Welcome to another edition of The Matter Social Second — keeping you informed about what’s trending in social media. This month, our social team shares the most important and impactful social media stories from September.

Instagram Removes Swipe-Up Feature for Stories

Instagram has begun the removal of the infamous swipe-up feature and is replacing it with a link sticker. This feature will still be available to users with 10k+ followers for now, although IG is currently evaluating expanding access in the future to all users.

LinkedIn Gives up on Stories

LinkedIn gave ephemeral video a chance with stories but, similar to Twitter, decided it wasn’t for them. LinkedIn users are not looking for disappearing video and instead would rather consume and create long-lasting content. Users should see a full removal of this feature by the end of September.

Twitter’s Newest Feature: Super Follows

Twitter has begun rolling out it’s newest feature, super follows, which lets creators provide subscription-only content and will receive 97% of all earnings. Users who “super follow” an account will be subscribed to exclusive content from the creator.

TikTok Reigns as Platform with the Most Watch Time Per User

TikTok surpasses Youtube as the social media platform with the most watch time per user in the U.S. and U.K. After swapping spots multiple times in 2020, TikTok has been holding on to 1st place since April.

TikTok Rolls Out Quick Promote Option

TikTok’s newest feature is a boost-like promotion option for all business users. Similar to the Facebook boost, this feature allows you to turn your current organic videos into paid ads, immediately pushing it to a new audience.

TikTok Tests 5-10 Minute Videos

What started with 60 seconds may be turning into 5/10 minutes. TikTok is in the testing stages and select users have already reported having the option to extend their videos, some up to 10 minutes.

Pinterest Tests Vertical Video Scrolling

Following in the footsteps of our holy grail short-video platform – TikTok – Pinterest begins  testing watch mode. Watch mode will be a full-screen feature with both browse (photos) and watch (video) options – all with the continued intent of discovery and inspirational content.

Twitter Launches Initial Test of “Communities”

Communities will be a topic-based space to share and discuss specific topics with a user-selected audience. According to Twitter, you can think of it as, “an alternate timeline where everyone just gets you.”

Need help ironing out more social-media best practices for your brand? Reach out below and our team will be in touch.

Imagine it: You’re tapping through your Stories, and an influencer you follow posts something you want to react to. You swipe up to hit it with that Lit emoji and all of the sudden, poof, you’re on some product page. We’ve all been there and it’s not great. But change is in the air, dear reader: Instagram has begun the removal of the infamous swipe-up feature and is replacing it with a link sticker.

This feature will still be available to users with 10k+ followers for now but according to The Verge, IG is currently evaluating expanding access to all users in the future. Some already have access to the link sticker, while other accounts can still use the swipe-up. The feature started rolling out on 8/30 and will slowly be reflected across all eligible users throughout the next month.

So What Does This Mean?

Increased Interaction

Instagram’s main reason of transitioning the link feature was due to the inability to engage, emoji react and reply to any story that had a swipe up link. Previously, the only action you could take on a swipe-up story was the swipe-up. Now, with the sticker, viewers can respond regularly by swiping up to ask questions, react with emojis, etc.

Allows for More Creativity

From the creative eye, this change is an advantage. Even the experts at Social Media Today predict that the change will bring added creator control.

Link stickers allow creators to format the links however they’d like (toggle between colors, resized and move around). Its abilities will be consistent with the other available stickers (location, tag, etc).

The goal here is to maximize the impact of a story. Link stickers give creators the ability to place a link wherever and put a visual focus on the CTA.

Harder to Get Clicks

Nothing is as easy as swiping up. Although clicking a button seems easy as well, it is just another step to get to the link. Some are predicting that this will minimize the amount of traffic to a link. However, a way to successfully get viewers to click through is to be more strategic in sticker placement and create emphasis around the CTA.

Saying Goodbye to the “Swipe Up” Term

Asking followers to swipe up has become a staple IG term, and now creators will have to change their verbiage to “click the sticker/link”.

Overall Best Practices to Adapt

1. Add the sticker to the story in a way that visually complements it.

2. Get creative with its flexibility – color, size, placement.

3. Encourage viewers to ask questions about the product/link via swipe up instead.

4. Engage by responding back to emoji reactions, as this is the main reason for the change.

5. Remember that the algorithm loves you when you use IG features (especially new ones)!

It’s a bold new day on Instagram — but social media is all about embracing the ever-evolving nature of the platforms. Looking to see how you can amplify the effectiveness of your IG Stories or overall digital strategy? Reach out and one of our social media mavens will be in touch!