Welcome to this week's episode of Social Chatter where we cover the latest social media news from this past week.
Each episode of Social Chatter is available as a blog post or video.
Let's see what's new in social media this week with your hosts, Christian Karasiewicz and Nick Rishwain.
We're also joined by special guest, Aaron Adel.
Watch This Week's Social Media Updates
Share Multiple Instagram Photos and Videos In One Post
In Instagram news, you can now share multiple photos and videos in just one Instagram post.
Why Sharing Multiple Instagram Photos and Videos Matters
This is fantastic news for Instagram users.
Previously, you had to share every photo and video as a single item.
Now businesses can share up to 10 photos and videos in one post.
You can combine up to 10 photos and videos into one single post.
To view the photos and videos in a post, users would swipe through them, similar to how Facebook carousel ads work.
It is also important to note that when a post contains multiple photos and videos, you will see an icon with multiple dots.
It looks like this.
Overall, we can't wait to see what businesses do with the Instagram photo and video carousel.
Since you can include photos and videos, these would be fantastic for a step-by-step tutorial.
To get this new feature on your Instagram account, simply update your app (iOS | Android).
You can read the announcement about Instagram's photo and video carousel here.
WhatsApp's Snapchat Clone
In WhatsApp news, they are adding Snapchat-style messaging.
Why Snapchat-style Messaging In WhatsApp Matters
It's about time that WhatsApp finally added Snapchat-style messaging.
Other Facebook-owned properties already have Snapchat-like messaging.
Now it's coming to WhatsApp.
According to Mashable, "the feature lives in a new dedicated section of the app, alongside your chats and call log. There, you can update your Status with photos and video clips (and yes, emoji, doodles and text) that will be viewable to friends within the app for 24 hours after posting."
Overall, we're glad to see Snapchat-style features are present in WhatsApp in a dedicated section.
Could this be a bigger play for Facebook, to one day, combine all of their messaging tools into one app, instead of having them scattered across different apps?
We'll see.
To read more about this new messaging feature for WhatsApp, check out this article.
Send Money Internationally With Facebook Messenger
In Facebook news, you can now send money internationally through Facebook!
Why Sending Money Internationally Through Facebook Messenger Matters
While you can currently use Facebook Messenger to send money within the United States, you were limited by the accounts you could transfer to.
Now a company called TransferWise has launched a chatbot to move money between the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Union, helping solve this problem.
If you've ever needed to transfer money, you now how uncomfortable it can be.
Thanks to TransferWise's chatbot, you can make a transfer in just a few taps.
This is also very encouraging for businesses that haven't started creating Messenger chatbots and shows the potential of what can be created.
To read more about this announcement, take a look at this article.
Custom Profiles In Twitter Direct Messages
In Twitter news, they are testing customer profiles in Twitter direct messages.
Why Twitter Direct Message Customer Profiles Matter
Twitter is a very useful tool for businesses to handle customer service.
With this feature, Twitter would allow a business to show a profile of the person a customer is interacting with in a Twitter direct message.
A lot of times, when businesses use Twitter for customer service, they typically sign direct messages with initials or a name.
If this feature gets rolled out, it would allow a customer to direct message a company on Twitter.
When someone from the company responds, it will show the person's name.
This is great news because a lot of times, when you direct message a company, you don't know if you're interacting with a person or an automated system.
Now you should feel more comfortable when you interact with a business through direct messages, knowing who you are working with.
You can read more about this feature that is being tested here.
Twitter Adds Periscope Videos to Top Trends
Watch what's trending - LIVE! You'll now see Periscopes surfaced in top trends. pic.twitter.com/Bhj8JT2ITw
— Twitter Video (@TwitterVideo) February 14, 2017
In Twitter news, they have added Periscope videos to the Twitter Explore.
Why Periscope Video In Twitter Top Trends Matters
This is great news if you use Periscope a lot.
A lot of people have been very vocal about how slow Twitter has been integrating Periscope into their site.
By adding Periscope videos into the Twitter Explore area by using it to surface video from Periscope, this will help businesses reach more users.
If you happen to have a small audience on Periscope and you struggle getting people to watch your stream, if you happen to get your Periscope live videos featured on Twitter, this can lead to significant growth in your Periscope audience.
To locate this stream, look under "top trends" in the Twitter Explore tab.
You can read more about this announcement from Twitter here.
Buying Spectacles Directly From Snapchat
In Snapchat news, you can now buy Snapchat Spectacles.
Why Buying Snapchat Spectacles Matters
Previously, if you wanted to buy a pair of Snapchat Spectacles, you had to locate a vending machine.
After a few months, you can now buy your own pair from their website for $130.
They are available in black, coral and teal.
This is great news if you create a lot of videos and want to share them with your Snapchat audience.
We also like them for creating videos on Instagram as well!
Overall, having your own pair of Snapchat Spectacles gives you another creative way to display video that can aid in creating a compelling story about your business.
If you would like your own pair of Snapchat Spectacles, go here.
Tools
In addition to sharing the latest in social media news from this past week, we also highlighted some great tools and apps to check out.
TwIM
The first tool we have for you this week is called TwIM (iOS).
Do you find it frustrating to use Twitter's direct messaging feature?
TwIM wants to give Twitter direct messages a modern update.
With TwIM, they've added the following features.
- Search for any user on Twitter by their name or username.
- No need for all your friends to have TwIM; no need for you to fill in their contact details
- Send messages, have them transformed with in-line content previews
- Supporting tweets, photos, videos, gifs, emojis, maps and webpages
- Use emojis, called TwIMoji
- Incorporate Siri to send a direct message
- And much more
TwIM is a free app. You can download it from the link below.
Download TwIMOptinMonster
The next tool we wanted to share with you is called OptinMonster (web).
Would you like to build your email lists faster?
With OptinMonster, you can add high converting forms to your blog in minutes.
OptinMonster also features very powerful technology called "exit intent," to help you convert more of your visitors who abandon your site into customers.
You can also perform A/B split testing and page level targeting to your site to help you show targeted messages on specific posts, pages and categories to the right customers.
You can download OptinMonster from the link below and quickly acquire more customers in less time!
Download OptinMonsterWrap-up
That's it for this week's episode of Social Chatter.
Next week, be sure to tune-in to our Facebook Page to watch next week's episode of Social Chatter to learn about the latest social media news
If you have any questions about of the social media news or tools that were mentioned this week, please share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or in the comments below.
