New Features on Social Media | August 2021

TikTok's testing Stories, and Reddit's getting into short-form video?

August 2021 was yet another busy month for social media platform updates. Here's our monthly recap of new features and announcements:

Clubhouse 👋 | New Features | August 2021

• Launched a Creator Commons with resources for its emerging creator community.

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Facebook 👍 | New Features | August 2021

• Reopened applications for its Black Gaming Creators Program.

• Announced a GIPHY "Creators Club" for creator collaborations and monetization.

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Instagram 📷 | New Features | August 2021

• Adding ads to the Shop tab.

• Introduced new safety features to combat abuse, including Limits to block unwanted comments and DMs, the global rollout of Hidden Words, and new prompts to discourage users from posting hateful comments.

• Deprecating swipe up links in IG Stories in favor of link stickers.

• Experimenting with "interest search" based on topics.

• Will now require users to enter their date of birth and start age gating certain posts.

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LinkedIn 🤝 | New Features | August 2021

• Announced plans to deprecate Stories by the end of September.

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OnlyFans 🔒 | New Features | August 2021

• Launched its OFTV mobile app, which prohibits nudity in order to comply with Apple and Google app store terms.

• Announced plans to ban sexually explicit content, but later reversed its decision following pressure from its creator community.

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Pinterest 📌 | New Features | August 2021

• Added filters to search by hair texture.

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Reddit 👽 | New Features | August 2021

• Testing a short-form video format a la TikTok, IG Reels, and YT Shorts.

• Added comment replies option to live videos.

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Snapchat 👻 | New Features | August 2021

• Updated its Scan feature to improve its visual search capabilities.

• Introduced Snapchat trends to highlight popular keywords and trending topics.

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Spotify 🔊 | New Features | August 2021

• Rolled out its Music + Talk format globally.

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TikTok ♪ | New Features | August 2021

• Pilot testing a Stories format with publicly available comments.

• Building an AR developer toolkit called TikTok Effect Studio.

• Launched a Latinx Creatives incubator in partnership with Macro.

• Added new child safety measures, such as defaulting kids' DM settings to "no one" and preventing them from using TikTok's Duet and Stitch features.

• Introducing a Creator Marketplace API to provide real-time performance metrics and audience demographics.

• Reportedly testing 10-minute long videos.

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Twitch 🎮 | New Features | August 2021

• Increasing transparency around policy enforcement notices by citing the stream title, date, and specific Community Guideline in violation.

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Twitter 🐦 | New Features | August 2021

• Added co-hosting support for Twitter Spaces.

• Released several design updates, including color changes and removal of visual clutter.

• Launched Ticketed Spaces, allowing creators to charge admission to live audio rooms.

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YouTube 🎥 | New Features | August 2021

• Testing "YouTube Premium Lite" in parts of Europe as a cheaper subscription offering for ad-free viewing.

• Introduced a two-finger double tap to skip between video chapters.

• Released several new child safety features, including "take a break" and bedtime reminders, turning off autoplay functionality in YouTube Kids, and defaulting uploads to private for users under 18.

• Rolled out several major search improvements, such as displaying video chapters in search and supplementing foreign language searches with English results accompanied by auto-translated captions and metadata.

• Testing picture-in-picture viewing with Premium subscribers.

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Did we miss any new social media features in our breakdown? If so, let us know!

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