ICYMI: The State of Instagram mid 2024

Plus all new Story Comments announced

⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY

• Instagram rolled out Story Comments

• Plus: a table of all the updates Instagram’s released lately

• TikTok is testing a new Profile Search feature

• LinkedIn announced a new Gen Z focused podcast

• X (Twitter) was suspended in Brazil

• A company’s leaked “Active Listening” software pitch suggests big tech is listening to your phone calls

• Meta is reportedly buying viral filters from its former Sparks Creators

• Report: Longer form content is regaining popularity on YouTube and TikTok

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💻 ROADMAP

📲 Meta Updates

• Instagram officially rolled out Story Comments, allowing friends to leave comments on your Stories. Only followers can see the comments left on your Story, and only mutuals can leave a comment on your Story but you can also update this to turn off for individuals or all Stories. Note: Comments will still be visible on your Story if you save it as a Highlight.

• Spotted: A screenshot of a new feature in Instagram’s Broadcast Channels where you can turn on replies.  

• Meta released a Reels Performance Playbook with creative tips and tricks. 

State of Instagram 2024

Clearly, there have been a lot of Instagram updates this year. In fact, I predict there will be more later today. So, I went back and looked at all the new’ish options creators and brands have to express themselves; the surfaces where they should be tracking comments or starting conversations; and where Instagram’s focus seems to be in 2024. 

Note, this isn’t meant to give a panic attack. It’s just a way to capture all the potential avenues you could take — because who can keep track at this point?!

Instagram Content Focus 2024: Alongside endless updates this year, the emphasis has been on original, shareable and entertaining lo-fi content. 

• Original Content: Instagram says it wants to reward original content creators. Aggregators won’t disappear, but accounts that repeatedly (10 or more times in the last 30 days) post content from other Instagram users that they didn’t create or enhance in a material way will not be shown in surfaces where content is recommended. 

• Shareable Content: As attention on Instagram shifted to DMs and Stories, the importance of shareable content increased. Shareable content puts the audience front and center, allowing them to express themselves or connect with others around a piece of shared content. “When a piece of content is shared, it’s a high signal indication to the algorithm that your content was so good that it was worth sharing it with somebody else,” said Dan Toffey, Director of Meta Culture Lab, during a Creator Culture panel at VidCon.

• Entertaining Lo-Fi Content: Instagram’s goal, according to head Adam Mosseri, is to connect people over creativity. It’s not just messaging or posting family pics, but creating a space to share content and have conversations around people’s interests. There’s also been a shift in how the platform talks about its aesthetics. The era of perfectly polished, high production value content is over. Most creators would be better served by sharing more relatable, low-fi content. As many people have said: Think of your video like a Facetime conversation versus a TV broadcast.     

Instagram Ideal Video Length: While TikTok and YouTube have looked to expand their short-form video content to mid- and long-form, Instagram announced it’s sticking with videos that are 60 seconds or less. You’re less likely to send 10 or 20 minute videos to friends, Mosseri said recently, “So, we’re not going after that business because it’s part of our core identity to connect people with friends and we don’t want to undermine that.”  

Yes, But… As one creator friend pointed out, engagement on your Feed posts is still an important signal to the algorithm. But any kind of formula for likes or comments seems less clear these days. There are some go-tos, but it’s hard to imagine any of these will help you hack the system:

• Include a call to action asking for comments or offering information (via automated bot response)

• Lean in hard to your niche and/or persona to attract people who will ride hard for you just as much as the people who will tell you why you’re wrong (here’s an interesting breakdown of this theory)

• Engage with others

• Tag other relevant accounts

• Show up consistently

• Use trending audio and content formats (Reels or Carousels in 2024)

If anything, I think Notes on Feed Posts and Reels and Story Comments might help capture people’s attention — whether you post these yourself or encourage friends and followers to do so. They're new and unexpected, which could stop people from scrolling or swiping past and could lead to increased engagement.

Do you have any features I missed or engagement success stories? Let us know in the Comments!

📲 TikTok Updates

• TikTok announced its US Election Center to help its community access reliable information about the upcoming election.

