State of Social 09: Back to School edition

As we step away from a very green, Brattish summer and into Demure Fall – we’ve got the latest seasonal goodness from the world of social media.

So, tune in, light a candle, stick on Gilmore Girls, sit back and relax as we turn the most ordinary of social media updates into mindful moments of exaggerated modesty.

Sound familiar?

‘Booooom-bloop!’ The noise that many of us hear a million times a day – the ending of a TikTok downloaded and shared on other platforms. Love it or hate it, the sound is familiar and oddly satisfying (just me?).

Always desperate to copy its fun, younger, cooler little sister platform, Instagram is once again demonstrating that imitation is the best form of flattery, as they’ve creates a sound as part of their ‘brand new sonic identity’.

The Creative Audio and Brand teams have designed what they call a ‘simple and iconic sound’ designed to fit with every Reel. ‘Intentionally punctuated’, and ‘imperfect’ – the new sound is just one part of a sonic vocabulary unique to the Instagram community.

This is just the first in a series of new sounds – but how has it been received? We headed over to the platform to delve into the post’s comment section (and we weren’t disappointed). Here are a few of our faves…

"This sound beautifully captures the unsettling time void of excessive Instagram use" @victor.rolvaag

"Makes me feel just anxiety tbh" @midgetzip

"To hear this all the time would not be fun. Please reconsider" @kokumkohla

"This gives me really strong "fatal error" warning message vibes" @pikakun

"Microsoft Teams has competition" @amit.sunil

Head to the announcement post to add your POV.

Slide into the DMs…

In yet another ditch attempt to spice up private chats in response to the persistent preference for DMs over posting, Instagram is now adding even more engagement tools to direct messages.

Feel the need to customise your photos with drawing tools, stickers and GIFs? There’s a new tool for that. Want to cut out specific bits of photos to send via DM? There’s a new tool for that too!

The platform is also adding new ‘birthday indicators’ to the Notes bubble (at the top of inboxes), so you’ll never forget a friends’ birthday again. To be fair, we’ve been lost without Facebook’s birthday reminders. Maybe this be the final push to delete Facebook forever?!

Instagram is also adding some special new chat themes for ‘demure fall’… allowing users to switch up and curate their own Autumnal vibes for PSL szn, and include branded visuals like “Sabrina Carpenter” in celebration of her upcoming album.

We’re not sure how much we’ll be switching up our chat themes, but it’s clear to see that IG are focussing their efforts on sparking more interest in private chats, in-line with the recent usage of messages over Stories and main feed.

With reels still slaying the top spot for consumption on the channel, IG’ers are then turning to DMs to share Reels with friend and discuss privately. A trend on the app that’s far from the original purpose of sharing a photo or two, laden with 30 hashtags or more. We recognise and salute the shift – move with the times, or the times will move without you!

Re-edit (and re-upload)

Finally! TikTok is testing an exciting new feature that allows users to re-edit videos after publishing!

This revolutionary new update will enable creators to make changes such as removing all edits to existing videos, recreate the original clip, and reupload a brand-new masterpiece. Sounds good right?!

The update comes at a time where more people than ever are creating on the platform – but the new feature is for ✨purists✨ only. If you use CapCut or other third-party apps to edit your videos, consider yourself personally excluded from the update.

The news is another push to encourage users to stay creating in-app, and to encourage content creators to use in-app features when video editing. The change is a smart one. It’s making it much easier to re-do clips, add extra content, or go back and try out a different approach in editing or make improvements post-publishing. Why outsource when you can do it in-house ;)?

We’re not 100% when this feature will be rolled out to everyone, but for those that use in-app editing and publishing, it could be a significant, game-changing update.

In other TikTok news...

In another copycat move, TikTok has introduced its very own Instagram Notes-like feature users’ inboxes and it’s called… drum roll please… ‘Thoughts’! Original hey? And of course, the new feature can be found at the top of users’ story feed, and in their profile picture.

The update is designed to allow users to share a short, text-based thought – displayed in (wait for it…) you guessed it, a speech bubble at the top of inboxes! Reeallllyyy, TikTok?

The format and UI might be slightly different, but the principle remains the same.

How impactful will it be? Only time will tell..

Our take? It’s getting harder and harder to tell the two apps apart these days!

Flip it and reverse it

Finally, TikTok has launched Flip Story – a new feature allowing content creators to add a second side to their stories, which can be unlocked with a flip.

This interactive update is a great way to get followers to engage with their communities and adding another layer and level to storytelling on the platform.

Perfect for exclusive announcements, before and after reveals, and sneaky peaks at new product launches, Flip Story adds a layer of fun, mystery, and surprise to Stories on TikTok. With Billie Eilish even giving the new update a spin by revealing a before and after to delight fans with a peak at her new tour.

Want to test the new feature out for yourself? Here’s how…

Tap the "+" button to access the Create page and select Story, (or select the "+" button from your Profile photo). You should see the option to add a Flip Story (once available to you).

You’ll then have the chance to to upload two sides to your Story directly from the Create page or upload images to a Flip Story from your phone. Flip Stories are for only image uploads right now, but this may all change once rolled out to everyone.

To view a Flip Story, press the "Hold to Flip" button on the first side of a Story. This will then reveal the hidden content, which will only play for a few seconds.

Creators will then be able to see a separate list of viewers that unveiled the second slide of the Story.

Will you be trying it?

Ready to try out all this ✨newness✨?

Slide into our DMs or ping us an email if you want to breathe life into your stuff old social strategy.

Don’t ghost us! If you like what you see, drop us a line at hello@greatstate.co or let's be honest, send us a DM.

Seeeee ya!