Social Media News: October 2018

If there's one thing that is constant about social media, it's that it is ever changing. Some of your favorite social media platforms rolled out big changes last month. Here are the highlights of what you should know:

Google+ is (FINALLY) Shutting Down: After allowing their social media platform to die a slow death, Google is finally pulling the plug on Google+. But rather than blame it on poor performance, Google instead reported that the platform may have exposed the personal information of up to 500,000 users. Ouch. Not a good day in Google land. The wind-down on Google+ operations should be complete by August 2019.

Facebook to Launch Creative Compass: This is pretty cool! Facebook recently announced they will be launching something called Creative Compass which will basic review and predict a specific ad’s performance prior to launching. They hope to have it available to all partners in 2019.

Instagram to Allow Longer Videos in Stories: Previously, videos in Instagram stories were restricted to 15 second clips. Now if you upload a video to stories that’s longer than 15 seconds, it will automatically be split into different segments. This feature is still rolling out so I will be impatiently waiting for it.

Facebook Adds Additional Ways to Capture Leads in Ads: If you wanted to capture a lead’s information on the Facebook platform, it used to be that you had to use the Lead Ad type. Now you can add “instant forms” to brand awareness, reach, and traffic objectives. I’m super excited about this change, too!

Instagram Adds Quick Replies: If you find yourself answering the same questions over and over again, you’ll want to check this out. Instagram is adding quick replies for business which allows you to save answers to commonly asked questions!

What do you think of these changes? Which one are you most excited to try out? Let me know in the comments below!