ICYMI: Instagram's Chronological Feed Comeback
Here's what happened on social media this week, January 7
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💻 ROADMAP
📲 Over the break Adam Mosseri shared Instagram’s 2022 priorities as it evolves from being a photo-sharing app to … whatever the future holds:
Video - specifically consolidating video products and tools around Reels
Messaging - embracing the fact that this is how users communicate with each other
Transparency - expect more Mosseri videos so people understand how the platform works
Creators - and providing them with new monetization products
On Wednesday, he also shared an update about changes to the feed meant to help users feel good about the time they spend in the app.
He outlined three new feed options currently being tested that would allow people to switch between the following views on their home screen :
Home Feed: the current Instagram experience where your feed is optimized by the algorithm (think about Reels, trending memes and useful content your audience really wants to see).
Favorites Feed: this is the stuff you don’t want to miss, whether it’s family and friends or your favorite influencers (think about community and building strong reciprocal relationships).
Following: this is a chronological version of the feed, updating as people post to the timeline (think about consistency, frequency and understanding when your audience is online).
🛒 There’s video floating around of how Walmart envisions shopping in the Metaverse — and it’s gloomily awful and time consuming, complete with annoying virtual assistant who trails you around the store.
Turns out the video is actually a VR demo from 2017 meant to “impress influencers at SXSW.” This fact doesn’t make it any less awful but, as some are pointing out, the video’s newfound popularity even as it’s being roasted makes it significantly more successful than the original intention to impress.
▶️ TikTok is testing its own version of Twitter’s retweet with a new “Repost” button that shares videos to your friends’ For You feeds. The new Repost button is found in the “Share” menu.
🔈 Sound identity is as important as visual identity for brands according to a new report from TikTok on the power of sound. Some examples to think about if it’s not already on your radar:
Narration
Music
Sounds
👆🏻 CLICK THRU
🍺 Pabst Blue Ribbon exploded after making an unusual suggestion on Twitter to “eat ass” for anyone trying dry January. The tweet was then deleted and the company issued an apology for poor judgment. If the goal was raising awareness in 2022, it worked, at least briefly. But a Google Trends search shows that interest went right back down the following day. The whole thing feels very try-hard circa 2017 sassy Brand Twitter. But that’s what happens when you’re chasing an algorithm that values “shock, outrage, and generally intense reactions”.
🐈 Vitamix is the year’s first feel-good brand story. Two self-described middle aged lesbians posted on the brand’s Facebook page that their new Vitamix had been hijacked by some chonky boys. With pics! Could the company send more boxes for the cats, they asked. #SendtheBoxes became a rallying cry on Vitamix’s page, then in another Facebook group called This Cat Is Chonky and finally out in the interwebz. It’s not outrageous but it’s got cats, goodwill and a cleverly worded response from Vitamix’s social media manager — more of this, please!
📺 Americans now spend nearly as much time streaming user-generated videos on YouTube, TikTok and other online platforms as they do watching traditional TV, according to this study. It’s not a great outlook for traditional TV which takes up just 18% of weekly time spent with media, compared with the 16% of weekly time spent watching social videos.
🦉 You know 2022 is possibly an improvement over last year when the government gets a sense of humor and spends a day tweeting Birds Aren’t Real memes. Fly high, social media manager for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. (You can read all about the conspiracy parody here.)
🍪 This feud between Unhinged Elmo and a rock feels like about as much drama as we can all handle right now. The LA Times has a great explainer piece on how this viral moment came to be and how The Rock and Cookie Monster came to be involved.
🎉 Paris Hilton claimed to throw the biggest New Year’s Eve party ever in the metaverse on Paris World. That’s the name of her virtual island on Roblox where you can make in-app purchases for virtual clothing or booking a ride on a jet-ski. She really is sliving.
😡 Creators are increasingly using social media to call out brands that they say aren’t properly crediting and compensating them. With mixed results recaps this NBC piece.
🏡 Hype House launches today on Netflix and so far the reviews have been brutal for the TikTokers reality show. I’ll probably still watch.
💡 Food, friends, family and trying not to catch Covid were my holiday goals. So, I’m impressed by people who rolled into 2022 with useful Twitter threads ready to go. Here are three worth clicking through…
On personal branding:
On behavioral psychology:
On marketing trends:
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