab on your profile, so you can always go back to revisit your reposts.
Reposts are credited to the original poster. If you’re a creator, this means that if your content is reposted by someone else, it may be recommended to that person’s followers, even if those people don’t follow you. This gives creators an opportunity to reach even more people.”
So
Great – I can share and support fantastic independent businesses and give them extra reach
Bad – Will reposts be like Instagram Stories where if you share more than a couple of updates a day it harms your reach? Will engagement pods just turn the instagram feed into a spam fest where people are begging in Whatsapp messages for reposts? Will people actually repost smaller creators or just reposts major brands and celebrities?
What do you think?
INSTAGRAM RESTRICTS LIVES TO ACCOUNTS WITH OVER 1000 FOLLOWERS
In my honest opinion this is a good thing.
Instagram has quietly announced that “Only public accounts with 1,000 followers or more will be able to create live videos.”
For far too long accounts have been going live without any meaningful strategy and it’s meant low quality broadcasts and extra notifications.
The word create is an interesting choice in that can the host with more than 1000 followers go live and then invite someone with less than 1000 followers?
LINKEDIN ANNOUNCED “RECORD LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT” (again)
It’s become a bit of a running joke on LinkedIn’s record levels of engagement every quarter.
Jokes aside it has become the number 1 way to connect at networking events these days.
You often connect on LinkedIn before you swap business cards these days.
The key update again shows comments and videos are increasing.
“Comments are up over 30%, and video uploads have increased by more than 20% this year”
I say this regularly on every platform – comments are essential to stand out.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS CLARIFY WHAT COUNTS AS A “VIDEO VIEW”
Are your video views as meaningful as you thought?
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube Shorts all count 1 second as a video view.
LinkedIn isn’t far behind with 2 seconds counted as a video view.
That people is literally a scroll past the video.
Full details here
FACEBOOK CONFIRMS THAT LINKS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN COMMENTS RATHER THAN POSTS
This weekend, multiple users reported seeing a new recommendation in their Facebook Page insights within the Professional Dashboard.
Facebook is now officially advising page administrators to place external links in the first comment of their posts, rather than embedding URLs directly in the post content.
It’s always been advised by social media marketers to do this, but this represents a confirmation from Meta in Facebook’s recommended best practices for link sharing that could impact organic reach and engagement strategies.
TIKTOK NOW HAS MORE THAN 30 MILLION UK USERS
30 million users and there will still be business owners out there saying TikTok is just for kids
– More than 30 million people across the UK now use TikTok each month*, making the UK our largest user community in Europe
– There are now over 1.5 million British businesses on TikTok, with Oxford Economics research finding SMEs on TikTok contributing an additional £1.6 billion to the UK economy, whilst supporting 32,000 jobs
INSTAGRAM ROLLS OUT REARRANGED GRID FEATURE
Instagram will finally let you rearrange your grid
The feature is being rolled out, so you might not have it just yet.
Traditionally the feed has always been chronological order – but no more!
You can now:
📌 Rearrange posts to create the perfect aesthetic (although that feels like a throwback)
📌 Highlight your best content strategically
📌 Design your grid layout exactly how you want it
Will you use this feature?
And how often do you go on to a grid as opposed to scrolling on the feed?
LINKEDIN SHARES VIDEO POSTING BEST PRACTICE
Most of them are fairly obvious tips like use a microphone or film vertically for mobile.
But one that maybe people need to take a look at
LinkedIn says that B2B marketers need to think beyond talking-head interviews.
“How about sharing the sights and sounds of conference events you’re attending? Filming a short video guide to a hack that could save your audience time? Recording your views on the current issues in an off-the-cuff style?”
INSTAGRAM CONTENT MAY APPEAR ON GOOGLE
People have been getting this announcement on Instagram
“Your public photos and videos may soon appear in search engine results
From 10 July 2025, search engines will automatically be allowed to show all photos and videos on result pages.
This means that more people could discover content from your professional account outside of Instagram.”
Which means – is your content SEO friendly? Is it the sort of content people may search for?
