Welcome to Social Media Buzz Weekly, your weekly bulletin of the latest social media updates. With the social media landscape evolving with each passing day, it can be challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments. Well, not anymore, as we have taken it upon ourselves to keep you abreast of every happening in the social media space.
So, without any further ado, let’s look at some of the most significant developments from the last week in the world of social media.
1. Meta Is Shutting Down Its Spark AR Studio
Meta has announced that it’s shutting down its Spark AR Studio platform, which enabled creators and brands to build their own AR effects, that could then be used across Meta’s apps.
Originally launched back in 2017, Meta’s Spark AR platform has enabled hundreds of thousands of creators to develop AR effects. Indeed, back in 2020, Meta reported that Spark had grown to become “the largest platform for mobile AR,” with more than 400,000 creators, from 190 countries, publishing millions of AR experiences for Facebook and Instagram. But now, as Meta moves closer to launching its own, more advanced AR experiences, with the company set to showcase its latest AR glasses next month, it’s made the decision to shutter the AR creation app.
2. TikTok Launches In-App Experiences To Promote Sabrina Carpenter’s New Album
TikTok has launched a new in-app experience to celebrate the launch of Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, which includes opportunities for expanded exposure in the app, as well as bonus features for those who complete various in-app tasks.
Fans will be able to access exclusive features, like profile frames and effects to show their support for Carpenter’s album. Also, they will also be eligible to be featured in an official “Fan Spotlight” carousel when they share related updates. Carpenter has built a huge following on TikTok, with over 19 million fans, which once again underlines the value of the app as a music promotion vehicle.
3. TikTok Enables Users to Create Their Own AI Voice-over Voice
TikTok is now enabling users to create AI simulations of their own voice in the app, so that they can voice over their TikTok clips with their own digital voice, as opposed to the generic template speakers in the app.
Some TikTok users now have the option to “Create Your Own AI Voice” within your video voice-over options. When selected, the process then enables you to create your AI voice by speaking into your device. You can then use that voice on your future clips, saving you from having to strain your precious vocal chords too much, while you can also translate your custom voice-over into other languages. The option is the result of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance’s research into AI voice replication, which is another element of its broader AI push.
Back in January, it was reported that ByteDance had developed a new AI model that’s able to replicate any person’s voice, with believable enough accuracy, based on minimal input.
4. Instagram Tests New Profile Cards for Creators
Instagram is testing out new profile cards with selected creators, which provide another way to highlight your profile and showcase your content.
Intagram’s updated profile cards are digitally flippable, providing a QR code for immediate connection on one side, and a profile overview and summary on the other. The profile overview includes your image and bio, as well as your profile category and business links. It’s a handy summary of your IG presence, and it could serve as an easy way to get more people to connect in the app, with a simple scan and follow process.
Instagram has changed the format a few times and moved around where they are in the app, which probably hasn’t helped. But various versions of its QR codes have been there for some time.
5. Instagram Adds Option to Tag a Channel When Uploading a Post
Instagram has added a new option in the upload flow to “Tag Channel,” providing another way to highlight content into Channel streams.
Instagram first launched Channels in February last year, providing a one-to-many broadcasting option for creators, so that fans can keep in touch with their latest updates via IG DMs. With messaging becoming the key sharing option in the app, Channels better align with emerging user behaviors and provide more options for popular users to maximize engagement. The ability to tag a channel in your upload flow will make this a little easier, as Channel owners will now be able to immediately share their latest updates direct into the channel feed, as opposed to manually re-posting a link to their latest post.
6. Instagram Adds Music to Profiles
Instagram has added the capacity to include your favorite song of the moment on your IG profile— much like Myspace in the early 2000s.
The music added to a user’s profile shows up in the bio area, according to screenshots shared by Instagram. A song will be featured on a profile until the user removes or replaces it. But unlike Myspace, songs won’t autoplay — people viewing a profile with a song can play and pause the track. Users can add a song by going to the “edit profile” page, where they’ll be able to search for and select a track from Instagram’s library of licensed music that’s also available for things like Reels or posts. From there, users will be able to select a 30-second-long portion of the song to add.
Instagram has actually been experimenting with the option for some time, with initial tests of songs on profiles spotted back in 2022. Facebook has also tried out the same, to seemingly minimal response. But now, it’s available on IG too, with younger users, in particular, likely the key target of the addition.
7. Instagram Adds Stories Comments To Encourage Interaction
Instagram is rolling out another way to encourage more interaction, this time via comments on Stories, which are then visible to all who view that Story content.
Stories comments are displayed along the bottom of the frame, above the function controls and viewer details, so they’re not intrusive. It could add another way to get more people talking about Stories updates, with prompts that function, essentially, as comment highlights displayed on the main screen. Instagram has been trying to find new ways to get people engaging in the app, as more and more users switch to private DMs for discussion and sharing.
8. Instagram Is Working on a Custom Collage Creation Feature
Instagram is experimenting with a new automated “Collages” feature, that would use images from your device’s Camera Roll to populate collages that you could then share in the app.
This development could provide users with a fresh way to showcase multiple images in a single post. While details remain scarce, this potential new Photo Collage tool aligns with Instagram's ongoing efforts to enhance user engagement and provide more creative options for content creation. The ability to create collages within the app could streamline the posting process for users who currently rely on third-party apps for similar functionality.
9. Snapchat Launches Native iPad App
Thirteen years after launching on the iPhone, Snapchat has finally brought its app to the iPad and announced that it now offers native support for the iPad, allowing the app to fill your entire screen for the first time.
Snapchat has been available on iPad for some time, but it’s essentially a re-skinned version of the mobile app, scaled up for larger iPad screens. The iPad version of the app comes with black bars along the sides, to fit the screen into the iPad format. Other display limits can cause glitches in the presentation because the app that you’re seeing isn’t made for the bigger iPad display. But now, with this update, you’ll have a full-sized, fully functional version of the app, built specifically for the larger iPad screen.
10. X Is Close To Launching Video Conference Calls
X is close to launching its new professional video calling feature, which will essentially provide Zoom-like functionality within the X app.
X has built a working version of its video conferencing platform, which owner Elon Musk claims they’re already using for internal meetings at the company. The new option will be listed as a separate functionality along the right-hand-side function bar (as “Conferences”), and will include full video streaming functionality for participants, once it’s active. The update is another step towards Elon’s vision of the platform becoming an “everything app,” which facilitates all of your interactive and transactional needs in one place.
Indeed, back in February, when X’s new audio and video calling functionality became active, Musk declared that he would be getting rid of his phone number, as X can now replace all of his telecommunication needs.
Wrapping Up
And that was a wrap of this week’s Social Media Buzz. We’ll be back next week with more news and updates for you from the social media world. Till then, stay tuned!
If you want to read more on the latest developments taking place in the social media space, take a look at ClickInsights’ Social Media Buzz, wherein we bring to you monthly reports on everything going on in social media, ranging from platform updates to policy changes that influence the way we market.
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