April Social Media Recap
The social media industry is constantly changing, and it's important that we stay up to date to ensure our work is always on the right side of innovation!
In our monthly Social Media Recap blog series, we'll be breaking down some of the biggest changes and updates in social media for the previous month. And don't worry if it's a lot of information to take in, we're always here to help your brand with our social media services!
Let's get to it:
Alternatives for TikTok
This past month's news was dominated by the potential of TikTok being banned in America. The fear of the number one app being shut down has caused other social apps to pivot their strategies.
ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has started to push a new app in hopes that TikTok users will migrate to it before the shut down. Lemon8 is a product-focused app that is a cross between Instagram and Pinterest, as users are able to advertise their products directly in posts.
To start populating the app, ByteDance has been paying UK creators to create content, making Lemon8 jump up the app store charts. It seems as though ByteDance is encouraging users to move to this new app so they can continue reigning over social media even with TikTok's shutdown.
Do you think it's time for your business to make a Lemon8 account?
Meta Video Content
Meta has been trying to fill the potential empty void that TikTok may leave by continuing to double down on video content. New Reels features have been released so that developing content is easier and more efficient for Reel Creators.
Added features include discovery tabs that will showcase trending audios and hashtags. Editing has levelled up as well, as creators can now see their video, text, and audio editing all in one space, making it easier to create the perfect clip!
With all these new features, Instagram is trying to position themselves as the perfect replacement for TikTok.
TikTok Stay and Play
Trying to be positive, TikTok continues to release new features and studies on what is working best on their app to encourage brands to keep using it.
Stay and Play is a new case study from TikTok that shows brands how they can optimize their community management. By breaking down the top communities in the app, you can see which groups you would want to interact with.
Of course, it makes sense to interact with communities that your audience already belongs to; this is the "Stay" part. But, it's also fun to "Play" with communities that may be less obvious, but still relevant for your business to reach new segments!
The Stay and Play theory really prioritizes the community aspect of TikTok. Broad communities and their niche subcultures allow your brand to really hone in on potential audience members, so it's important to analyze and interact with these groups.
Looking for help with boosting your reach on TikTok? At TryMus Group, our Community Management & Outreach services will help your page get seen by people who are interested and will engage with your account (even if they might not know it yet!).
Meta's Testing a Twitter Alternative
As Twitter continues to live on shaky ground under Elon Musk's leadership (we won't get into all of the drama, but if you're interested, you can check out the full saga here), Meta has been working to get their own version of the app out as an alternative.
According to Meta, testing app "Barcelona" is a "standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates" (Newton, 2023).
The new testing images of Barcelona and internal pitches positions the app as "Instagram for your thoughts". Since Instagram has been reporting that the activity of the app has been moving to the DMs, it seems as though Barcelona is capitalizing off these behaviour changes.
Barcelona will be a feed similar to Instagram, but instead of photos, it'll be with the words that users have been more engaged with in private messages.
Testing is still in very early stages, but we are very excited to see if this app is able to make it mainstream.
Follow TryMus Group to stay up-to-date on all things social! And stay tuned for our next monthly Social Media Recap blog!
TryMus Group is a Toronto-based social media marketing agency that specializes in social media and influencer marketing, building narrative-driven brands through strong storytelling and compelling content. Led by experienced social media experts, TryMus Group can help strengthen your brand identity and fulfill your unique business goals.