As we approach the end of February, social media news has taken us from Snapchat lows to Instagram highs. We’ve seen update after update on the social media sites over the start of the year and February seems to be no stranger to new app features and improved policies.
In social media news this week, a Chrome add-on helps hide those who don’t want to be seen, an app rises up to replace Snapchat, Twitter battles the bots and Instagram is at one with the Carousel.
Mission: Spy on Other Users Undetected
Ever dreamed of being a spy? Well, the new add-on for Instagram may be the closest users will ever get to going…undercover. Chrome IG Story, a third-party extension for Google’s Chrome, allows Instagram users to watch Stories without the other user knowing. Unfortunately, the anonymity feature is only accessible on the Desktop version of the app. Users simply have to toggle the eye button off after downloading the extension to go incognito in the world of Instagram. It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts though as the add-on could impact statistics on the site.
Like It or Not?
In the wake of Snapchat’s update, other apps have tried to take its position in the market. One of the contenders is Like – a short video app, which works by users picking a song and then recording themselves singing it. It’s considered to be using pretty advanced technology already and is alike to Snapchat with its face filter and sound effect options. You can face swap, change your background and add animations – sound familiar? It’s already proving very popular with 25 million people already using the app. It looks like Snapchat is going to have to take a big step up if it wants to stay on top of its competition.
Twitter v. the Bots
Twitter is going to war with the bots this week as they confirmed changes to the site that will limit how users will be able to post. Similar posts across multiple accounts will be restricted and users won’t be able to interact with other users from multiple accounts simultaneously. These limitations are being enforced to coincide with Twitter’s polices on automation and spam as many individuals use the site for negative purposes and hate crime. Twitter hopes that with each updated rule, the site will eventually crack down on cyber bullying and fake news.
Ride the Horses with Instagram
After taking on Snapchat’s concept of ‘Stories’, Instagram’s own version of the feature has been a huge success. Last year, Instagram allowed advertisements to expand to the Stories feature and now they’ve added more types of ads, which include carousels. Carousel ads are usually very successful on Facebook, so it makes sense that the mix of videos and images will work well on a platform focused on picture content. Only three items can currently be added to the carousel ad and the feature should be rolled out to all soon.
