Amazon launches audio rooms
Amazon is catching up with the audio room trend. Their new app called Amp is more about Livestream music than chat. You can host your own show and play tunes from the Amazon library. I can see this being popular with DJs who have had their live streams silenced on other platforms.
Only 5 people can ‘call in’ which will keep conversations on track.
How can you use this as a business? It’s essentially a live podcast or radio show, if you get guests to share their favourite tracks it could be a little different to the standard podcast interview. You could also use it like some businesses use Spotify playlists, to set the scene whilst they are using your product.
Twitter Podcast tab
Twitter wants your content.
We recently saw that Twitter was working on allowing users to create articles on the site. Now it’s working on podcasts. Spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi a new ‘Podcasts’ tab is being tested in the mobile navigation bar.
This shows that Twitter is serious about long-form content. As a marketer, by sharing longer, richer content you’re able to showcase your knowledge further. We’ve seen that can work with spaces and we’ve seen it can work on LinkedIn and Facebook. Will it work on Twitter?
It could also mean we have to be more selective about the networks we use. If they all offer the same thing we have two options if we want to use all these features. We can crosspost to all channels, or we can choose a network to focus on. What will you do?
People tags on Instagram
As more people choose to go into business as creators, it’s important that they are getting credit for their work.
Creators already support each other by tagging them in posts they have collaborated on. For example, an existing creator may have used a stylist, a make-up artist, music or a designer. Right now they only had the option to add a generic user tag. With People tags, they will be able to tag the photo, just like you might with a product tag to indicate the collaboration. Instead of ‘Jane’, the tag will now say ‘Jane -Stylist’ or something similar.
It’s a good way to help newbies build their businesses with existing creators and could help them get work with businesses and brands.
https://creators.instagram.com/blog/instagram-enhanced-tags-creator-credits-announcement
Goodbye Boomerang and Hyperlapse
If something isn’t working, stop doing it. And that’s a lesson Instagram is taking to heart.
There was a time when Facebook and Instagram were all about individual apps. At one time there was a Facebook Groups app, A Pages app, a creator app and messenger. We still have separate apps for messenger and business but everything else has been reconfigured into the main app.
And Instagram is the same. There was a Threads app that was recently closed, last week we heard the stand-alone IGTV app is gone and now it seems they have gotten rid of their standalone Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps. These apps were creative tools you could use outside Instagram for video.
Why are they doing this? Do they want to consolidate their existing products? Or was it a case that only a few people (me included) actually used the apps?
New Facebook layout
Prepare to be annoyed, Facebook is changing its layout again. It’s working on a new homepage that moves all the navigation to the left-hand side of the page.
You’re going to hate it but I guess we’ll all get used to it eventually. For those who use Facebook mostly on mobile, this new design still doesn’t match the mobile experience.
https://mashable.com/article/facebook-redesign-2022
TikTok Agency Centre
Do you want to work with creators aka influencers? A good place to start could be an agency, it means less work for you and if you choose the right agency they will handle everything.
But if you are a creator how do you find an agent.
TikTok is working on something that could help. The Agency Centre is a place for creators to connect with LIVE Talent Agencies. Creators will be able to activate ‘Agency Invitation’ mode on their profiles which will allow your TikTok to be found and invited by an agency.
What this agency is or will be is a mystery, TikTok talk about ‘LIVE Talent Agencies’ that will help develop/ coach growth within LIVE.
Instagram Story Dual
Stories on Instagram seem to have been eclipsed by Reels, but Instagram is still working on new features for stories. They’re currently testing Dual mode which will allow you to show two views. One from your selfie camera and one from your back-facing camera at the same time. One will appear as an overlay on the top right-hand side of the screen.
Businesses could use this for guided tours, behind the scenes shots or even tutorials where you want to talk to the camera while demonstrating a technique.
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