GU Live Lunch – Ep 176

Join Christina, Kim & Nicole to catch up on the social media news from the last few weeks.

Here are the snippets:

01:20 – An EU digital services report has revealed there are 37 million active daily users on LinkedIn, in the UK with around 30% of people 16 and over using the site on a daily basis.

03:13 – Instagram has launched a new, live test of its collaborative posts option. This feature will enable others to contribute to carousel feed posts, providing a new engagement option in the app. The original creator will have to have the ability to approve or they can reject submissions

06:36 – Instagram also added the ability to share a Story with multiple group lists at once, so that you can better curate who sees your updates. This will allow users to target specific types of audiences and people to reach maximum potential drive.

08:26 – Meta has expanded the functionality of its Instagram marketing API to enable third party posting platforms to facilitate product tags for your promotions. Previously, users would have to be in the Instagram app to tag, so this is a welcome change for many!

10:28 – Instagram updates its reminder ads. Launched in March, previously the ads were only available for in-feed placement, but now, Instagram is expanding Reminder promotions to Stories as well, adding another option for your campaigns. In addition to this, you’ll now also be able to create Reminder Ads in Ads Manager, so you no longer have to post organically, then boost that post with a paid push.

14:25 – Facebook Rooms are soon to be no more! Meta has announced they will be removing this feature, starting on the 10th November, you will no longer be able to create a Room, and from the 16th November, you won’t be able to access any existing Rooms in your groups.

20:29 – Meta may soon be forced to change the name of Threads, as the result of a new legal action in the UK. Threads Software Limited, a British software company has informed Meta it has 30 days to cease using the “Threads” title within the UK, otherwise it will seek a court injunction to stop them from using its trademarked business name.

22:05 – Meta will be offering subscription-based, ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. But only to EU users. Expected costs are likely to be $12-13 per month. As part of its compliance with evolving privacy regulations in the EU, Meta’s looking to essentially side-step the new GDPR requirements by providing all users with an option to opt-out of all ads, and related data tracking.

24:30 – X (Twitter) is looking at the possibility of bringing back GIF images for your profile picture.

26:40 – TikTok may be extending there video to 15 minutes!

30:41 – Meta announced its new, celebrity-influenced AI chatbot models, which you can interact with via Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram Direct. Meta also noted that, soon, users will also be able to create their own chatbots, modelled on their own images and chosen styles, enabling the creation of custom AI characters that’ll be able to respond in their own distinct voice.

See you next week!