Top Social Media News of the Week

The world of social media news was a big one this week. From Elon Musk to Instagram to all the things in-between, here are our highlights from the past week.

Posted 3 years ago

Written by

Mackenzie Taylor

Posted 3 years ago

It’s been a week full of crazy ups and downs within the world of social media! Here are the top social media news stories from the past week that you should know about.

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Instagram is doing something … good for once?
Could this be the thing that TikTok copies from Instagram?!
Say what? Snapchat is back?
Reddit is giving back to the community … or something like that
No one likes a copycat, Instagram.

Instagram is doing something … good for once?

No, this isn’t a joke.

Earlier last week, Adam Mosseri (mine and millions of others’ nemesis) announced that Instagram is changing the way it ranks content. Making sure to put more of an emphasis and focus on original work. So those reshares and UGC that social media managers all over the world share on their own platforms? Yeah, that could be pushed down in the ranking system as it’s not their original work.

📣 New Features 📣

We’ve added new ways to tag and improved ranking:

– Product Tags
– Enhanced Tags
– Ranking for originality

Creators are so important to the future of Instagram, and we want to make sure that they are successful and get all the credit they deserve. pic.twitter.com/PP7Qa10oJr

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) April 20, 2022

“If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you are reshaping something that you found from someone else. We’re going to do more to try and value original content more, particularly compared to reposted content.”

There are SO many meme accounts all over Instagram that share other people’s content, and while they *sometimes* give credit to the original creator, a lot of the time they pass it off as their own and get more likes than the original. So this change could be a massive win for those who create original, engaging content.

However, what could this mean for businesses and brands that share UGC? You might see a slight dip in reach and engagement. 😬

While this is all still incredibly new and still being experimented on, it will be interesting to see how it all shakes up on the ol’ “photo-sharing but not photo-sharing” app.

Could this be the thing that TikTok copies from Instagram?!

Well, the time might have finally arrived when TikTok steals an original idea from Instagram.

Wait, wut.

It looks like Instagram is testing a new “Templates” option with Reels creators that allows users to copy the exact format of the Reels clip they watched and make their own content based on the template.

According to a tweet shared by Alessandro Paluzzi, Templates will let users use ANY Reels clip as a template where you can insert your own clips into the frames—basically letting you copy and paste the original Reel.

#Instagram is working on the “Use as template” option for #Reels 👀 pic.twitter.com/JORfxxc8rj

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) January 31, 2022

Not only will this help the timing of your own content (hello, can anyone figure out the exact drop of a sound without help because I sure can’t!), but it can help you get out of a creativity rut … by encouraging pure plagiarism. Hehe.

No, no, I’m only joking. Unless you’re out here copying every single frame exactly like the original creator (this is a huge no-no in my book 👀), I think this could be such a cool concept for a lot of people to really start getting into Reels who don’t know where to begin.

Say what? Snapchat is back?

Did anyone else have Snapchat adding 13 million more daily active users in Q1 on their bingo board for 2022 or …?

Like low-rise jeans and skinny eyebrows, it looks like Snap is coming fashionable again. And quickly. With its rise in AR tools (and actually staying on top of trends and effectively knowing how their users want to use the tools), it seems Snap is slowly becoming a key player in the social media space once more.

Do you use Snapchat? Or are you tempted to redownload the app to see what people are doing over there? Let us know over on Instagram!

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Reddit is giving back to the community … or something like that

Looks like Reddit is getting in the game of getting their creators some $$$.

Recently, it was announced that Reddit is launching a creator fund to hopefully get more of their users to actually engage and interact with the app … by having their users submit ideas, projects, and more that Reddit can fund. And although this isn’t a new thing for Reddit as they have slowly been funding community projects for users on the app already, they are now officially releasing it to ALL users. So what do I say to that? GET THAT MONEY, BABY!

The Community Fund program will give $1 million to fund a huge amount of projects and Reddit it wanting people to submit their ideas so go go go.

No one likes a copycat, Instagram.

Welp, it’s at it again: Instagram is stealing even more ideas from TikTok. This time, it is taking the “pin to the top of your profile” idea from TikTok. In a new beta test, Instagram users are able to select images that they want to be pinned to the top of their Instagram feed so people can see them first.

Why does this sound so familiar? Maybe because THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT TIKTOK ALREADY HAS? Yeah, that. 🙃

On a lighter (and very cool) note, after years and years of people asking, it does look like IG is testing a way for people to edit their grid and rearrange photos exactly how they want them. Which could be a massive game-changer for a lot of marketers, businesses, social media managers, and agencies.

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Content

Instagram is doing something … good for once?

Could this be the thing that TikTok copies from Instagram?!

Say what? Snapchat is back?

Reddit is giving back to the community … or something like that

No one likes a copycat, Instagram.

Talk Social To Me

Get the latest social media gossip, memes, news and tips sent straight to your inbox.

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