State of Social: Q4 enters the chat

A/W ‘24 is officially here. The leaves are turning, the PSL’s are back, and so are we with all the very latest in Social Media newness.

Mariah Carey is defrosting as we speak… so join us as we pick the best from the patch with this month’s social updates!

IG goes all out for Spooky Szn and beyond  

Who knew the holidays were such a big thing for Mosseri and the gang?!

We spotted a few extra spooky features in October, including an ultra-ghoulish font (a Goosebumps throwback IYKYK), keyword-triggered animations in DMs, and brand new templates for Stories. 

As we know, DMs are a hot spot for interactions right now, and Mosseri continued to add a little seasonal (pumpkin) spice in October. Secret words such as Halloween, and Trick-or-treat activated surprise animations and effects in Notes as well as DMs – sprinkling a little festive magic to messages.

There were also new Broadcast Channel backgrounds to add to chats, as well as Meta’s new AI tools to personalise backgrounds as the seasons change (is it too early to use the C word yet?)…

Instagram also added 5 new custom “Add Yours” templates to increase Story usage, and add an interactive element, including sharing of favourite seasonal movies and most-loved treats. Find them under the new section of the “Add Yours Templates” Discovery Surface in Stories.

In more scary news, Meta seems to be really pushing the AI-generated content via Meta AI. Is it paying off? We haven’t seen much of it… and given that the platform is all about creators and photography, is there much of an appetite for users to post AI-generated images? Especially in the golden ‘content creator era’ – we predict it may just get… ghosted. 👻

It's a fresh attempt from the platform to boost engagement by capitalising on seasonal trends (and dare we say it, even trying to set their own). It's an especially smart move as it adds a level of perceived customisation and personalisation for Gen Z, who love to make their mark and show what makes them unique. Will we see it further increase into the winter months? We will of course, report back. 

STEM enters the feed

Not a new feature to some, but this month TikTok has expanded its role in science and education by offering up its STEM feed to all users in the UK, the US, and Ireland.

We’re all familiar with #LearnOnTikTok (@big.manny1 is our fave) whether it’s sleep tips, chemical reactions (mentos in coke!) or psychological tests to see if you’re really a psychopath or not – TikTok has it all.

The STEM feed was first launched in the US to TikTok users aged 18 and under in March 2024, before expanding to European audiences earlier this year – and now the feed is visible to post-teens and all!

We’re stoked that TikTok wants to get more people involved in its educational and science content – and that it’s putting such a focus on increasing the visibility of it. With over 200 million video views of STEM-approved content since the introduction of the STEM feed, it’s reported to be visited by almost a third of teens weekly (UK & USA).

We love to see ‘social for good’ – and this push deserves all the praise it’s getting in shining a light on educators, teachers and STEM figures in the field.

It doesn’t end there either, TikTok have plans to expand even further, through local language support for STEM feed content, enabling more users from across the globe to interact with the content.

We love to see it. Especially as the platform is continually in the firing line by critics claiming it’s a ‘time void’ and is only here to spread misinformation, take over young people’s minds and breed negativity.

You go TikTok.

Netflix and (posting-on-social-media) and chill

Nope, not a Black Mirror episode, actual IRL!

This week, Netflix has announced its brand-new offering to share clips direct from Netflix to your pals across social.

The new option is called ‘Moments’ and works as a ‘clipping feature’ built into the streaming service, that enables you to create short clips from whatever you’re watching, to share with people using your social networks.

How? On the new and improved pause screen, a ‘Moments’ option will appear, that allows you to edit and snip your current watch, creating a clip of that scene to send to a mate. Is this virtual Netflix and chill?!

Clips will include a link to the full show or film, (ofc Netflix are going to be promoting Netflix content) and also the ability to highlight specific segments to friends, all posted on your preferred social media platform.

Could this be particularly easy and useful for creating TikTok Stitches? We think so. Will it take off? Only time will tell…

We say Bravo to Netflix, as this comes only as a natural progression in its attempts to connect the latest cinematic releases with engaging social activations and brand-boosting collaborations (remember the Wednesday hype?)!

It also reveals a sharp 180 from Netflix’s previous strategy – where it actively sough out to block people from screenshotting and sharing content from its shows!

We’re rooting for media giants embracing and enhancing the potential of social media, content creator partnerships and all things engaging – as let’s face it, we love to share.

Social Media Today report that “Netflix has also embraced the power of word of mouth on social apps, deploying an army of reviewers to hype its latest shows across different apps, and combined with these clips, that could be a powerful way to maximise attention for its latest releases.”

“Moments” was rolled out to users on iOS on 28th October and is coming soon for Android users.

Want in on the discussion?

We love to chat social, strategy, content and other fun stuff. And love to connect (hi!) 

Fancy a chat? If you’ve got a moment, ping us and email or slide into our DMs <3