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Even though we’re all accustomed to social media platforms changing day by day, it can feel impossible to keep up with the constant changes.

Luckily for you, I have all their main updates for the entire month of October right here. See what changed with Instagram, TikTok and YouTube right here.

Meta & Instagram News & Updates

Instagram Adds Polls in Comments

Instagram is implementing yet another new engagement option by adding polls in the comments section. This feature is currently being tested with selected users.

As of right now, you can run polls in Stories and DMs like Broadcast channels. With the new update, users can add interactive polls within their comments section for both in-feed posts and Reels.

In various other social media platforms, polls have grown as a popular option, making it much easier for viewers to contribute their thoughts and engage with more content.

Though polls are popular elsewhere, this seems to be yet another random feature that I don’t think anybody asked for.

Not to hate on Instagram or the feature’s effectiveness, I just know there are plenty of other features people have been asking for, and for much longer than comment-polls… Anyway, moving on!

Instagram Tests ‘Meta Verified’ Accounts

Meta’s moving to its next phase of paid verification testing, experimenting with giving select Instagram users the ability to filter their feeds to posts from only “Meta Verified” users. (I know, that sounds kind of confusing. See the picture below for reference.)

Meta noted that the “Meta Verified” feed will include posts from both paying Meta Verified profiles and legacy verified accounts.

I feel like Meta is so close to being onto something here. I’ve always wanted filter options.

For example, if someone were to look at my Instagram account, I’d love the ability to have the option to filter “From Oldest to Newest” or “Most Popular,” similarly to YouTube.

So, they’re close with dabbling in this filter option. But I’m worried that this update will cause an uproar of people saying it’s another “Pay to Play” thing. What do you think?

Get More Updates, More Often

I’ll move on to TikTok and YouTube in just a second, but I first wanted to let you know if you wanted to receive more platform updates more often than I do on my blog, you should check out Storyy.

Yes, as most of you know, Storyy is my video-editing team. But they’re much more than that. They also have their very own weekly Social Media Trend Report so that you can stay up-to-date, week after week, on the latest news and trends on social media.

It’s completely free to sign up for their Trend Report, so I mean… why not? It could help you adapt to changes more quickly and grow your brand more effectively so you can become that full-time content creator you’ve always wanted to.

So give it a go!

Okay, back to our social media updates.

TikTok News & Updates

15-Minute Video Uploads

Do you want to upload even longer videos to TikTok?

Soon, that could be an option!

The formerly short-form video app has been experimenting with a 10-minute video limit for a while. Now, they’re extending that limit to a new 15-minute upload option.

TikTok’s original time limit per clip was 15 seconds. That was before they extended it to 60 seconds, then 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, before going to 10 minutes in 2022. Soon, it appears that limit rise again to 15 minutes per clip.

We also know that Douyin (the Chinese version of the app) expanded its upload limit to 30 minutes per clip last year. Could this mean we will also be seeing 30-minute TikTok uploads sometime in the near future?

I think the question remains as to whether users actually want to watch longer videos on TikTok or if creators even want to POST long form content there. My assumption is people have adapted certain TikTok strategies and allowing longer-form content doesn’t currently fit those strategies.

I’m not sure how fast adapting to this will be since I still see so many creators doing “part 1,” “part 2” videos that aren’t even 10 minutes long. So, I’m not convinced Creators want to post longform content on TikTok.

But I could be off. Only time will tell.

TikTok Adds Third-Party Posting to its API

This is an update that I’m really excited about.

Tik Tok is make posting directly to the app much easier with third-party platforms. They’ve added a new “Direct Post” element within their API, enabling creation tools to build in TikTok posting as a publishing option.

TikTok themselves explains it this way:

“Direct Post allows our community to post video content directly from third-party platforms to TikTok, with photo content coming soon. Creators can also schedule long-form video content using Direct Post through social media management platforms.”

Soon, you’ll notice more TikTok scheduling options added to more third-party social media management apps. You’ll also see that different video editing tools will also have “TikTok” as a direct sharing option, streamlining the editing-to-publishing process even more.

“To use Direct Post, creators need to connect their TikTok account to the third-party platform. From there, partners are vetted through an audit process before granting them access to Content Posting API. Once these steps are taken, the third-party platform has permission to post on their TikTok account whenever the creators try to export media to TikTok.”

Here are the editing tool TikTok is specifically partnering with:

• Adobe (Premiere Pro and Express)
• CapCut
• DaVinci Resolve
• SocialPilot
• Twitch

TikTok is the platform I get the most questions about from my students when it comes to auto-posting because there currently aren’t any third-party scheduling tools that have access to TikTok’s API for auto-posting.

Since this is something Creators having been asking about for a long time, I think it’s about time TikTok releases their API.

Now, creators can have easier access to post consistently to their platform.

YouTube News & Updates

New Analytics Tools

YouTube has announced some new analytics updates, including insight into why subscribers cancel their channel subscription, which could assist in your future planning.

In addition to this, YouTube’s also providing more specific insight into how new and returning viewers engage with your content in isolation.

YouTube’s new addition in Studio analytics will provide separate measures for each viewer cohort, helping you understand what new viewers are watching.

As explained by YouTube:

“Before the launch of this new feature, creators could only see how many new or returning viewers they had, or how many views they got, from all viewers. But now, creators have the ability to see how different audience segments watch their content. This means that creators can now see how many views they got from new viewers, and compare it to the number of views from returning viewers.”

All of this could be helpful in content planning, as you look to expand your audience. By knowing how many new viewers are coming to each of your videos, you can better plan based on what these visitors are interested in.

YouTube also added a “New and Returning Viewers” tab, which will provide creators with a dedicated space to analyze the performance of their content based on these audience segments.

The expanded data sorting options will provide more context as to what’s driving views within each segment, which will give you more planning context and could be a key guide in your process.

YouTube Expands Access To Monetization

YouTube is expanding access to its Partner Program, enabling more people in more regions to qualify for monetization of their YouTube clips.

First off, YouTube recently reduced the entry thresholds for its YouTube Partner Program, enabling creators with 500 subscribers (down from 1,000 subscribers) to monetize their content.

Initially, the lower entry thresholds were only available to creators in selected regions, but now, creators in 23 more countries will have the opportunity to monetize at lower entry rates.

That’ll help YouTube boost its appeal to creators in many more markets. And with every other app now trying to sweeten the deal for creative talent, this could give YouTube a key leg up on the competition.

So with all that said, what news are you most excited about? What are all your thoughts? Drop them in the comments below! I love interacting with my readers over here.

Remember to sign up for Storyy’s Trend Report if you want weekly trend reports like this.

Follow your joy!