INSTAGRAM INTRODUCES 3 BIG CHANGES TO INSTA DMS
– You can now send Instagram voicenotes up to 5 minutes long
– There’s a view transcription features on voicenotes
– You can follow everyone in the group chat
People either love or hate voicenotes and i’ve always been in love sending them and love receiving them camp – but always hard to recap a note or listen to a note in a busy pub or gig.
The transcription option really helps with that.
I’ll be sending more of the voicenotes now, but I won’t be hitting the 5 minute mark.
How about you?
Send me a voicenote to @altrinchamhq if you’ve read this post.
LINKEDIN MAKE A MAJOR CHANGE TO FREE USERS
A Major CHANGE for LinkedIn …
… and it’s a detrimental one!!!
It’s unsure at the moment if this is this a permanent change or a test … but LinkedIn appear to reduced the amount of “Profile Viewers” you can see.
Logging on today users have seen the message
“Viewers you can browse for free
Browse up to 3 viewers without Premium”
Traditionally the number has always been 5 viewers without premium.
Threads has an update which may help bloggers
We rarely post about Threads on here as it’s not even in the Top 5 used social media platforms, but for bloggers this could be useful.
2 major updates from Threads right now.
– The app will now allow users to add up to five links to their Threads bios.
– Threads posts with links will now be surfaced more often in the app’s recommendations.
Full info here
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-finally-embracing-links-150012499.html?src=rss
INSTAGRAM NOW ALLOWS YOU TO HIDE YOUR INSTAGRAM REEL COUNT
In a new update where Instagram is showing the public view count of photos to the account holder, they’ve also updated settings to hide the public reel view count.
The general feeling amongst the marketing community is that those who choose to hide their reel count will be doing so as they have low views on their content.
And i’d tend to agree. It will be the same people who hide their public like count on posts.
I’m proud of how many people see our Reels whether it be 3000 views or 112,000 views that we’ve had so far this month.
ENGAGEMENT RATES FOR EACH PLATFORM REVEALED BY BUFFER
Does this surprise you?
| 6.50% 📈 | |
| 5.07% | |
| TikTok | 4.86% |
| Threads | 4.51% |
| YouTube | 4.41% |
| 3.46% | |
| X (Twitter) | 2.31% |
| 1.16% |
Breakdown and analysis https://buffer.com/resources/average-engagement-rate/
INSTAGRAM BOSS SHARES TOP TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR PROFILE IN 2025
Number 1 is one of the biggest mistakes I see businesses make – over posting on stories and under posting on feed.
Feed beats Stories: “The average creator gets way more reach through the feed,” Mosseri said, pointing out that it’s still the go-to for getting noticed.
Algorithm tweaks are small & regular: Mosseri mentioned that any big drops in reach are probably down to changes in the world, rather than major shifts in the ranking system.
Hashtags aren’t a reach booster: “Hashtags don’t really increase your reach,” Mosseri confirmed. Time to rethink that hashtag strategy!
Engage actively: Engaging while you post could help boost visits to your profile – don’t just post and ghost!
Full info https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-chief-answers-creator-questions/744813/
LINKEDIN’S NEW BENCHMARKS HIGHLIGHT KEY TRENDS IN 2025 ENGAGEMENT – ACTION POINTS FOR BRANDS
Metricools latest report has highlighted key areas you need to be focusing on for LinkedIn company pages
Leverage video: With video views up 52% and impressions climbing 73%, it’s clear that LinkedIn is prioritising video. Start incorporating more video content into your strategy to capitalise on this trend.
Maximise polls: Poll posts have seen a staggering 206% growth in reach. If you’re not using polls yet, it’s time to start. Engaging your audience with polls can significantly boost your reach and interaction.
Focus on engagement: Post clicks are up 31% across company pages. To keep up, ensure your posts are engaging and encourage user interaction through compelling calls to action.
Grow your audience: Smaller pages with fewer than 1k followers are struggling. Focus on growing your follower base and post consistently to increase visibility. Larger pages are posting more frequently and seeing stronger growth, so scale up your content output if you’re aiming for growth.
Full report here https://metricool.com/linkedin-trends-study/
CHATGPT OVERTAKES TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM IN THE APP STORE
Not technically social media, but showing the growing interesting in AI.
You’ve probably seen the AI action dolls across social media.
You now know that ChatGPT does images.
