Social Media News Summer 2023

This week’s social media news is your compass to the latest trends. From META’s Threads app emerging as a Twitter rival to Snapchat’s successful Snapchat+ service and Instagram’s enhanced tools, we explore the forefront of platforms. Notably, a new AI task force marks a pivotal shift. Guided by these advancements, we distill the best practices of top brands on social media, offering a roadmap for your campaigns.

META publishes „Threads“: a new Twitter alternative
 

It is a text-based conversation platform and can be connected to the user’s Instagram account. Users can share text posts with up to 500 characters, as well as photos and videos up to five minutes long. So far there is only a limited access to the app and can’t be found in the app store within the EU. When the app, that has already become a major success, will role out for users in Europe isn’t clear up to this point.
 

But even to people within the US the appearance of the app in the app stores came as a surprise. A lot of people consider the time of publication to be very interesting as Twitter is currently restricting a lot of the users freedom to view their content, which might push frequent Twitter users more towards the new Threads app.

4 million Snapchat+ subscribers reached within first year
 

Snapchat’s subscription service, Snapchat+, has gained four million paying subscribers within a year of its launch, offering exclusive features such as icons, data insights, priority replies, and more.

In contrast, Twitter Blue’s subscription model has struggled due to its high price and lack of valuable features. Social subscriptions in general face challenges in attracting a significant portion of app users.

Monetarization opportunities for creators on LinkedIn
 

LinkedIn is working on enhancing its Creator Mode tools and features to support creators and influencers on the platform. They are also experimenting with a shared analytics approach, allowing creators to share data with businesses for collaborative ad campaigns, potentially opening up monetization opportunities for influencers.
 

This aligns with LinkedIn’s goal of becoming a monetization channel for creators and offering new advertising options for brands.

New „not personalized“ filter on Instagram’s explore page
 

If you regularly use Instagram, you may have already discovered the filter option in the Explore section.

Users can now not only browse content in a „For You“ feed but also view content that is labeled as „Not personalized“ through the filter. This update showcases Instagram’s adaptability, allowing users to adjust their content discoveries based on context. For creators, the „Not personalized“ filter could be beneficial as it provides more visibility beyond specific content bubbles.

New guide for standout reels
 

Meta has released a ‚Reels Creative Mini-Manual‘ providing tips and insights to improve Reels creative on Facebook and Instagram. The guide emphasizes speaking the ‚language of Reels‘ through entertaining, digestible, and relatable content. It includes technical considerations, maximizing engagement with music and visual effects, and strategic planning breakdowns.
 

Reels‘ significance in content discovery and increasing time spent on the platforms makes it a valuable promotional avenue for marketers.
 

Download the Mini-Manual here.

New OpenAI team created to keep „superintelligent“ AI under control
 

OpenAI is creating a Superalignment team led by Ilya Sutskever to address the challenges of controlling „superintelligent“ AI systems.
 

They aim to develop techniques to steer and restrict such AI, as it could exceed human intelligence within a decade. The team will focus on building automated alignment researchers and training AI systems using human feedback to make progress in alignment research. OpenAI plans to share their findings widely and consider contributing to the safety of AI models beyond their organization.

Best Practices

Gymshark on TikTok

Gymshark has quickly become a prominent fitness brand on TikTok, gaining an impressive number of 2 million followers within only six months time.
 

Appealing to fitness enthusiasts, Gymshark captivates its audience through engaging workout challenges, inspiring health journeys, and relatable fitness humor, creating a welcoming environment that helps ease the intimidation often associated with the gym.

By spreading positivity, motivation and captivating content it is no surprise that their follower numbers keep constantly growing. See more of their content here.

Taco Bell on Snapchat

Snapchat is no easy platform to establish oneself on as a brand and yet it is possible as Taco Bell proves.

Taco Bell is a Tex-Mex fast-food chain and became a Snapchat standout with groundbreaking campaigns. Their Cinco de Mayo lens garnered a record-breaking 224 million views in only one day.

By making use of Snapchat’s provided features, they show creativity and continue to deligth users with humor, AR lenses, and exclusive Snapcodes, cementing their brand presence.

Wendy’s on Threads

Wendy’s has established itself as a powerful brand on Twitter long ago! It is famous for its great humor and the courage to poke fun at competitors.
 

Embracing the new platform Threads, they maintain their distinctive brand voice. Their account’s popularity has even caught the attention of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
 

We are curious to see if even more brands are going to join Threads and are going to establish themselves on the new famous platform.

Hornbach print out of home

The hardware store chain Hornbach is known for its extraordinary and sometimes provocative advertising campaigns. Their latest advertising action consists of posters resembling a missing person report or a wanted photo.


„Please get in touch” is what the headline reads and draws a lot of attention in many parts of Germany where the out-of-home campaign has already been spotted. The absolute eye-catcher is the “wanted photo” on the poster that draws instant attention from passer-bys.
 

Hornbach’s creative and out-of-the-box thinking proves that offline advertising is far from dead, as long as it is well thought out!