Spring is in full swing and here at Giraffe we are swapping out the office chairs for deck chairs, the coffee for a tall ice-cold beer and baring our lily-white legs in shorts! Ah, who are we kidding, we’ve been stuck in a dark room filtering the inter-webs to bring you the latest movements in social media news for May! We can dream though, right?
So sit back relax and read on to find out what’s been happening this month in the world of social media.
Facebook Removing A Range of Location Tracking Tools
Meta has been making changes under the radar in how it handles Location Services on Facebook, several location-based functions are set for removal by 31st May 2022, including Nearby Friends, weather alerts and Location History.
This info has been shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, Facebook it seems has started to update users via a Facebook notification in-app. Meta elaborates on the imminent changes within the notification, stating that services listed will no longer be available past 31st May 2022 and that data collection will cease. All previously logged information relating to location will bedeleted-on August 1st 2022.
Social Media News Today reached out to Facebook on why they are implementing the changes, they had this to say:
“While we’re deprecating some location-based features on Facebook due to low usage, people can still use Location Services to manage how their location information is collected and used.”
In short – Meta has seen the data and its users don’t care to use them, so they are scrapping the dead weight in Facebook’s services. What is surprising though is Meta’s willingness to just delete user data so readily. However with the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data scandal still on people’s minds and the recent Meta rebranding, maybe the company is trying to refocus public opinion on how it handles user data.
Europe also has ever-increasing data privacy regulations that are putting pressure on a lot of digital services worldwide, not least social networks, which could also have influenced this move from Meta.
Whatever the reason, Facebook is about to lose another swathe of data, which it could use to power its almighty ads platform.
LinkedIn ‘Funny’ Reaction Close To Release
In more social media news LinkedIn are on the verge of releasing a new reaction you never even knew you needed, funny!
Discovered by app researcher Nima Owji, LinkedIn seems set to add another reaction to its current set, with the release of a new ‘Funny’, laughing emoji… Does it fit the social network? Not really.
However, there is always room for some lighter toned content, even on a professional, business first platform like LinkedIn. According to LinkedIn the ‘laughing’ reaction has been one of their most requested updates!
Back in Feb Chief Product Officer Tomer Cohen posted the following when providing an update from his team on what they have been working on.
“One of the top requests we got was for a laughing emoji reaction. We hear you loud & clear and we agree. Humour is indeed a serious business.”
LinkedIn hasn’t provided an official date for its ‘Funny’ reaction addition and hasn’t updated its help pages as of yet, which usually gets updated before new features go live. However, it seems to be coming very soon, with the visual style and format looking complete at this point. Watch this space!
Instagram Soon To Implement Video Reaction Option for Reels
In closing news, Instagram is soon to implement a video reaction option for Reels.
App researcher Alessandro Paluzzi found this example and posted it to Twitter, the example shows a new option being tested by Instagram which prompts users to ‘create’ a reaction video right from the Reels share sheet.
This could go a long way to getting more people to share and interact with reels content, encouraging users who may not be currently creating Reels to get in on the action. This is something we have all seen before on the TikTok platform and has been a roaring success, so it’s unsurprising to see Instagram wanting to get in on this kind of action with their own take.
There is no current release date planned for this feature and we suspect it will be added without much fanfare, so keep an eye out for this hitting the app soon.
Well, that’s all for our Giraffe social media news update for this month, still want more? Why not head on over to our blogs section which is full of tips, tricks, and news to help improve your social media strategy. Find out how you can attract more customers to your business through social media here. Enjoy! We will see you next month for more social media news updates.
