October 2023: Social Media Updates You Need To Know
1. Facebook - Multiple Personal Profiles on FB
In summary, Meta has stated that:
You can now create multiple personal profiles to organize your experience on Facebook – think one profile for the foodie scene you love and another one to keep up with your friends and family.
Each profile will have a unique Feed with relevant content and you can easily switch in between profiles without having to log in.
Facebook is making it easier to customize one’s experience with multiple personal profiles. Whether new or a longtime FB user, we now have a choice of keeping our personal and professional profiles separate. I like the idea of creating multiple personal profiles which allow us to easily organize what we share with who and to keep content better organized for the various parts of our life.
After experimenting with multiple profiles over the last year and providing feedback to Facebook, the latter was excited to bring this option to Facebook after seeing the success of separate interest-based accounts on Instagram. This new feature of creating multiple personal profiles started to roll out globally earlier this month and will continue over the next few months.
For the full article, specifically more detailed information on how it works, controls/ settings, account identity & authenticity, security and limitations, you can click the link here.
2. Meta - New Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
Yesterday Meta announced their partnership with EssilorLuxottica to introduce their new and improved RayBan smart glasses.
Key highlights stated on Meta’s site are as follows:
- In partnership with EssilorLuxottica, we’re launching a new generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, available for pre-order now.
- The new glasses feature improved audio and cameras, over 150 different custom frame and lens combinations, and they’re lighter and more comfortable.
- You can now livestream from the glasses to Facebook or Instagram, and use “Hey Meta” to engage with Meta AI, our advanced conversational assistant, just by using your voice.
These glasses start at $299 USD..…not cheap but considering what they can do, it seems to be a reasonable starting price. Pre-orders are open now on meta.com and ray-ban.com, and will be available online and in retail stores starting October 17.
With the redesign of these glasses, all the core features have been improved with a few extras added. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses free you from the constraints of a hand-held camera. The upgraded design is based on listening to customer feedback and taking the time to understand what people love about the product, such as hands-free convenience and open-ear audio. It also allowed the opportunity to change or improve features important to customers, including overall media quality and comfort, for example.
Here are some highlights of the features::
Improved audio
- all-new custom-
designed speakers with extended bass
- higher maximum volume and
- improved directional audio that provides reduced audio leakage for improved calls, music, and podcasts — even in noisy or windy environments.
Shareability
A new ultra-wide 12 MP camera provides improved quality of photos & 1080p videos up to 60 seconds. Share photos with friends & family from your glasses with a simple “send a photo” voice command.
Power up
- The all-new Qualcomm
Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 Platform enables higher quality photo and video processing
- Glasses come with a sleek charging case, which holds up to eight additional charges (for a total of 36 hours of use)
3. Tiktok - TikTok & Billboard Launch Top 50 Hits
Earlier this month, TikTok & Billboard announced the launch of the official TikTok Billboard Top 50 Chart, a new weekly chart consisting of the most popular songs in the U.S.A on the TT platform. The chart is available to all TikTok users in the U.S. and on the Billboard website: billboard.com.
This is the first official chart in the U.S. to monitor music discovery and engagement on TikTok and is the verified list of the hottest songs on the TT platform each week. The chart which will be released weekly on Thursdays, is based on a combination of factors: creations, video views, and user engagement by the U.S. TikTok community.
To see the chart, simply open the TikTok app, press on the round icon on the bottom corner of the screen and then tap the ‘Music Charts’ button in the top right.
For more on the recent top trending artistes and other details, check this link.
4. WhatsApp - Global Channels launched
For those who are new to Channels, Meta’s goal is to build the most private broadcast service available. Last month, they stated that they had launched WhatsApp Channels to over 150 countries.
Channels are a private way to receive updates that are relevant and matter to each of us. Thousands of organizations, sports teams, artists, and thought leaders are being welcomed, so that people can follow them, right within WhatsApp.
Facebook has advised that the channels are separate from our chats, and who-you-choose-to-follow is invisible to other followers. They further assure us that the personal information of both admins & followers is also protected.
With the feedback received from the initial start in ten countries, the following updates were recently introduced:
- Enhanced Directory – you can now find channels to follow, that are automatically filtered based on your country. You can also view channels that are new, most active, and popular based on number of followers.
- Reactions – you can react using emojis to give feedback & see the # of total reactions. How you react will not be shown to followers, though.
- Editing – soon, admins will be able to make changes to their Updates for up to 30 days, when automatically deleted from Meta’s servers.
- Forwarding – whenever you forward an Update to chats or groups it will include a link back to the channel so people can find out more.
For the full press release on this feature from Meta, you can click here.