Week after week, social media dazzles us with innovations and breakthroughs. Platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Threads, TikTok Music or functionalities such as Reels Charts arrive to revolutionize the way we connect and share content.
1. Important changes on Twitter
Since Elon Musk took the leadership of the social network Twitter, we have been experiencing different changes for users within the platform. However, the most notable one (and one that pretty much no one expected) is the identity change that Elon Musk has given to Twitter or, as it is now called, X.
Why is Twitter now X?
The answer is easy: Elon Musk wants the X to appear in each and every one of his products. Basically, for Musk the X represents the unknown and the undiscovered and there is a mark of this in every element of his life: from SpaceX to X Æ A-12, his son’s name.
For Elon Musk, the X represents the unknown and the undiscovered.
However, there is also a business decision behind this change and to understand it we must travel back in time. In 1999 we already saw the X linked to Elon Musk through the X.com domain and the idea of creating a portal that could centralize digital purchases, credit cards, online banking, investments, loans and other economic-related operations.
Elon Musk decided to ally with another startup of the moment and, although he fought to keep the name “X.com”, his partners thought it would be more accurate to use the name Paypal, leading to the birth of this application.
In 2017 Elon Musk got the domain back after buying it from Paypal and announced it on Twitter writing, “Thanks Paypal for allowing me to buy back X.com! No plans right now, but it has great emotional value to me.”
Now that Twitter is becoming X and we know about Elon Musk’s previous plans for such a platform like this, many users are speculating about Elon Musk’s next business plans regarding Twitter or, actually, X.
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2. Threads: Meta is not left behind
While the foundations of Twitter are shaking, Mark Zuckerberg has not missed the opportunity to adapt to other types of platforms by creating the social network Threads.
This new social network created by the Instagram team is a direct competitor to Twitter, relying on Instagram’s existing user base.
The most interesting thing about this new social network is that it is linked to Instagram. Therefore, the accounts you create on both sites are part of a whole. It is basically an extension of Instagram, but instead of being inside the application itself, Threads has an independent app.
One of the most interesting options that Threads currently offers is, in addition to the common tools for microblogging, the ability to share your Threads posts directly in Instagram stories. It also offers filters to search for other users and to search for different types of notifications (replies, mentions, interactions with verified accounts, etc).
New updates are expected for Threads, among which we can highlight that it will be a decentralized network, referring to the possibility of being part of the Fediverse and interacting with users of applications such as, for example, Mastodon.
Threads will be a decentralized network and part of the Fediverse
Did you know? The Fediverse is an ecosystem of decentralized and interconnected social networks, where users from different platforms can interact and communicate with each other.
Although Threads seems to have a very favorable future and promises to be the application that will connect everyone, we will still have to wait to see how it evolves, as it is not yet available in the EU until it meets its privacy requirements.
3.ByteDance is back with TikTok Music
TikTok Music is the new creation of ByteDance and is presented as a music streaming service that aims to dethrone Spotify.
The Chinese company has signed agreements with record labels such as Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to offer an extensive music library to its users. Like Threads, although it is an independent application, it is linked to TikTok to facilitate listening and direct downloading from the video platform.
Some of the functionalities such as creating playlists, viewing song lyrics instantly or downloading music for offline listening are those we already know from other similar platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music.
Two of the most novel and outstanding options among new users is that the application has elements to publish public comments, interact with other people and see the “likes”. In addition, TikTok Music has a functionality similar to Shazam with which we can easily identify songs, all this with a similar design to TikTok.
If it already sounds interesting, ByteDance does not lower the level in terms of innovative technology. This new application has also implemented Artificial Intelligence, allowing us to create custom sound effects and a new mode called “My Party” with which we can synchronize lights and effects with the music that is playing.
TikTok Music is currently available in Indonesia, Brazil and as a private beta in Mexico, Australia and Singapore.
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4. Music trends on live with Reels Charts
Inspired by the success of TikTok, Instagram never ceases to surprise us and, in partnership with Spotify, has introduced Reels Charts, a playlist that shows the most popular songs used on Reels and is updated weekly.
Reels Charts is a playlist that compiles the 50 most used songs on Instagram Reels, allowing artists to reach a wider audience. The selection process to appear on Reels Charts will depend on several factors, among which we already know:
- Views Growth on Reels
- Use of audio for content creation
- Level of user interaction
Furthermore, the inclusion of different songs to Reels Charts is part of the users’ commitment to this new feature and the general consumption of music from Reels.
Reels Charts is now available in Brazil and Mexico, locations chosen for being “the two most passionate music consuming countries in the world” according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
A before and after for social media
In addition to all these updates that ensure a before and after in the universe of social media and music streaming applications, there are also other quite remarkable novelties.
LinkedIn has updated its algorithm with a significant improvement in recommendations in order to provide more relevant and targeted content to professionals in each industry.
We are seeing how the digital landscape and, in particular, social media, are experiencing an important evolution that implies a further step forward for Web 2.0.
