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ICYMI: Social Media News July 2023

July 19, 2023
By
Kyra Goodman

The latest social media news and what it means for your brand and clients.

July 20, 2023 Update

Instagram updates their Templates feature, Threads won't be coming to the EU anytime soon, TikTok partners with Warner Music Group and introduces Passkey, Twitter is testing a reformed long-form content feature, Meta rolls out more video editing tools for Facebook Feed, Pinterest launches deep links in shopping ads, and more!

Instagram News

What happened:

Instagram is making it easier to find inspiration and to create content with updates to their Templates feature.

What it means for you + clients:

You can now browse Reels templates by category in the Template Browser, organized by Recommended, Trending, and templates or audio you’ve saved. And when you create from a template, the audio, number of clips, duration of the clips, and AR effects will automatically be added to your Reel for easy editing.

Threads News

What happened:

Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, says Threads won’t be available in the EU anytime soon due to laws coming in 2024.

What this means for you + clients:

If you’re in the EU, it means you’ll have to wait to get access to the new Twitter-rival, text-based app. Mosseri said on his Instagram Story, “Unfortunately, for support in the EU, to make sure that we’re compliant with laws that are coming in 2024 it’s just gonna’ take a while. I wish it wasn’t - I’ve been living outside the US for a year now, and I think we need to be way less US-centric as a team, [and] I’ve been pushing for that in a really big way. But it just turns out that in order to make sure that we can verify all the things we need to do to be compliant, it’s just going to take many months, unfortunately.”

What happened:

Adam Mosseri posted on Threads saying that spam attacks have picked up on the app so they'll be getting "tighter on things like rate limits." Naturally, Twitter employees were quick to call this out since people had gone crazy over Twitter's rate limits.

But Threads engineer, Jesse Chen clarified that it's "about action rate limits (eg following, commenting) rather than viewing rate limits."

What this means for you + clients:

This means that Threads is unlikely to adopt Twitter's strategy of limiting the number of posts users can view.

TikTok News

What happened:

Warner Music Group and TikTok are partnering up. This global deal is expected to create new revenue, marketing and insight opportunities for artists and songwriters.

What it means for you + clients:

The multi-year, multi-product deal licenses the repertoire of Warner Recorded Music and Warner Chappell Music to TikTok, TikTok Music, CapCut, and TikTok's Commercial Music Library.

What happened:

TikTok launches an Ad Library.

What this means for you + clients:

Much like Facebook's Ad Library, this searchable database includes the ad creative, dates ad ran, targeting used, and # of people served the ad. As of right now, the data only shows for ads running in Europe.


What happened:

TikTok launches Passkeys for a more secure and easier way to login.

What it means for you + clients:

This means iOS users can now login to TikTok using Face or Touch ID. Learn how to get your Passkey setup here.

Twitter News

What happened:

Twitter is testing a reformed feature for long-form content called, “Articles” (previously Notes).

What this means for you + clients:

Elon Musk says that Articles will allow users to post long, complex articles with mixed media. We’re not sure if ultra long-form content will ever take off on the app but it’s clear Twitter is working to become a more “all-in-one” app.

Meta News

What happened:

Meta has started to roll out updates that will bring more Reels editing tools to Facebook Feed videos.

What it means for you + clients:

Some of the updates include:

  • Seamless editing: We brought audio, music and text all into one place on Reels, making it easier to layer and time creative elements to create the perfect reel. And now, it’s also available on Meta Business Suite for reels and for video on Feed.
  • More clip editing tools: Get creative with your video by speeding up, reversing or replacing your clips.
  • Enhanced audio: Mix the right sound into your video by exploring and adding music and audio clips, recording voiceovers and reducing unwanted noise.

Also, now the Video tab will now include everything video on Facebook, including Reels, long-form and Live content.

Pinterest News

What happened:

Pinterest is adding the option for deep links in mobile shopping ads. This will allow brands to drive traffic from Pinterest straight to a product page in the retailer’s app.

What this means for you + clients:

Pinterest says:

“For retailers, mobile deep links will instantly direct Pinterest users to a specific page in their mobile app, making it easier to shop for products after clicking on a shopping ad they discovered on the platform. Eliminating extra steps and clicks can ultimately have an incremental impact on a retailer’s shopping campaign.”

In other news...

🚫 Instagram embeds don't violate copyright laws

💸 Instagram users in Illinois could receive payment from a class action lawsuit against Instagram

🦙 Meta and Microsoft introduce their next generation of Llama

🤖 The bizarre TikTok NPC Livestream trend

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