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Hello friends,
I usually write these on a Monday night while my little six month old is in bed, but the universe had other plans for me yesterday. The plans being my child not sleeping. So I’m finishing + sending this edition while on the train, on my way to an exciting brand dinner.
Is this what it feels like to be a LinkedIn Hustle Bro?
ANYWAY, this week has been humbling to say the least. I’ve been parenting (obviously) my almost six-month old — who is still going through the dreaded four month sleep regression, as above — I’ve been working every evening, I’ve been hit with a cold AND I’ve cried (and laughed) at how incredibly lucky and privileged we are to be living the life we do.
It’s a bit of a different opener from me, but with everything going on in the world, I thought I’d share some positive news to brighten your week before we dive into all things social media. And after that, some resources to learn more about how we can help people who aren’t quite as privileged as us.
🙏 Positive news:
For the first time in almost two centuries, giant tortoises are roaming the Galapagos island of Floreana.
The United Nations Environment Programme revealed that an area of the ocean that’s larger than the European Union was now classed as protected in the last two years alone.
Ontario, Canada is banning employers from ghosting job candidates. Employers who fail to respond can face fines of up to CA $100,000, which is roughly £50,000.
👋 Resources to help others:
What’s happening in Sudan
The Gaza crisis appeal
How Doctors Without Borders is aiding the Middle East
And as for our world of marketing, the news remains somewhat quiet. One of my fake updates has come true even if it was low-hanging fruit, Pinterest launches a campaign close to my heart, and Meta is doing the most (as always) across platforms.
Now, you know the drill. Grab a drink and a snack, then get comfy. Because we’re now going to dive into the latest Social Media Tea.
👋 THE TOP STORY THIS WEEK:
→ Instagram has added AI-powered shortcuts at the end of captions.
AND THIS IS THE FAKE UPDATE FOR THE FOLKS WHO STEA— Nope, it’s real. And it’s one of my fake updates from, well, many (many, many, many) updates ago. As I said in the intro, it was pretty low-hanging fruit as Instagram is constantly attempting to keep up with TikTok. A platform that introduced a similar feature around four years ago. Yeah, you read that right, four years ago.
But I’m not going to complain because I do actually love to see it, and it signals that Instagram is taking what they said seriously — that they’re going to improve the search experience on the platform. Instagram would be silly not to introduce its own version of TikTok Creator Search Insights but by the time they do, I believe another third-party will have beaten them there.
😣 THIS WEEK’S HOT TAKE: LESS MARKETING LINKEDINFLUENCERS, PLEASE.
Which is ironic, because I ultimately am a LinkedInfluencer but I’m a hybrid !! I run my social media agency, where I do social media strategy + management for clients, and then I’m an accidental B2B influencer on LinkedIn. ANYWAY…
If you’d like the chance for your hot take to be included in The Social Tea, just reply to this email. I’ve loved reading through your submissions so far.
💌 THE REST OF THIS WEEK’S UPDATES:
→ Instagram’s letting users personalise their algorithms even more by expanding its Your Algorithm feature to Explore – which allows users to view the topics Instagram thinks you’re into and easily adjust them to see more or less of what you want.
→ There’s a new short-form video app, SaySo, that’s looking to restore users trust in the news
→ Threads to add “live chats” which will allow users to start a chat, add a few collaborators who can send messages into it and then people can subscribe, follow along with the conversation and interact with it — but they won’t be able to send messages into it. So, it’s essentially a Broadcast Channel, a one-to-many feature on Facebook and Instagram.
→ Pinterest launches a new campaign that encourages people to get off social media. “Most platforms are engineered to keep you scrolling through other people's lives. Pinterest is engineered to get you off the app and into yours” said Claudine Cheever, Chief Marketing Officer at Pinterest.
→ Instagram could build a voiceover feature for Stories
→ Netflix is set to rollout its TikTok-esque vertical feed this month
→ New data shows that TikTok engagement is a key indicator in long-term box office success
→ Threads finally brings DMs to desktop
→ Instagram Edits has a new super insightful analytics feature, which shows users what metrics are actually driving reach and benchmarks the performance of your post against the last five.
→ Canva unveiled AI 2.0, which allows users to create full designs with just a description, other features include memory, integrations, research tools and editable outputs.
→ Instagram now allows images in comments
And now for a quick ad break…
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📞 Ring ring… What’s that? Nope, you’re hearing things, the phone isn’t ringing.
I told ya, it’s been a humbling week so there’s NO ONE ANSWERING THE PHONE, I’m sorry. But I’d love to get mote of ya’ll involved in this, so see below for details.
And that’s it! You made it to the end of the newsletter, and soon, the end of the week. Congratulations.
I’ve been seeing so much love for this newsletter on LinkedIn, so a BIG thank you to everyone who has been so kind during my return and actually reading these when they land in your inbox.
As I said last week, if there’s anything you’d like to see to make this the ultimate and most helpful newsletter for you, please just drop me an email. I don’t bite, I promise.
(Mostly because I’m sleep deprived.)
💬 ANYWAY, now it’s time for my favourite new feature, which fake update should be included in my Wednesday roundup? I’m running out of ideas so we’re recycling some that didn’t get picked in previous editions…
🔥 WHAT SHOULD THIS WEEK'S FAKE UPDATE BE?
See you next week.
TTYL,
AM @ Girl Power Marketing xx