All Instagram videos will now be Reels Yes, this news is for Reel. Instagram has announced that new video posts shorter than 15 minutes will now be shared as Reels. Any video content posted prior to this change will remain as videos. This is part of Instagram’s big Reels push, which has also resulted in the consolidation of video and Reels tabs on user’s profiles into one, creating a single home for all video on the app. Vertical video will now dominate the feed, which could cause some frustration for those partial to horizontal formatting. The news comes alongside the announcement that anyone on the platform can now remix your photos for use inside of Reels.
TikTok rolls out new accessibility and translation tools Worldwide users of TikTok got a treat last week, with the platform announcing it will support a greater batch of languages, including English, Portuguese, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish and Turkish. Translation for captions and video descriptions will be rolled out, as well as translation for text stickers. There will also be new auto-generated captions for users. Viewers, as well as creators, will have the option to turn on closed captions for videos, allowing for greater understanding and comprehension of content for a wider variety of people.
Instagram rolls out new searchable map Maps are making their mark on Instagram. Meta is introducing a new searchable and dynamic map experience on app, allowing users to explore popular tagged locations. You’ll also be able to filter location results by specific categories, including restaurants, cafes and hairdressers etc. Before this change, the Instagram map experience only included posts but with this update, users can search the map and also search the name of a city, neighbourhood or place on the Explore page. Happy navigating.
Twitch is adding a ‘charity mode’ Raising money on Twitch is nothing new for the platform, but the process hasn’t always been the simplest of tasks. Now the channel is streamlining how they fundraise with Twitch Charity, a new set of donation tools built into the platform itself. Currently in beta stage, a randomly chosen subset of streamers have access to the feature, which offers a limited array of pre-selected charities. The feature ties into PayPal’s Giving Fund, a far easier process than previously, which involved transferring Twitch subscriptions into donations; a multiple step, arduous experience. This new tool will hopefully make the donating a quick and simple task, resulting in much more money finding its way to good causes.
Instagram’s new ‘Boost’ feature lets businesses turn Reels into ads Businesses are getting a boost on Instagram. Companies can now boost their Reels to turn them into ads, reaching users feeds, Stories, the Reels tab and the explore page. To be in with the chance of boosting your Reel, your content must be less than 60 seconds and have a 9:16 aspect ratio (vertical and full-screen). Be warned, Reels posted to Facebook aren’t eligible for boosting. Want to boost your Reel? Tap the ‘Boost Post’ button on your Reel. It’s as simple as that.
YouTube says it will remove ‘unsafe’ abortion videos TW: Abortion Following the overturning of Roe V. Wade in the US, social has seen a rise in videos discussing DIY methods of abortion. YouTube is taking steps to prevent this type of content, saying it will remove ‘instructions for unsafe abortion methods’ or videos that ‘promote false claims about abortion safety.’ This action falls under its medical misinformation policy, which covers topics like vaccine misinformation. The platform is adding an information panel that will offer health information about abortion from the National Library of Medicine.
The global mobile population grows and TikTok continues to soar Last week saw the launch of part one of our Digital 2022 July Statshot, stuffed with scintillating data about the evolving digital world. There are now 93 million more global mobile users in the world since this time last year, whilst TikTok ads are now reaching 22.9 percent of adults outside of China. Join our Global Head of Media Brittany Wickerson and Kepios Founder, Simon Kemp, as they dig through the data, in our LinkedIn Live (Wednesday 27th July, 9am BST).