• Spotted: TikTok is testing a new Profile Search feature that allows you search for keywords, topics, and hashtags within your own posts or posts you’ve engaged with.

• Spotted: TikTok is testing Notes similar, letting you share brief thoughts with followers for 24 hours.

• TikTok rolled out a new slider tool in Content Preferences that allows users to signal whether they want more content based on certain topics, like ‘fashion & beauty,’ ‘sports’ or ‘current affairs.’

📲 YouTube Updates

• YouTube announced it would give Shorts creators the ability to add text and filters including emojis to their Shorts thumbnails on IOS and Android devices. 

📲 LinkedIn Updates

• LinkedIn announced a new Gen Z focused podcast called Let's Talk Offline about what it takes to thrive in the early years of your career.

📲 X (Twitter) Updates

• X was suspended in Brazil, which had an outsized impact on celebrity stan accounts run from the there. Brazilians who lost access to the app emigrated to Threads and Bluesky.

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👆🏻 CLICK THRU

😏 New evidence claims Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon could be listening to you on your devices

It’s not you, it’s them! A leaked report from Cox Media Group (CMG) claims its “Active Listening” software can help companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta eavesdrop on your conversations. CMG has partnerships with all four of the tech companies but each has denied working with CMG to target advertising in this way. 

💰 Meta is Buying Viral Filters/Effects from Sparks Creators

After Meta announced they’d shut down their Spark platform for AR effects (aka the filters we know and love from brands and creators), they started reaching out to creators to buy viral effects and filters. According to one source I talked to, they’re offering up to $7K for full ownership of the effects and related assets. One major problem with this process is that Meta is reportedly paying the account owners where the filters are published, not the actual creators of the effects, because of a change in the AR manager system. Creators: It’s time to check your contracts and the status of any filters you might have created.  

✨🌐 AI Inspiration Tools Are Having a Moment

The race is on to be the AI solution for creators. Earlier this year, TikTok announced its Creator Search Insights tool to inspire creators based on topics people were most interested in. Instagram rolled out its Inspiration tab in the Professional Dashboard to provide Reels, Audio and Account inspo. YouTube announced select creators would receive access to its Inspiration Tab but hasn’t rolled it out widely yet. And this week, Spotter Studio was announced at VidCon, a third-party service promising to serve as “a brainstorm partner, project planner, and research copilot” for YouTube creators. It reportedly helped beta creators get 49% more views. Keep watching this space.

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📊 DATA DROPS

Longer content is regaining popularity. Long-form content on YouTube (30-60 seconds) and TikTok (1-2 minutes) is showing exponential signs of growth. And on TikTok, longer time frames such as 2-5 minutes, 5-10 minutes, and 10-15 minutes have also seen significant upswings.  

-Data from Tubular Labs’ State of Social report on the second half of 2024

YouTube is the number one platform with Gen Z. Teens rely on YouTube for everyday content like vlogs and tutorials and 79% of teens are using YouTube to listen to music.

-Data from PreciseTV and youth research firm Giraffe Insights survey on Media Consumption for US Gen Z Teens

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👀 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT HEADLINES

• TikTok says its users are 44% more likely to go see a movie at least once per month than people who don’t use its platform -TubeFilter

• NBC taps TikTok influencers to grab younger viewers for NFL games -Variety

• YouTube stars want some respect -Wall Street Journal

• Spotter’s new AI-driven “brainstorm partner” is getting creators 49% more views -TubeFilter

• Gen Z powers the rise of the corporate influencer -The Times

• Gen Z women lean toward photo- and video-based platforms like Pinterest and TikTok, while Gen Z men prefer text-based sites like Reddit and X -Business Insider

• 10 reasons to develop an employee advocacy program -Social Media Today

• Viral TikTok series ‘Who TF Did I Marry?’ gets adapted for TV -Variety

• Right-wing influencer network allegedly spread Russian disinformation -Wired

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And welcome to all of you who subscribed recently! Here’s a little bit about me: I consult for tech and service businesses; teach social and influencer marketing at UCLA Extension and have been writing ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) for 3 years…