There are useful prompts you can use to improve your marketing.
But there is one thing i’d say.
If you don’t have the marketing knowledge to start with you don’t know what good looks or sounds like – so even with advent of AI you need a marketer to make sense of real marketing strategy.
TIKTOK USERS SPEND TWICE AS MUCH TIME ON THE APP AS INSTAGRAM USERS SPEND ON INSTAGRAM
Yep it’s damn addictive.
108 minutes a day addictive
And i’d personally say you can trim that time down, but taking the 15 minutes intentional approach
You set a time for 15 minutes with the idea that you’re either going to
– Engage with others (ideal clients on the app
– Scroll for inspiration and to save favourites / like posts for your future posts
https://www.thewrap.com/tiktok-users-spend-twice-time-instagram/
LINKEDIN DRILLS DOWN ON VIDEO … BUT ADVISES AGAINST TIKTOK REPOSTS
We’ve always said that in an ideal world, you should post different content to different platforms.
But time limitation means business owners often post the same content across all social media platforms.
LinkedIn has re-iterrated why people come to LinkedIn.
“Members come to LinkedIn to invest in themselves – to learn, network and be inspired. Craft videos that pair authentic storytelling with business influence to make the most out of this environment.“
So no TikTok Reposts and advise for the following
Keep video ads between 15-30 seconds for top-of-funnel awareness campaigns. Deeper engagement formats can run longer, but ideally under 2 minutes
Adopt square or vertical formats (1:1 or 9:16 aspect ratios). These are mobile-friendly and tend to perform better on LinkedIn
Add captions and/or subtitles to maximize accessibility
Ensure text overlays are concise and reinforce the key message of your video
Use eye-catching thumbnails
LINKEDIN DRILLS DOWN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF AI
LinkedIn is heavily drilling down on AI right now, so it has a vested interested in pushing figures like these.
84% of sellers say that AI saves them at least 30 mins doing routine sales tasks.
74% of salespeople agree that AI represents the future of B2B sales
73% believe that teams that don’t embrace AI will fall behind.
65% of sellers believe that by using AI, they are more likely to exceed their sales quotas
But you can’t deny that AI plays a huge part in all fields.
If you’d like to share how you’re using AI In Sales please send an email to alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
LinkedIn Rolls Out Comment Impression Counts
I tell every single person – you’re missing out on LinkedIn if you don’t spend time commenting on your networks post
After reading this blog – jump over here and comment on our most recent post here https://www.linkedin.com/in/amccann/
I’ve not got access to this yet, but some users are now able to see impression counts on their comments beneath LinkedIn posts.
I’m in mixed minds if this a good thing or not.
Powerful motivation if you see your comment has got 100’s or 1000’s of views (and this is possible)
Demoralising to some if you see your comment has got 4 views.
To myself commenting isn’t about the views or impressions – it’s about the 121 relationship building that those comments get.
Youtube’s Advertising influence on Children
“75% of kids ask their parents to buy something after seeing it in an ad on YouTube”
Damn high
And I’m showing my age here. But I remember crying and shouting a lot until I got my very 1st computer, The Vic20.
Advertising is powerful and kids are spending more time online.
2 stats here
- YouTube is the most popular platform for kids, with Shorts usage increasing 32% year-over-year.
– YouTube’s viewership share was more than twice as large as broadcast TV’s
Instagram explains how longer posts perform in the algorithm
Adam Mosseri, you know the guy mention 20 million times in this blog, explains
“We don’t want to penalize longer videos, which is why we look at not only the percentage of a video that was watched, but also the number of seconds. If you watched 10 seconds of a minute long video, that is just as many seconds as if it was 10 seconds of a 10 second video, so you won’t be penalized.“
A big caveat here.
Your loose connections or 1st time visitors aren’t as invested in you as much as they are by well known creators. So respect their time and realise most people probably won’t watch a 60 second or 3 minute video of someone they’ve seen for the 1st time. In our experience shorter videos routinely outperform longer videos – and by long we mean closer to the 1 minute mark.
Facebook Introduces 30 Day Limit To Facebook Live Replays
Massive change for any businesses going live on Facebook on a regular basis.
Yes – those businesses doing things like “talking to camera” lives or interviews with other business owners.
