December has some big social media app updates. While Meta (aka Facebook) pushes users to integrate the Metaverse into their platforms, YouTube is helping to expand creators’ international reach and Elon Musk’s “$8 Twitter verification” returns. 

Instagram December Social Media Updates: DM Labels and Shadowband Awareness  

As you know, we’re big fans of community management. It’s more important than ever for big brands and small businesses alike to cultivate strong relationships online with consumers through social media interactions. 

One of Instagram’s latest beta tests can help make community management a bit more organized with its new labels feature for messages for business accounts. 

The five options to label consumer DMs, at the date of this article, are:

• Flag
• Booked
• Ordered
• Paid
• Shipped

While this feature wouldn’t be able to replace a community management team that utilizes high-level tools, it’s another powerful sign that social commerce is taking over. 

Another social media update from Instagram is its commitment to more transparency by letting users know if their account has been shadowbanned. 

If you’ve noticed that your reach or engagement has dropped suddenly, it’s important to know why when developing new social strategies, especially if your brand conducts quarterly audits. While Instagram’s algorithm is notorious for its unpredictable changes, accidentally violating one of its policies can lead to a shadow ban which is detrimental for any account. 

Meta December Social Media Updates: Metaverse Avatar Integration  

While Instagram has specific updates we wanted to call out above, Meta is launching new avatar updates on Facebook, Instagram, and even WhatsApp, seemingly in a hard press attempt to push the metaverse. 

On Facebook, users can create status updates with their avatars, generating metaverse-style avatars that look like cartoon versions of users. 

On Instagram, users can add their avatars to Instagram stories, and WhatsApp users can use their avatars for conversation. 

This builds upon Meta’s avatar push from earlier this year, with avatar integration within Instagram in January and sponsored items for those avatars back in October. 

avatar integration with Instagram

YouTube December Social Media Update: Free Language Dubbing  

YouTube is working with a new tool called Aloud, created by Google’s Area 120, which is a tool that dubs English videos into other languages, allowing creators an affordable (it’s actually free!) option to take their content to the rest of the world. If you don’t care about the quality of lip-synching, then it’s a great option to take your brand international. 

Under settings, users will have the option to play different audio tracks in other languages. This is currently in beta testing and is free. You can sign up on their website to join the waitlist.

Twitter December Social Media Updates: Badge Verification Returns  

All has been quiet for some time with Twitter after the turbulent and chaotic first two weeks of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. While Musk has faced backlash for his $8 verification program, he has announced that it will be going live Friday, Dec.16th. Despite the upset over his takeover (watch our analytics deep dive video around user conversation), The Information has reported that Musk pulled back the paid program, not over user concern, but due to Apple and Google’s 30% in-app purchase tax. Users who want to buy a badge can do so via the app for $11.99 and through a web browser for $7.99.  

Social Media Today covered the different types of verification badges that Twitter will be rolling out to keep users safe from scammers, identity theft, and misinformation. Independent security researcher Jane Manchun Wong shared what the badges would look like for different forms of colorblindness, which highlights the questionable accessibility choice Musk’s Twitter team has made. 

Undoubtedly, there will be people who will purchase these verification marks. Will it be enough to make up for the loss of advertisers that have paused their ads since the takeover? Only time will tell. 

We understand that deciding which social media platforms to utilize for your business and creating data-driven campaigns and content that deliver results can be difficult. We offer a  30-minute free consultation for enterprise-level companies. See why everyone calls it the most insightful 60 minutes they’ve ever received for free! Click here to schedule time with us. We love to help! 

What we’re reading:

• Reddit Launches its ‘Reddit Recap’ Activation for 2022, Provides New Usage Insights (Social Media Today)
• Meta Adds New Creator Monetization Options for the Holidays, with a Focus on Stars Donations (Social Media Today)
• Helping You Protect Your Brand Reputation on the LinkedIn Audience Network (LinkedIn)
• Quit Twitter better with these free tools that make archiving a breeze (TechCruch)
• November Social Media Updates 2022
• Is TikTok the Real Threat to Data Privacy?
• Amazon Gets Hit With A Lawsuit For Deceiving Tipping Customers