Hello, Friday! Hello new edition of the Weekly Download today. This week we’ll discuss Instagram’s active status, Snapchat’s Footprints, Instagram possible ‘remove follower’ option and Facebook’s Watch Party, and of course some Friday Fun!
Instagram’s Active Status
Get ready for more people to slide into your DMs with Instagram’s new active status feature. The photo-based social media platform is following in the footsteps of their parent company, Facebook, by adding that little green active dot. You’ll see the active feature in various areas of the app like the “Direct inbox and your friend list when you share a post from feed.”
“You will only see the status for friends who follow you or people who you have talked to in Direct.” If you prefer to ‘ghost’ online, fret not! Simply edit this feature in your account settings. You’ll see the option to “hide your own status and turn off the ability to see when your friends are active in your settings.”
Instagram intends to make it easier for users to direct message their friends and followers in real-time. The active feature is connecting well with their other recent updates designed to facilitate a closer-knit community between users as it follows the ‘Favorites’ list and ‘group video’ features.
Snapchat Footprints
Looking to discover if Snapchat is an untapped market for your brand? The information you’ve been seeking to help make those informed business decisions is now available thanks to Snapchat Footprints. User understanding is now at your fingertips.
Snapchat Footprints reports on how Snapchatters’ are using the app, and it provides extremely insightful information for businesses. “Over 90% of Snapchatters’ opt-in to share their location, and they interact with Snapchat approximately 25 times a day.”
Snapchat’s first location insights series has revealed how users spend their time each day of the week. “Monday’s are for quiet time, Tuesdays are for running errands, Wednesday’s are for self-care, Thursday’s are for getaways, Friday’s are for nights out, Saturdays are for outdoor fun and Sunday’s are for family and low-key fun.”
Snapchat has also sorted some of this information out by age groups, where a majority of these weekly trends take place, and how Snapchatters’ are spending their money on their app depending on the time of week and year.
Loads of valuable information the Footprints release – make sure you take a look! And, remember, these are generalizations that may not hold true for every user or niche.
#Snapchat introduces Footprints, a data series providing insights into the lifestyles and habits of Snapchat users. The first report focuses on US-based Snapchatters: https://t.co/OoKeRSbzUN
— DEPT® (@DeptAgency) July 23, 2018
Instagram Experiments with Remove Followers Option
Instagram is testing the waters with a new option that has been a long time coming. You’ll be able to remove pesky followers who serve no purpose on your Instagram page. What does this mean for businesses or brands? You’ll now have the ability to have control over your engagement rates.
If you’re operating a private account, you’ve already been able to remove unwanted followers, and now those with open profiles can do the same. Of course, having a public profile means any user can still see all of your content – unless they are blocked – but they will no longer see your notifications on their feeds.
Still wondering how this option can improve your engagement rates? According to Social Media Today, by limiting your followers to mainly those who are engaged in your content, you’ll increase your platform reach. Because Instagram’s algorithm works with an individual response, having followers who aren’t engaged in your content can hurt your brand’s social platform goals.
Instagram is testing out a new feature to remove creepy followers discreetly https://t.co/7mlrVT21XD #instagram #instagrammers #influencers pic.twitter.com/CaV5i2mrSV
— SKORR (@SKORRsocial) July 22, 2018
Facebook Watch Party
On Wednesday, Facebook launched their Watch Party feature worldwide. Watch party is another social effort to encourage engagement amongst users in real-time by allowing Facebook Groups to watch videos together.
When Facebook Groups are hosting Watch Parties together, everyone is viewing the same spot in the video simultaneously. The intention is for users to have a clear and consistent real-time conversation about the media that is shared. Viewers can watch, comment, rewind, fast-forward and more.
The video content shared can be both live or pre-recorded. Watch Party also features two new tools. First, co-hosting. This grants the Group admin to select other members to start a Watch Party. Secondly, crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing allows for group members to promote a video for a Watch Party.
It’s here! Check out Watch Party, a new way to watch videos on Facebook together in real time https://t.co/09jWZuehZv
— Meta (@Meta) July 25, 2018
Any week would not be complete without some Friday Fun.
Today we have two. The first is the bone-chilling official trailer for Aquaman. December can’t come soon enough!
And if you’re looking for immediate gratification, get ready for this weekend’s bingefest.
