Welcome to another edition of Social Commotion, Motion's roundup of the top social news over the past month. Here are the latest social media updates from May 2023.
Meta Announces New Instagram Reel Editing Tools
Instagram users around the globe will soon be able to elevate their Reels with new in-app features. Check out these new, upcoming tools that make for seamless editing:
- Split a Single Clip: Create multiple posts from one single clip, which can help ensure your video and posts stay consistent. This tool will be especially handy when creating a video series with multiple different parts from one anchor video.
- New Reel Playback Speed Controls: Enhance your reel with playback speed customizations for specific portions of your video. For instance, you can start a Reel in slow motion but revert to normal playback speed for the rest of the video.
- Replace Clips: Swap out an existing clip without affecting the timing, order or synchronized audio of other clips.
Montana Bans TikTok
Montana has officially become the first state in the U.S. to officially ban TikTok. Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419 on May 17 to “protect the state’s residents’ private information from being compromised.”
According to the bill, services that offer the app on their platforms, such as the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, will be subjected to fines up to $10,000 a day for violations. At this time, individual users will not be subject to fines if they continue to use the already-downloaded app on their mobile devices. The ban will take effect on January 1, 2024.
Governor Gianforte also issued a separate order banning government users from using other apps owned by Russian or Chinese companies, including Telegram, WeChat, CapCut and Temu. This ban will take effect June 1, 2023.
We will continue to monitor this story, as well as the larger United States ban.
Sprout Social Releases Its “State of Social” Report
Sprout Social released their annual “State of Social” report for 2023. Despite current macroeconomic challenges, social media spending is likely to increase, with leaders focusing on future technologies to reap the most benefits.
Here are some key takeaways:
- 80% of business leaders predict an increase in their company’s social media budget over the next three years, with 44% expecting a budget increase of more than 50%.
- 90% of leaders feel that their company’s success will be determined by its ability to effectively use social media data and insights to guide business strategy.
- 97% of CEOs believe artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will make it easier for businesses to examine social media data and insights.
