Social Media News / August 2022

Hello there, August is here, and it’s time for a soggy, windswept edition of the Mosh Newsletter. But while the weather outside is frightful, right here, it’s so delightful to catch up with the world of social media, from the latest in Reels tips to watching your teens on Snapchat. So let’s get into it.

Blog: Keeping it Reel – Three Things You Need to Know About Instagram Reels

Are you reeling over Reels? Because honestly, same.
It seems as though every week there’s a new major update on our social media platforms. Recently Meta announced their push for users to prioritise creating and watching Instagram Reels over other types of content on the platform, stating how their algorithm will actually prioritise video content over static content.

So where does that leave you? Making the switch from static imagery to creating eye-catching Reels can be a daunting task. Luckily for you, Alyssa has put together a guide to help you navigate this new territory, think of it as ‘Instagram Reels 101’, where she covers everything from Instagram Reel trends to hashtags and IG niches!
You can read more here.

Instagram Really Said Copy and Paste with Upcoming App BeReal

Surprise surprise, Instagram is trying to be every single app all at once, again.

Over the last few months, you may have noticed a new kid on the social media block, BeReal. For those of you that don’t live on social media, BeReal is a relatively (est. 2020) new app that encourages users to share moments of their life without filters. The app notifies users at a random point during the day that it’s “Time to Be Real”. Once the user clicks on this notification and opens the app, a two-minute timer starts, giving them just a couple of minutes to take a photo of whatever they’re doing in the moment. The app takes a photo using both the front and back camera, allowing connected friends to see what you look like and where you are. In a filter-heavy world, it’s a pretty cool concept, right? Yeah, that’s what IG thought as well.
 

In one of their latest updates, IG added a new “Dual” camera feature, allowing users to – you guessed it, take a dual photo using both their front camera and back camera simultaneously. Even the layout of this new feature looks suspiciously similar to the layout of the BeReal app. The only obvious difference is that whilst BeReal only gives users a two-minute window to take a photo, IG’s Dual feature allows users to use it whenever they want.

Who knows what other apps IG will try and absorb in the future and a word of caution to all our app developers out there. . . Instagram is always watching 👀

LinkedIn Announce Recruiter Diversity Nudges

LinkedIn saw racism and inequality and said “not today” with their new Diversity Nudges feature. Found within the LinkedIn Recruiter platform this new feature was created to help businesses maximise their approach to diversity and inclusion. 

Diversity Nudges will alert managers with a Nudge pop-up displaying statistics and information about potential inequality and imbalances within their candidate search.

LinkedIn explained their new feature:

“If gender representation in a given talent pool is unbalanced, a notification will pop up to let you know the Male/Female ratio of that search. You’ll also receive recommendations of Skills, Locations, and Companies filters you can add to your search to improve the gender balance. For example, if you’re hiring for an electrical engineer, Diversity Nudges might suggest adding skills such as data analysis, analytical skills, and Simulink to increase the number of women electrical engineers in your candidate search.”

Not only will this feature help businesses, it may also help candidates looking for work find workplaces that are more aligned with their personal beliefs and concerns. 
This is definitely a step in the right direction in terms of equality and diversity and we’ll be watching to see if other platforms adopt similar features.

We are Family! All Your Friends on Snapchat I See! – Snapchat Launches New Family Center

Having been in development for the last few months Snapchat has officially launched its new “Family Center”. This new feature will allow parents to monitor who their teens are engaging with on the app. This may seem like every teenager’s nightmare, but despite this new Family Center allowing parents to see what their teens are doing and who they’re chatting with, it doesn’t actually show specifics of their conversations. Snapchat explained that it was “designed to reflect the way that parents engage with their teens in the real world, where parents usually know who their teens are friends with and when they are hanging out – but don’t eavesdrop on their private conversations.” 

So it’s pretty much the digital equivalent of having your parents in the next room whilst your mates are over.
 

Parents will also be able to report accounts they are concerned about directly to Snapchat’s “Trust and Safety” teams, without alerting their child. To access the platform parents will need to create their own account and then access the Family Center through the app. Teens will then have to accept an invitation from their parents to join the FC dashboard so that there is full transparency of the process.
We’re intrigued as to whether this new feature will increase or decrease the overall amount of SC users. As new accounts will be made by parents wanting to monitor their children, but on the other hand, having your parents lowkey lurking in on your conversations may put the younger generation off, as SC has always been a more risqué and controversial sharing app.

It’ll be interesting to see, and we’ll be keeping an eye on this feature when it hits NZ shores.

The New Zealand Facebook and Instagram Report 2021

If you haven’t had a read through the latest iteration of our report, where have you been and why do you hate knowledge? 

Chock full of insights and standout examples of Kiwi brands out there changing the game, we’ve taken data from over 24,000 Facebook Pages and over 11,000 Instagram accounts and compiled them into a comprehensive report that will be useful to any digital marketer.

If you are looking for the state of play in NZ’s social media marketing space, you’ve come to the right place. 

Click here to download the 2021 edition of our report.

We also have a super limited run of bound and printed reports available. If you want one to pretty up your coffee table or to browse through when the 3am existential crisis kicks in, hit us up with your name and address and why you want one in 10 words or less: report@mosh.co.nz

After years in the social game, we’ve learnt a thing or two along the way, and we’re keen to share our digital wisdom! We’ve created a series of customisable modules. Whether you’re new to the gig and need to learn it all, or have been around these parts a while and have discovered a gap in your knowledge, come along and have a lesson on all things social! Check out all of our options here or get in touch for details. 

Once again, and all too soon, we’ve reached the end of this month’s newsletter. Thanks for hanging around, we’ve loved the company. We’ll see you again in September, but in the meantime stay warm, stay dry, stay social.
Peace out ✌

The Mosh Crew.