Platform 5: This week’s most important social media changes (edition 56)
This week’s 5 most important social media changes
What’s changed in the last seven days? What does it mean?
A major Instagram update, 360-degree photos and easier Group searching on Facebook, messaging in YouTube and Google testing black links on their search results pages.
Let’s take a look at these changes in more detail.
Instagram releases new icons and app design
The Instagram app, along with its suite of accompanying apps, have received new icons and design changes. The blue header has been eliminated and the overall theme of the app has changed to a black-and-white design with a few colour accents for notifications and ‘likes’. The idea behind the change to a more flat interior theme design was to draw attention away from the framing and place more focus on images and videos within the app.
360-degree photos are coming to your Facebook News Feed
Facebook soon will be adding support for 360-degree photos to the News Feed. The 360-degree photos will function similar to Facebook’s 360-degree videos. Users can change the angle of the photo by dragging their finger or cursor around the screen or holding your portable at a different angle. The feature will support images shot with 360-degree cameras as well as some VR headsets.
Facebook is testing a feature to helps users find more Groups
Facebook is testing a ‘Discover feature in the Groups section, which will make it easier to join conversations. A new tab allows users to browse public and closed Facebook Groups by category, including Groups your friends are in and local Groups. Users will be able to see what is popular within their circle or location. Groups is the second most-used feature within the app aside from the news feed, so adding additional navigation features is a good move towards supporting what users access most.
iOS and Android will soon have in-app messaging for YouTube
YouTube is testing a messaging feature in the app that will let users chat and share videos without having to use another platform. The service is not yet available to all users but those currently picked during the testing phase will be able to invite friends to chat in the conversation threads, to be housed in a new tab. YouTube hopes the new feature will encourage more sharing of their content from within their own apps.
Google testing black links on search result pages
Google has been testing changing their search results page links from blue to black. Years ago Google tested different shades of blue, the final results of which made the company an extra $200million, so it can be worth attempting a shakeup. It remains to be seen whether or not the change will stick, but given the amount of negative feedback they have received on it, it seems unlikely to remain permanent.
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