Social media is forever changing which makes it easy to miss an update from time to time. Twice a month, we look into three of the latest key updates from the past few weeks from the various social media giants. Here’s what’s been happening recently…

Instagram Launches Initial Test of NFT Display Options, Which Will Also Be Coming to Facebook Soon

As announced by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, IG is launching an initial test of its new NFT features with selected creators in the US. NFT owners will be able to connect their Rainbow, Trust Wallet and MetaMask accounts to verify NFT ownership.

Users will be able to display their NFTs on the main IG feed, within Stories or in Direct Messages. While there’ll also be a new NFT tab added to participating accounts, with a tick in a hexagon to indicate verified NFTs.

Instagram’s been developing the option since June last year, with initial examples showing how IG could not only showcase your NFTs, but facilitate NFT sales as well, merging into the broader digital products market.

Still clueless as to what an NFT actually is? Us too!  here’s an article shared by The Verge that tries to explain what they are…

LinkedIn Adds Live Captions for Audio Events, Custom URL Listings on Creator Profiles

These could definitely come in handy. This week, LinkedIn has announced some new updates to improve accessibility, and enhance user Service listings, including real-time captions for live audio events, improved search for posts that you’ve already seen, and a custom URL display option on Creator profiles.

The main update is real-time captions for LinkedIn audio events.

As explained by LinkedIn: “Up until now, when members joined an audio event on LinkedIn, they could only listen to it. By adding real-time captions, we are making audio events more accessible and inclusive for members with hearing impairments.”

As you can see in the above example, you’ll now have the option to read along with what’s being said, which will improve accessibility, while also providing more ways for all users to tune in to live audio discussions wherever they have time.

On another front, LinkedIn’s also looking to make it easier to find posts that you’ve already seen in the app.

“We hear from members that they want to re-discover posts they’ve seen, and we made it much easier. If you’re looking for something that you’ve seen before on Feed, you can now search with the creator’s name and keywords in their post.”

Which doesn’t seem like a major enhancement, but it may help you find that one post from that one guy that you can remember seeing, but can’t for the life of you relocate.

Elon Musk Plans to Increase Twitter’s User Base by Almost 200% Over the Next Three Years

Elon Musk certainly has some hefty goals for Twitter, but are they feasible, and can he actually deliver on the targets that he’s setting for the platform as he moves closer to becoming its owner and CEO?

Last week, in a new SEC filing, Musk reported that he had secured around $7 billion in additional funding commitments to solidify his $44 billion Twitter takeover bid. That introduced a range of financial partners into the deal, including Sequoia Capital, Binance, Oracle chief Larry Ellison and Saudi Prince Alwaleed.

These contributors now become minor shareholders in a Musk-owned Twitter, while he’ll buy out all of the company’s current shareholders once the deal goes through. Which means fewer investors to report to – but then again, these backers aren’t putting billions of dollars behind a Musk-owned Twitter out of the goodness of their corporate hearts, they expect a financial return for their money, which means that Musk must have some plan to turn Twitter into a money-making machine.

And while we don’t know exactly how Musk intends to do that, The New York Times recently obtained a pitch deck that had been presented to these investors, which provides a broad overview of Musk’s Twitter vision.

Among the key points:

• Musk plans to increase Twitter’s user base from the 229 million daily actives it has right now, to 600 million by 2025, then to 931 million by 2028
• The roadmap also outlines a 5x increase in Twitter revenue by 2028, rising from $5b in 2021 to $26.5b
• Advertising income, currently amounting for 90% of Twitter’s intake, will reduce to around 45% of the company’s revenue
• Musk plans to cut around 1,000 staff at Twitter over the next year, before adding around 2,700 new employees by 2025.

As noted, these are some major goals, and how, exactly, Musk plans to boost Twitter’s user base so significantly is not clear. But clearly, investors have faith in the Tesla owner’s track record – which could well be the best strategy, as he has been able to turn his other companies into major financial successes over time.

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