In the dramatic year that has been 2020, our digital platforms have evolved in ways that they have never had to before. As this year comes to an end, we begin to wonder what the top social media trends will be for 2021? With consumers more aware than ever about global issues, audiences are becoming increasingly socially conscious and valuing how brands tackle these issues. With another lockdown forecasted the UK, will we start to see another uprise in video calling platforms, but will our social platforms continue to adapt to the circumstances?
Read on to find out more.
Instagram Extends Live Broadcasting Time
In October, Instagram announced its update to the Live Broadcasting function to all users. Live streamers are no longer limited to 60-minute broadcasts — they can go live for up to 4 hours. This extended timeframe will be available to all Instagram users globally, so long as they have no history of IP or policy violations. Especially in the UK, this comes at a good time with national lockdowns coming into place and an increasing amount of people taking to social platforms for their main source of contact. Instagram will certainly be a large part of communication during lockdown for many people.
3 updates about IG Live:
🎥You can now go Live for up to 4 hours
🎞You can save your Lives for 30 days before they delete
📺 You’ll start seeing a “Live Now” section in the IGTV app and on Explore so you can discover more Lives pic.twitter.com/XGdg1XAj19
— Vishal Shah (@vishalshahis) October 27, 2020
Facebook Makes Updates to Groups
Facebook groups have become even more so popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1.8 billion users now engaging in groups every month. An essential way of communication, Facebook connects not only local communities, but also particular industries, clubs, and niches where people can come together through groups. Facebook announced this week that it’s expanding its post topics tags for groups, which will enable “group members and admins to categorize group posts accordingly”. This will be an essential part in making communication easier within groups.
Twitter Updates to Share Topic Listings via DM
In October, Twitter announced they’re adding another way to boost discovery by giving all users the option to share topic listings in DMs. This makes it easy for users to share related topics with each other and their followers.
Your interests, fandoms, and hobbies are the coolest. And now you can share them by sharing Topics.
From a Topic’s page, tapping the new share icon lets you send a link to the Topic in a Tweet, DM, or outside of Twitter. pic.twitter.com/UzzFcdl5Hn
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 21, 2020
Also, in October, Twitter launched new prompts to stop the spread of misinformation around the US presidential elections. The new prompts appeared in relevant users’ feeds. The prompts will be available in multiple languages and appeared in the home timeline of every person with a Twitter account located within the US.
As explained by Twitter:
“The first prompt will confirm that voting by mail is safe and secure, and the second will remind people that there might be a delay in the announcement of election results. Both will link to Twitter Moments that provide more context and compile the latest credible information on the topic from election experts, journalists and other authoritative news sources.”
LinkedIn Rolls Out Video Meeting Options
In October, LinkedIn rolled out video meeting options in LinkedIn messages. LinkedIn announced the new addition to the platform as of last month as part of its broader refresh of the platform’s look. The option caters to the growing usage of video connection in replacement of in-person meetings, due to COVID-19. It also provides more options to immediately connect with people in LinkedIn messenger. Again, this can be extremely useful during WFH in the pandemic and the second wave of lockdowns in Europe.
As explained by LinkedIn:
“In the message thread, either with another individual or with a group of people, simply click the video meeting icon, and select a provider to sign-in or register. Once complete, you’ll be able to automatically generate a unique video meeting link within any message threads on LinkedIn.”
Other
As the second wave of COVID-19 hits the UK and other parts of the world, we see businesses and platforms alike adapting to a new way of life in 2020. We expect to see the social platforms in particular update and develop during November to cater for the ongoing WFH lifestyle. Make sure you check in again next month for another round of updates.
