Social Mind: Social and AI Insights - October 2024

The latest on Social Media and AI 🗞️

Hello and welcome to the October issue of Social Mind 👋

I’m not sure where September went, but if you missed any social media or AI news, I’m here to catch you up. Each update includes my insights to help you stay ahead in the rapidly changing worlds of social media and AI.

This Sunday is the Cardiff Half Marathon, where I'll be fundraising for Age Connects and aiming for my fastest time ever. It’s one of my favourite races, my training has gone well and I can’t wait!

I’m finding sponsorship a bit challenging this year, so if you could donate just a fiver to support Age Connects, I’d really appreciate it: justgiving.com/page/jpcardiffhalf2024

If you have any questions about social media, AI, or any of the new features or news mentioned below, just reply or get in touch via my website.

Oh, and I nearly forgot—I’ve updated my business name to Jonathan Pollinger - Social Media and AI Trainer to reflect my focus on AI training. The website address pollingersocial.co.uk remains the same, as does my @pollingersocial handle on social media.

Let’s get into it...

TikTok Launches Handy Holiday🎄and Shop Guides 🛍️

TikTok has released a new guide to holiday marketing, aimed at the European market. The 18-page guide is packed with tips, insights, and data points to help shape your strategy for the season. You can access the pdf guide here.

Additionally, TikTok has launched a Shop Guide for sellers, offering advice on optimising your TikTok Shop. Check out the pdf guide here.

Insights: A key takeaway from the Holiday Guide? Users who interact with hashtags are 90% more likely to follow brands, 60% more likely to click on ads, and 50% more likely to click on links.

Instagram Tests Friend Map Feature🗺️

Instagram is testing a Friend Map feature, which will allow users to share their real-time location with friends. This new tool is designed to provide an interactive way to keep friends and loved ones updated on your whereabouts.

Insights: The Friend Map feature builds on the trend of incorporating location-sharing into social media, and is similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map. It’s aimed at promoting more engaging interactions through live updates within a trusted circle.

Instagram Introduces New Collages Feature 🖼️

Instagram has launched a new Collages feature, available in Direct Messaging. The feature allows users to create customised collages from their camera roll, which can be shared in chats. This makes it easier to share photo collections privately.

Insights: The move taps into a growing trend, particularly among Gen Z, for sharing collage-style content. Platforms like Pinterest and Lemon8 have already embraced this trend, with Pinterest seeing rapid growth in younger users since introducing similar tools.

LinkedIn launches Videos for You 📺

I mentioned LinkedIn last time that LinkedIn was testing a new Videos For You section on their mobile app. This new feed has now been launched and is designed to highlight recommended videos tailored to users' interests and professional networks. You can scroll from left to right to view more videos then when selecting a video, a feed opens up which looks very similar to TikTok and Reels.

Insight: By copying TikTok and Reels, LinkedIn hopes to boost engagement and provide a more personalised experience on the platform in keeping with the current short vertical video trend. LinkedIn report a 34% increase in videos over the past year and this update reflects their continued focus on video.

Threads launches location tagging 📌

Meta has introduced location tagging to Threads, the company’s text-based social media platform. This new feature allows users to include a location tag when posting, making it easier to share their whereabouts or highlight locations of interest.

The new feature is only available on mobile for now and it’s currently in the process of being rolled out so you may not have it just yet.

Insights: From a social media marketing perspective, the addition of location tagging on Threads offers new opportunities for businesses. Brands can now include local context in their Threads posts, making them more discoverable for geographically targeted audiences. For example, restaurants, retail shops, and tourist attractions can use this feature to attract potential customers by tagging their business location or a specific event. By using location tagging, brands can enhance the visibility of their posts and boost engagement, especially when promoting events, special offers, or local services. Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of Threads - follow me there at threads.net/pollingersocial 

ChatGPT launch Advanced Voice Mode (UK too!)🎙️

OpenAI has rolled out Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT, and despite initial uncertainty, it’s now available in the UK. This new feature allows for natural, back-and-forth conversation, where you can even interrupt ChatGPT mid-sentence - much like speaking with a person. There’s a choice of five distinct voices - each with a unique tone and style. The options include Breeze, Cove, Juniper, Ember, and Sky which were created in collaboration with professional voice actors to deliver a natural, lifelike experience​. You can even ask ChatGPT to speak with a particular accent. It’s a great way to communicate on the go and you can switch between listening and typing seamlessly. All of ChatGPT’s voice responses are transcribed in the app for future reference.

Insight: I’ve been playing around with the new Advanced Voice Mode and it’s a big step up on the previous version. It’s a great tool for those who prefer talking over typing and brings a more interactive experience to using AI. Unfortunately, you it can’t access the internet for real-time updates. You can use for brainstorming, role playing or practicing a Q&A plus many other use cases. If you’d like to learn more on using exciting new tools like this then book some training with me; I have lots of options. Simply reply or get in touch via my website.

New look and feel plus voice mode for Copilot 🧠

Microsoft has introduced a new interface and not to be outdone by Open AI, voice-based capabilities to Copilot too. The updated interface is designed to streamline navigation, while voice commands allow users to interact more naturally. You can use your voice for everyday use, such as drafting emails, generating reports and performing searches.

Insights: These are welcome developments which show Microsoft’s commitment to making AI tools more intuitive. Plus it’s great to be able to have web access via voice, something that’s not possible with ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode.

📝Have one of the newer Samsung phones? Check out these cool tricks using AI to help with your social media:

📺Watch my YouTube video for NILC where show you how to summarise a pdf document in seconds:

Back on 1 November…

That's it for this month’s issue. I hope you found it interesting and useful.

If you need any help with social media or AI, you know what to do 😃

Best wishes 🙌

JP

📞 Call/WhatsApp: 029 2078 9139
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