At Kapwing, our mission is to equip content creators with the latest news, tips, and advice so they can effortlessly navigate the fast-moving world of social media.

We want you to approach each day with the latest tools at your fingertips, making it easier to produce diverse, high-quality content while freeing up more of your time.

In this article, we're going to review the newest features that have been confirmed on social channels such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube this October. These updates are designed to help content marketers, social media managers, influencers, and creators of all kinds sharpen their social media skills.

If you navigate towards the bottom of the article you'll see our notes from previous months, so you can use this article as a directory for every social media update of 2024, month by month!

• Social Media Updates: October 2024
• Social Media Updates: September 2024

Social Media Updates: October 2024

TikTok's New Flip Stories Feature

On September 30th, TikTok unveiled its new Flip Stories feature, which rolled out throughout October. Flip Stories gives content creators a unique way to add a hidden second layer to each Story they post. Viewers can reveal the 'flipped' photo by pressing the new 'Hold to Flip' icon.

To use the Flip Story feature, just follow these five simple steps:

1. Tap the '+' button on your profile photo.
2. When your camera roll opens, tap the camera icon.
3. Select 'Flip Story' and capture or upload two photos.
4. Customize your Story by adding text, filters, or adjusting settings.
5. Post your Flip Story to share the surprise with your audience.

YouTube Introduces 3-minute Shorts

Since their launch in 2021, YouTube Shorts have been limited to 60 seconds. Until now.

On October 15th, YouTube announced that Shorts were extended to 3 minutes long, with a worldwide rollout happening through October and November.

For creators, the most important update is the new posting rules: any video in a vertical 9:16 format up to 180 seconds can only be uploaded as a Short, not as a regular YouTube video.

Read our full article to better understand all of the changes coming to YouTube Shorts' new 3-minute format.

• REVEALED: YouTube Thumbnails That Attract The Most Views

Major YouTube Updates Coming in Late 2024

YouTube also announced a series of major updates to the platform that will roll out over the next few months, citing over 24 new improvements.

On YouTube's mobile app, a new 'Mini Player' feature will allow users to resize and move a minute version of their video across the screen. This should help increase time spent on the app, as users will be able to search for videos and queue their next watch while still engrossed in content.

Collaborative playlists have been around for years, but the latest update is transforming them into a powerful tool for content teams.

Coming 'later this year,' YouTube plans to enhance the interactive features of playlists by introducing a voting system. Content creators will be able to generate playlists, and viewers can vote to determine the order of content in real time. Imagine Rolling Stone posting a YouTube playlist of the top 50 pop videos of the 2000s and letting their followers decide the rankings.

In December 2021, 28% of YouTube users were watching on their TVs, and that number rose to 34% by October 2023. Now, YouTube appears to be taking an even stronger grip on the market with a refreshed, upgraded TV player.

The new update is visually striking, with 'pops of pink' and a more dynamic, interactive interface. It also includes auto-play when users visit a creator's channel, adding a more engaging experience.

YouTube also announced some improvements to Shorts:

"When watching Shorts on TV, a new UI offers continued interaction with the content. Whether it's reading comments or browsing the shop, you can do it all without interrupting the viewing experience."

Instagram's New 'Best Practice' Dashboard

For content marketers, creators, influencers, and social media managers, this is a game-changer.

Instagram kicked off the month with a powerful new feature designed to help creators better analyze their posts and performance. Separate from Instagram Insights, the new Best Practice Dashboard provides creators with additional metrics and guidance, making it easier to optimize content and maximize reach.

The dashboard is split into five tabs and focuses on the following:

• Creation: Insights on how often to post, how to capture more attention with content, how long reels should be, and more
• Engagement: Advice on how to better relate to your audience and tips on how to understand engagement metrics.
• Reach: Information about algorithms and the relationship between reels and follower growth
• Monetization: Tips on how to make money on Instagram, such as improving Instagram reels revenue
• Guidelines: Community Guidelines and policy updates

Unlike Instagram Insights, which is only available to Business accounts and selected creators, the new Best Practice Dashboard seems poised for a much broader rollout.

While Instagram hasn't explicitly stated who will gain access, they have confirmed that the feature will be gradually rolled out to creators over the 'coming months' of 2024. If you haven't seen the new feature on your Instagram yet, be patient—it's likely on its way soon.

Facebook's Improved 'Search' Filter on Group Pages

A small but potentially significant tweak to Facebook Groups will allow users to search for certain phrases and questions within the group, using AI.

Members can initiate a chat with the group’s AI, which will answer questions and link to relevant posts within the group, making it easier to access key information.

Group admins will need to activate the feature, but it's highly recommended, as it will make Groups more interactive and significantly improve how members find and share information.

This feature is currently being tested with a limited number of groups in the US and Canada.

Social Media Updates: September 2024

TikTok's Unveils it's New Subscription Design

TikTok updated its 'Subscription' feature in late September, although only initially to select groups of 'eligible creators'.

Nonetheless, every TikTok creator should soon be able to customize their subscription packages by offering three different tiers.

This new feature gives creators and businesses more control over their monetization strategies, enabling them to build targeted subscription-based campaigns that target the following:

1. Private Communication Channels: Provide exclusive access to Sub Space, private chats, comments, and direct messages.
2. Exclusive Content: Share special videos, LIVEs, and notes available only to subscribers.
3. Community Identifiers: Offer unique stickers for LIVEs and evolving badges that appear alongside subscribers' names, fostering a sense of belonging in the community.
4. Customized Perks: Choose from TikTok’s ready-made perks like performance requests, Discord roles, and shoutouts, or create custom perks tailored to your audience.

Instagram Introduces Teen Accounts

In case you missed it, Instagram introduced accounts designed for teenagers on September 17th.

The move is designed to protect teens and reassure parents that Instagram is a safe space. Teen accounts differ from regular accounts due to built-in features that limit content and outreach for the account holder.

Instagram said:

"The new Teen Account protections are designed to address parents’ biggest concerns, including who their teens are talking to online, the content they’re seeing and whether their time is being well spent. These protections are turned on automatically, and parents decide if teens under 16 can change any of these settings to be less strict."

Some of the key features of a 'safer' Teen account include:

• Private accounts: Teens need to accept new followers and people who don’t follow them can’t see their content or interact with them.
• Messaging restrictions: Teens can only be messaged by people they follow or are already connected to
• Sensitive content restrictions: Teens will automatically be placed into the most restrictive setting of Instagram's sensitive content control
• Limited interactions: Teens can only be tagged or mentioned by people they follow. Instagram will automatically turn on its anti-bullying feature, Hidden Words, to ensure offensive words and phrases are filtered out across all content.
• Time limit: Notifications telling users to leave the app after 60 minutes each day
• Sleep mode: Automatically on between 10 PM and 7 AM, muting notifications overnight

Visit the official Instagram blog to find out more.