Welcome to the May edition of our Social Media Roundup! The world of social media & marketing is fast paced - blink and you’ve missed new trends, updates and launches and as busy social media marketers, entrepreneurs, and freelancers, it’s hard to keep up, right? We know just how hard it is to juggle your to-do list AND stay on top of everything new in the world of social media. Our monthly roundup summarizes the main updates on all the social platforms, gives you some of the latest trending audios and talks about what has been trending this month. Ready? Let’s go!
Recent stories highlight – Instagram is testing a new “Lately” highlight for Stories, which automatically adds a new highlight to your profile that showcases your most recent stories.
Notes on reels & posts – Some users are reporting they can now add Notes to feed posts and Reels. This is a great opportunity to use them to generate engagement and drive more traffic to your DMs.
In-app meme editing – Instagram know the power of meme culture so are reportedly testing a new meme editing tool with android users. This news is hot off the press so we don't know much but could be interesting!
Peek feature – Instagram is working on a new feature called Peek, which would enable users to share a “real pics” of themselves or others which are unedited & unfiltered and will only be able to be viewed once. Think BeReal & Snapchat!
Experiment mode – users will soon be able to test out how a reel will perform by showing it to non-followers first without posting it to your profile. It will only be visible on your profile once you share it with everyone and if you choose not to share it with everyone, it’ll be archived after 24 hours.
TikTok
TikTok Symphony - TikTok announced its launching a new “creative AI suite” for ad creators called “Symphony”, which will provide AI assistance in writing scripts, producing videos, brainstorming ideas, and more.
60 min uploads – TikTok is testing 60-minute uploads, marking a significant shift towards longer-form content. This move aligns with the growing trend of long-form video content across social media. Could TikTok be evolving into a platform more akin to YouTube?
Threads
$5,000 bonus – numbers show that the number of people using Threads is rising in the USA but Meta is incentivizing prominent creators to use the Threads platform to give in-app engagement a further boost, by offering a financial reward for posting on the app. The bonus is only available to those creators that Meta selects to take part (presumably highly popular creators who haven’t yet started a Threads account).
Trending Audios
Let’s talk trending audios! A trending audio teamed with an original concept can elevate a reel from good to amazing! So, let’s talk about what audios have been trending this month:
Bridgerton – May’s social feeds have been dominated by Bridgerton content after season 3 part 1 landed, and that goes for audio’s too! Our favorites are the main theme song, Wildest Dreams and this this take on Pitbull’s classic Give Me Everything.
Looking for a man in finance – we are obsessed with this catchy song and are loving users using it to create funny reels which call out their target market, show off their products or talk about their business.
Here are some of our other top trending audios this month (tap on the image to take you to the audio):
Psst! Did you know you can browse all the latest trending audios on Instagram on rapidely? Each week our team hunt for the best and most relevant trending audios and provide helpful tips and ideas on how you could use each one for your brand!
What’s Trending right now on Social Media?
Bridgerton
May has officially belonged to Bridgerton and we are not mad about it! We are loving the Bridgerton memes, posts and reels that have been dominating our feeds this month, not to mention the behind the scenes and promotional content from the cast members. This cast BTS reel from @thebridgertonfamily made us giggle! With season 3 part 2 dropping mid-June, we don’t see the Bridgerton craze passing anytime soon.
Baby Reindeer
If you haven't heard of Baby Reindeer, where have you been? This hit Netflix show has taken the internet by storm in recent weeks. The buzz intensified when the "real Martha" gave a notorious interview with Piers Morgan, and now clips and audios from the interview are flooding our feeds. Users are getting incredibly creative with this content, producing memes, GIFs, and voiceovers. Check out @embrace_socials clever take, using one of the audios to relate it to Instagram strategy – we love it!
We are hiring
Are you hiring for positions for your business or one of your clients? Rather than a boring old “We are hiring” post that we’ve all seen a million times before (yawn), we are seeing a new video trend which we are loving! It involves two members of staff holding up separate signs with one saying “we are hiring” and another saying something silly like “drinking buddy” or “sugar daddy” before swiftly turning it over to reveal the real position e.g. hairdresser, barista etc. Take a look at @black.label.co ‘s version here for inspiration. If you have a fun brand voice and it’s appropriate for your audience and staff you’re attracting, this is definitely a fun and different way to recruit!
Roundup
There you have it! A round-up of everything that’s coming, testing and trending in the world of social media right now. Come & join our Instagram gang for all the latest social media updates as well as weekly tips & advice on how to grow your brand using social media.
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