New features released on social media in April 2022

Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest – all these social media platforms have introduced new features on their platforms that hold benefits for content creators. For marketers, it is very important to stay on top of the newest trends and technological developments on the apps to offer the most original and newest content for their audience.

Instagram: Everyone can tag products now

This feature was originally only available to approved creators since 2019. Affiliates with a professional account could also make use of it, when a company had given them permission to mark their products.

Now, everyone can provide a direct link to products and brands in their feed posts. This feature strengthens Instagram’s e-commerce focus and can boost brands enormously in the app. Naturally, users will see a whole lot of product tags that embrace Instagram’s product discovery mindset in order to facilitate more transactions. Keep in mind that business users and creator accounts can tag their products in Stories and Reels, too.

Moreover, business profiles will be able to view all tagged content as they will also receive a notification when someone links to their products.

To tag products, users simply upload the photo or video on Instagram. Before the post is online, they can choose to tag a brand. After that, they’ll be able to tap a second prompt “Tag Products“ out of the brand’s product catalog.

Every week, an average of 1.6m people tag one or more brands according to Instagram, with the numbers now to increase dramatically. Small businesses can profit in particular, as people who love their brand can link to their products. Marketers should be aware of the Instagram shopping program, which helps brands to create products that look great on the gram.

The feature could additionally boost the main feed again, as reels and stories have become more popular now and successful. When the app indeed will manage to transform the main feed with improving its utility and maximizing the shopping possibilities, its combination with the scrolling through stories and keeping users hooked with reels could be extremely profitable.  

TikTok’s new features: from GIPHY video clips to Watch History

Firstly, the short video app has recently introduced a new library in partnership with GIPHY, which are GIFs with sound. They have launched a new editing tool that allows users to easily grab clips from a vast selection of short videos. What they call TikTok Library is a new in-app tool and quite different from previous GIPHY integrations.

For the first time, GIPHY’s library of videos can be used. The feature allows TikTok users “to start and participate in their own trends, using clips from their favorite shows, GIFs, memes and more by seamlessly integrating them into their TikTok videos.“ TikTok further states in an announcement that they are “introducing the latest addition to our creativity toolkit […] to access a wide range of content, opening up even more creative possibilities.”

Therefore, creatives can choose from a varied roster of high quality, recognizable clips from partners such as HBO, ABC, Hulu, and others. So, reactions, quotes, people, and iconic moments can be implemented in their original content. It’s self-explanatory for users to integrate their favorite GIPHY Clips. You access the new library feature through opening the camera screen and tapping the new library icon on the vertical sidebar. You can quickly choose a clip from trending content or through a search bar. After cropping the clip, you can return to the shoot page to continue with editing the video.

Secondly, the app is testing a feature that they call Watch History. As the name suggests, the novelty saves users time and mental frustration of not finding a video again that they have watched before or whose audio they forgot to save. The idea sounds great and quite overdue, however, there are not a lot of details known yet.

Twitter: selected iOS user test audio clipping tool

The new feature will allow users to share 30 seconds of audio from a recorded live audio conversation on Spaces on their Twitter page.

In the coming months, the new audio clipping feature for Spaces will be added for Android and web users, as now only selected iOS users are testing the novelty. By clicking on the share button, short audio clips can be extracted to share on users own page as a separate Tweet with the link to the live audio Space. These will remain on the users’ timelines for 30 days, for now.

Spaces can only be hosted by Twitter for iOS and Android, while web users can join, listen, and speak. In any case, the new feature can help creators to boost their listeners to their Live Spaces audio rooms. Other platforms are also testing clipping tools. YouTube users can clip 5-60 second segments of a creator’s video uploads and streams, while Amazon Prime tries to provide the possibility to cut 30-second clips of the shows or movies they watched on the platform.

Pinterest: Idea Pins can be shared on other platforms now

From now on, Pinterest users can download and share their Idea Pins on Facebook and Instagram. Especially for creators with a significant following on the named  platforms, this repurposing of their story-like content can be beneficial. Pinterest states: “Idea Pins are Pinterest’s native publishing format that was first introduced to creators in 2020 and rolled out globally in 2021. Idea Pins are a multi-page canvas to share unique ideas, tutorials, and passions with others.“

Since the introduction of Idea Pins in 2021, Pinterest has continuously improved this tool with new video and photo editing options, such as a music selection by Epidemic Sound or interactive elements for tagging people and stickers.

Messenger: Shortcuts to Streamline Messaging

Just at the end of March 2022, Messenger has announced Shortcuts. These are simple and universal commands that facilitate sharing announcements, making payments, activating app functionalities and more within the chats. They say they’re happy to introduce “a new command system to help supercharge your messaging efficiency and add a little extra fun to your experience.”

Until now, users could tag @everyone in their chats to add a more pointed notification. Additionally, members can limit distractions with the command “/silent”. The platform will add a range of GIF options, evoked by “/gif” while users will be able to request money from group chats more easily with “/Pay”. Saving you from having to type the ‘shrug’ and ‘tableflip’ emoticons, the shortcuts “/shrug & /tableflip” will automatically add them.