Explore our Social Media Marketing Toolkit

Facebook video covers, Linking Instagram stories and Gif buttons

Author's avatar By Jessica Wade 23 Jun, 2017
Essential Essential topic

Social Media Essentials

Welcome to our weekly summary of what's happened in social media this week. We highlight the top stories to help you stay up to date with social media, here is what caught our attention this week.

Spotlight story: Twitter has a new look

The most talked about change in social media this week has been Twitter's new look. As many have already seen Twitter has redesigned their layout, introduced some new features and updated old ones. You will now see a rounded profile photo, more intuitive icons, a new side navigation menu and articles and websites opening in Safari’s viewer. So make sure you adapt your profile photo to fit in the new circle shape.

It is clear Twitter have listened to their user's feedback and made changes according to this. Even though Twitter received some backlash from this update its good to see a social media platform adapting to their user's needs. Read our full summary.

Facebook video covers

Facebook will now let you upload videos as cover images, this feature is currently only available for Facebook pages. Videos can be up to 90-seconds long, automatically muted and on autoplay. This is a great feature for retailers or businesses with a visual product who can use the feature to further promote their business.

Add links to your Instagram stories

Instagram introduced clickable links in stories last year, but have started to roll out this feature to businesses profiles with over 10,000 followers. If you are one of these lucky few consider how you want to make the most of this feature and add value to your story that benefits your followers. Try not to include a link in every story but instead choose carefully what content you want to drive your followers too. Consider linking to your blog, product or service or exclusive content.

 Facebook introduces a Gif button in comments

We all love a Gif, especially on social media. Facebook introduced a new Gif button allowing you to comment or reply using a Gif of your choice. Given Gifs are a big part of Facebooks Whatsapp and messenger, it's about time they introduced them to comments.

Facebook tests live video recommendations

Similar to YouTube, Facebook is currently testing recommended videos once a live broadcast has ended. Introducing this feature will be a bonus for Facebook’s ongoing efforts to draw in retailers who are looking to use more video content on Facebook. From what we know this is something they are currently testing and I'm sure we will see more of in the coming weeks.

What do you think of Twitters redesign? Will Facebook video covers will catch on? Let us know what you think and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Don't forget to join us next week for another weekly round up.

Author's avatar

By Jessica Wade

I was previously the Social Media Executive for Smart Insights and managed all of Smart Insights social media channels and social strategy. I love all things social, most of the time you will find me endlessly scrolling through Instagram. You can follow me on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

This blog post has been tagged with:

Recommended Blog Posts