The Social Update: What Happened In April?

It can be hard to keep up with everything that's happening in the world of social media. In this series, I will be creating a monthly update of the top social media changes and why they'll be important to you and your business.

1. Instagram Introduced 'Shop from Creators'

It was announced at the start of the month that an in-app shopping experience was on the way but during Facebook's F8 conference a 'Shop from Creators' option was said to be coming very soon. This will allow influences to tag products which will be able to be purchased from users without having to leave the app. This could mean that businesses see a bigger competition for sales but could also be a massive advantage because it would allow them to track direct sales from Instagram a lot easier. Currently, the feature is only going to be rolled out to a handful of large influencers but should be on its way to Instagram business profiles soon.

2. Facebook Added 'Why Am I Seeing This?' Option

Facebook has begun rolling out a new "Why am I seeing this?" option for posts in the news feed which explain why you are seeing posts in your feed.

This is important because it gives people more visibility as to how businesses are using Facebook data to target you with their ads. In this example, I have been targeted by an ad because I am over the age of 18 and I live in the UK. This could affect businesses because it will make it easier for customers to see why you are targeting them and makes it easier to stop seeing your ads or report them if they don't feel as though the targeting is right.

3. Twitter Started Testing The Option To Hide Replies

Twitter is trialling the option to 'hide' someone's reply to your tweets. This feature could be a massive step forward in reducing the amount of spam and abusive comments which will improve user safety on the platform. This would be beneficial for companies as it would allow them to hide irrelevant or spam comments from their tweets. Currently, this feature is only in the testing phase but hopefully it will become a fixed option in the future.

4. Instagram Launched Quiz Stickers In Instagram Stories

Now you can add a quiz sticker to your story. This can be used to ask your followers multiple choice questions about you or more importantly about them.

This tool can be utilized by businesses to find out more about their target audience. For example, if you were planning to launch a new product range you could ask which colour your followers would want to see in the range.