This week, celebrations are in order! Instagram is finally letting all users edit thumbnails, Snapchat has launched its first-ever awards show, and X is giving us more control over our feeds.
Meanwhile, if it isn’t a brave penguin or a lonely monkey social is obsessed with, it’s a giant frog.. And, a new OOTD trend is showing off outfits but leaving partners feeling chilly. Read on for more social media news.
Snapchat launches new awards show
Image credit: Snapchat
A new ceremony has been added to the awards season agenda – welcome, The Snappys. Snapchat has announced its first-ever awards show taking place on 21st March. The Snappys is designed to celebrate “the creators shaping culture on Snapchat.” Awards include “Spotlight MVP,” “Best Storyteller,” and “Breakout Creator of the Year.” One award has already been secured, with DJ Khaled receiving Snapchat’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.” The Snappys will be hosted by comedian and creator Matt Friend and will take place at Snap‘s Santa Monica headquarters.
We all remember the day that Instagram switched to the 4:5 ratio. Marketers were confused, grids were messy, and, importantly, our beautiful thumbnails looked weird. Fear not, Instagram is now letting users edit thumbnails! The feature began testing over a year ago, but is now being rolled out to all users. Now, if you click edit on your posts, you will be able to customise the thumbnail – simple. Thank you, Instagram, love all social media managers everywhere.
Threads is making it easier to DM other users with a new shortcut embedded in posts. Lucky users who are part of the test can type “DM me” or “Message me” in a post and Threads will create a hyperlink that starts a private conversation. If you don’t follow each other, the message is filtered through the “Message Requests” folder to prevent unwanted messages. The new feature is rolling out as a test in the U.S. and Canada.
The gatekeeping is over. Instagram has opened up its creator tools to all public accounts. Previously only available for Professional accounts, users will now be able to access the insights dashboard, schedule posts, and find trending audios. Some options, like Instagram Lives and Trial Reels, do still remain exclusive to professional modes.
X is doing everything it can to keep advertisers on the platform, including its latest update that allows advertisers to reuse creatives made for other platforms. The new ratios ( 4:5 and 2:3) apply to both image and video ads. X already supports other formats, including 1:1, 16:9, 9:16 and 1.91:1 (2064 × 1080 pixels).
Instagram is testing a new layout that would focus more on Reels. Spotted by app researcher @howfxr, the update would open the app on the main Reels feed and give access to a new Your Feeds tab. Through the Your Feeds tab, users will be shown a few different Reels feeds, which they can swipe through. These feeds include Following, Friends, Latest and Saved.
X has launched a test of a new feed filter, which lets users sort through the topics they want to see in their feed. Topics include: Politics, Sports, Business, and a variety of changing current events. The feature is available in the U.S. and Canada on iOS, with temporary access being granted to users in Egypt, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, UAE, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Cyprus.
