Our editor Jay Jay Ghatt runs down a few instrumental changes on three social media/search platforms: Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter
Social Media is an excellent resource for marketers to reach audiences and potential customers and therefore, it is essential to keep up with the newest changes to be effective.
As an editor for several websites and blog properties, I struggle to keep up because I am usually juggling too many balls in the air and take my eye off of social media updates.
Many times, I may only notice a change a week or months late or when it affects my reach, my audience or my niche community. And that is exactly what happened when I became aware of a few dramatic new features of note.
Here are the changes I’ve just noticed that I thought I’d share
Pinterest.
Problem: My reach and traffic started dropping precipitously and I did not know why.
What’s Going On?: I did some research and learned about a few things. One, Pinterest no longer permits pins directly from affiliate links, Etsy and other marketplaces that are not partners. The platform either redirects them, closes them down or re routes pinners via a message and in essence, curtails the click thru. Darn it!
You can still hyperlink but they must be in a blog post so your pins must be from a blog post. It’s more work and makes it harder to monetize if you do not have a blog or separate website.
Problem #2: I can no longer mass auto pin using social media marketing platform, Viral Tag.
What’s Going On?: Pinterest also kicked off ViralTag, one of my preferred methods of mass pinning, off of its API. This means, ViralTag no longer has technical means to make pins for its users.
Bummer! That’s the functionality I, an owner of four different Pinterest accounts, loved most! I guess I’m stuck to use Tailwind Only, which I love but I liked that Viral tag had the other platforms and Pinterest.
Tailwind allows for toggling too but only for Pinterest.
Also, Not a problem but a new feature:
Pinterest now allows you to log into more than one account and toggle among them. That is useful and saves me the hassle of having to log back out and in. I can just add myself a an offiial contributor to each account and pin from one account, and toggle back and forth. It’s so much more efficient.
Problem: Too many awesome options
What’s Going On? This year, Instgram opened up to allow users to create their own filters. This weekend, while scrolling through my option on Insta story, I took note of a new lens that let me scroll down and select among a variety of super neat filter options.
According to The Verge, ” Instagram announced the program last May and expanded the closed beta in October, but the effects only recently seem to have taken hold. “
Unlike Snapchat which really has cutesy or silly filters, the ones users have created are more design based, artsy and visually, cooler and edgier! I love them. They’re coming for you Snapchat!
I used to log into Snapchat to record videos using one of their filters when I did not want to put on makeup, but I no longer need to use that app, because that’s all I used it for, to be honest, now that I have access to these new Instagram Story lenses!
Problem: I cannot figure out where to post, how to log off, essentially, where they put all the buttons that make this thing work.
What’s Going On?: Someone told the good folks at Twitter they needed to update their platform. They didn’t. So, they did a total nonfunctional re design that does not look appealing aesthetically and has little utility.
It’s like someone coming into your perfectly arranged home and moving around the furniture and putting things out of order and in a way that makes it harder for you to get usefulness out of your abode.
I do not know why for the life of me these social media platforms do not adhere to the moniker, “if it aint broke, don’t fix it.”
In any event, we’ll eventually get used to it and the users will adjust. We always do. It’s not like we have a choice to revert to the old format the way YouTube allows, which I love by the way. Google doesn’t force us to accept the crazy new idea the rising and bright star UX design intern comes up with.
Get off my lawn!
Well that’s it for now until I notice something else noteworthy I want to share,
Yours truly,
Jay Jay, editor. Let’s discuss more on Twitter @JayJayGhatt !!