Meta is rolling out a significant update in how Facebook handles Live videos, which will impact how user-generated content is managed on the platform.
From this week onward, freshly aired live broadcasts on Facebook pages or profiles can now be replayed, downloaded, or shared for a limited period of 30 days. This marks a departure from the previous policy of indefinite storage.
Got some older live videos? Live videos currently older than 30 days will be removed from Facebook. Before your archival live videos are deleted, you will be notified by email and in the app, and from then you’ll have 90 days to download or transfer your content.
Business owners will still be able to clip parts of the videos to share as permanent reels within that 30 day period.
The update at the moment seems to apply just to Facebook rather than Instagram.
Instagram introduces 4 main Direct Message Features
To keep up with other platforms Instagram has introduced 4 new features
– Scheduled DM’s – you can now schedule a DM up to 29 days in advance by long holding the send button
– Message translations for up to 99 countries (useful for international business
– Share music directly in the apps DM (more personal than business)
– Pin up to 3 messages in your chats
Instagram Tests Dislike Button
Is it something to be concerned about for most business owners?
Probably not.
This is geared at larger accounts and celebrities.
99.9% of business owners are kind and so are the comments that are posted from followers.
And as you know you can delete comments on Instagram posts.
But here the latest update from Adam Mosseri on the change
“Some of you may have seen that we’re testing a new button next to comments on Instagram – this gives people a private way to signal that they don’t feel good about that particular comment. I want to be clear: this is a test, there is no dislike count, nor will anyone know if you tap the button. Eventually, we may integrate this signal into comments ranking to move disliked comments lower down. Our hope is that this might help make comments more friendly on Instagram,” Mosseri said.
Instagram and youtube see an increase in content following temporary tiktok ban
According to figures from influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy’s exclusive tool, Companion, Instagram experienced a 16% increase in creator content the week following the ban, based on the number of posts creators published on the platform. Similarly, YouTube witnessed a 14% rise in content creation over the same timeframe.
Instagram Adds WhatsApp Connection Sticker for Stories
It might be a generational thing – but personally I only use Whatsapp for Personal Friends and Social Media Management Clients.
Anyone else in the business process is best dealt with on email.
But for the generation that lives on Whatsapp there’s a new story sticker to take the conversation from stories to Whatsapp.
The interconnected world of Meta.
LINKEDIN UPDATES ON RECORD LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT
Here are 3 #linkedin updates you should be aware of …
- We continue to see record engagement, with more than one billion members coming to the platform to connect, sell services, get hired, and share knowledge.
- More professionals than ever are engaging in high-value conversations on LinkedIn, with comments up 37 percent year-over-year.
- We also continue to invest in video as a powerful way for our members and customers to tell their stories and reach their audiences. Short-form video continues to grow on the platform, with video creation all-up growing at twice the rate of other post formats.
The 1st one it says all the time, but concentrate on the last 2
Instagram Tests Option to Rearrange Profile Grid Displays
Instagram has had the pinned 3 post option for a number of years.
They’re useful for evergreen content.
But what is you want to go the next step. You soon will be able to and totally re-order your entire grid.
Straight from IG chief Adam Mosseri:
“In order to maintain creator control we’re building a tool so you can re-order your entire grid and make it whatever you want.”
Caveat: Most people will consume your content in the feed rather than on your profile.
Instagram boss says ‘Hashtags don’t work’ for getting reach, likes, follows
A video has surfaces of Instagram Adam Mosseri stating exactly this.
And we’ve told this to clients a number of times.
In the old days they might make 30% different to the reach of your post. In 2025 it’s closer to 5-10% or less difference.
THREADS INTRODUCES SCHEDULING
We normally talk about the big 4, but this is helpful for those dabbling with Threads
Threads Rolls Out Post Scheduling to App Users
As explained by Threads
“Tap the three-dot menu on the composer, then tap Schedule. Choose a date and time, then tap Schedule again. Posts you’ve scheduled will appear in your drafts folder, where you can edit or delete them as needed.”
It’s one update that will make moving away from Twitter easier.
Although we’ve found you can only schedule 25 updates at any one time.
