This month in social media (March 2021)

With many more flocking to Clubhouse, March was the month the other main social channels are creating their own ‘audio rooms’, with Twitter already making the jump. Instagram and Twitter have also taken up most of the news with new features being tested to improve usability

Below, we take a look at some of the biggest news stories to come out of the month of March, and how these can have an impact on your own strategy.

Watch YouTube videos directly through Twitter

Twitter has been trying for ages to master the video game and we thought it had done it when they introduced embedded videos directly a few years ago. They have played around with the length of videos possible, giving those using promoted tweets more leeway when it comes to timings, but now it seems to have finally worked with YouTube instead.

Of course people are already sharing YouTube videos on the platform, but when it comes to watching the video you are sent away to the website to watch in full. They are now testing out the option to embed a YouTube video on your tweet and to watch it whilst staying on Twitter instead, when viewing it on mobile, mainly iOS. Currently in the testing stage so expect to see this fully soon.

Save your Instagram Stories as drafts

This is definitely something many users have been asking for since the introduction of Stories, as you can pretty much do it on everything else, but soon all Instagram users can save their stories as drafts to edit or upload at a later date.

You can even manage multiple drafts of your creations so you could be out and about creating your story of your day, and then settle down and edit them all properly when you are home. This should see an increase in creativity when it comes to business and individuals uploading content to their Stories, as we often see rushed content do to social managers needing to upload at that given time. It also means you don’t lose your GIFs, tags and stickers you might have added to your content.

Instagram Lite is making a comeback on Android

Instagram Lite was launched back in 2018 before it was pulled on the Play Store last year. It looks like it is about to make a comeback as Instagram have announced this month, and it’s returning with Reels too.

The app, which is 28 megabytes less than the main app in memory size and is being launched in 170 countries. In the new version, users will be able to send direct messages, record and post videos, and support the ability to watch Instagram’s latest big feature ‘Reels”, although you won’t be able to create them on there, and shopping is a no-go too. Still great for those who want to save space on their handheld device without missing out on the main parts of the app.

Could 2021 be the year of short videos?

We know short videos have been around for quite a while now, through the likes of TikTok and Instagram Reels, but this year feels like it could be the year for them. Both YouTube and Netflix have announced updates on their ventures into short videos this month.

First YouTube, this was announced quite a while ago, but in March, YouTube brought the beta version of shorts to the US, following a successful trial in India, meaning it could be well on its way to us in the UK before we know it. It allows users to create a videos through a multi-segment camera that lets them string multiple video clips together, record videos with music and control video speed settings to rival TikTok.

Netflix have also jumped on the bandwagon, bringing its ‘Fast Laughs’ feature to iOS. Again, this is to rival TikTok, but it allows users to watch and share short clips of Netflix shows one after the other, including its whole range of stand up comedy. Pretty cool right?

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