Social Media News You Can Use
Video is the future and Tiktok makes its app less friendly for trendy content creators.
It’s been a busy news week for our favorite social media apps. Let’s get into it!
Instagram is taking a page out of TikTok's play book. The social media platform announced on June 16, 2022 that they will be implementing changes to compete with the rival app. Instagram will start recommending users you do not follow, similar as the For You tab on Tiktok. They also plan to make changes to the navigation bar, such as creating a shortcut for creating a post and accessing images.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to Instagram that would seem incongruent with the app’s primary focus on photos. He said “Photos are still an important part of Instagram, and we hope people continue sharing beautiful pictures there as they have always done." This comment was likely meant to address criticism from those who use it primarily for photography, but who now believe Instagram’s focus on Tiktok has led to devaluation of image contributors.
In a leaked internal memo, it was recently disclosed that the Facebook app is about to go through some big changes to compete with Tiktok, like its sister app, Instagram. The future Facebook app will be a mix of Stories and Reels at the top, followed by posts that its discovery engine recommends from across both social media platforms. They are also integrating the Messenger app to be a central part of the general Facebook app. The Messenger option will be placed at the top right of the app and users will no longer have to use two separate apps to both use Facebook and message their Facebook friends.
It’s not difficult to see that an Tiktok’s skyrocketing success is pushing Facebook and Instagram to be more video focused and help users discover new content, rather than just using either app to stay connected with friends. Coupled with additional internal leaks that Facebook’s user group is aging, Facebook is feeling the pressure to stay relevant.
The way people use Facebook has changed drastically in recent years. The social network is now more than just a place for friends and family to connect, but it's also an important tool that many are turning towards when they want to converse with someone outside their close circle of contacts.
Some current employees say this new direction feels like Facebook is moving away from its main purpose; connecting everyday people who come to Facebook looking to connect with friends and family. It’s unclear how random AI-driven content will perform on an app that was originally created to keep up with people users know “in real life.” Only time will tell if Facebook will be able to duplicate the success of Tiktok without alienating current users.
Tiktok
Although this news rolled out about a month ago, some users are only recently being affected by the most recent change to the Tiktok platform — the disappearance of the TikTok Discover tab.
The official TikTok Twitter page posted, "As we continue to celebrate community and creativity in the world of social media-based video platforms such as Facebook Live or Instagram Stories for example - here at TikTok communications company headquarters , our Friends tab is getting a makeover! Starting this week some users will be able enjoy an easier way finding content from other people they're connected too on their account; it'll provide even more ways that you can get entertained."
This change is a blow for app users who have used the Discover tab to learn about the most recent Tiktok trends, in order to grow their followers.
What do you think? Are you missing your Discover tab yet on Tiktok? Do you welcome changes to Facebook and Instagram to make them more like Tiktok or would you rather them be left as is?