INSTAGRAM IS SET TO LAUNCH EDITS – IT’S OWN VERSION OF CAPCUT
In the weekend that TikTok got banned and unbanned in less than 24 hours.
Instagram announced so many new updates including this one.
Sounding very like Bytedance’s (TikTok) Capcut, the one advance of this is it’s going to be free
Adam Mosseri says
“Edits is more than a video editing app, it’s a full suite of creative tools. There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another to keep track of any early ideas you might have, a much higher quality camera which I used to record this video, all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and, if you decide to share your videos on Instagram, powerful insights on how those videos do.”
You can “pre-order” on the Appstore here
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/edits-an-instagram-app/id6738967378
INSTAGRAM NOW ALLOWS 3 MINUTES REELS
Adam Mosseri from Instagram just announced this yesterday with the TikTok Ban
“You can now upload reels up to three minutes long. We’ve historically only allowed reels up to 90 seconds given our focus on short-form video, but we’ve heard the feedback that this is just too short for those who want to share longer stories. “
You’ll know that longer isn’t always better – in fact the longer the video for Reels often means lower reach due to the retention rate of longer videos.
Our advice – keep Reels as short as possible whilst still adding value.
TIKTOK FACES A BAN FROM THIS SUNDAY
The US Supreme Court has affirmed a law that could see TikTok banned in the US unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.
TikTok contested the law, claiming it could infringe upon free speech rights for its reported 170 million US users. However, the court unanimously dismissed this argument. Now, TikTok must swiftly secure a buyer for its US operations or risk being pulled from app stores and web hosting services.
So what does this mean for TikTok and business?
– If you have all your eggs in the TikTok basket then it could prove a huge blow to your business
– Don’t ditch TikTok just yet – 170 million users in the US is huge but TikTok is still in the big 4
– Creativity is at the heart of TikTok – a large amount of the interesting posts on other apps come from TikTok so the impact will be felt on the likes on Instagram
– But for our UK audience – if less US creators are in the feed will this mean we start seeing more UK creators in the feed.
INSTAGRAM BRINGS BACK A REELS VERSION OF THE ACTIVITY TAB
Adam Mosseri at Instagram announced this news yesterday
“Bringing your friends to the Reels tab. We want Instagram to not only be a place where you consume entertaining content, but one where you connect over that content with friends. Now, when you go to the Reels tab, you’ll see a dedicated feed of reels your friends have liked or added a note to in the top right and start a conversation with them right there. We’re rolling this out in a handful of countries to start, more to come soon.”
INSTAGRAM USHERS A NEW RECTANGULAR GRID
The change is due to content overwhelmingly being vertical these days
Instagram is updating its profile grids to feature rectangular content instead of squares, announced Instagram chief Adam Mosseri in an Instagram Story on Friday.
“I know many of you have a fondness for squares. Square photos are part of Instagram’s legacy. However, nowadays, most uploads, including photos and videos, are vertical in orientation,” Mosseri explained. He noted that it’s disappointing to overly crop these uploads.”
FACEBOOK ENTERS THE POST-TRUTH WORLD
Widely seen as a move to appease Trump Meta will get rid of factcheckers, “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship” and recommend more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
IMHO we’ve been living more and more in a post truth world since the pandemic.
You’ve probably seen random conspiracy theories shared by Facebook for the last 5 years.
But will this move make it a Twitter style hell-hole and should you leave.
Firstly. Don’t leave. How many people left Twitter for the paradise of Threads / Bluesky only to discover they went political.
Secondly. Facebook to a certain extent is a more closed network. You can choose your friends on there and you can block quite easily on the Meta platforms. You have a lot more choice in your feed than Twitter / X.
LINKEDIN LAUNCHES NEW AI RECRUITMENT TOOL FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
Andrew Chimka, Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, has announced this on LinkedIn
AI agent for small businesses—an AI-assistant to help you find qualified candidates even faster.
The AI-assistant helps you start hiring by putting together a personalized hiring plan, including drafting your job post, searching and finding people to invite to apply, and even identifying your most qualified applicants for you to review. In other words, the AI-assistant helps with the most time-consuming parts of hiring, so that you can focus on growing your business.
Full details here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrewchimka_if-youre-a-small-business-youre-likely-activity-7285297376368418817–ZzX?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
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