The digital storytelling opportunities going into 2017 for editors and public relations specialist are more exciting than ever. Here are the latest three updates and tools I’m looking forward to utilizing:
Instagram Q&A – Instagram rolled out new engagement features allowing you to like a post’s comments or reply to a user’s comment directly. Cosmopolitan put these features to use by hosting an Instagram Q&A with Hearst Chief Content Officer Joanna Coles ahead of the “So Cosmo” reality show launch on E! in 2017. The Q&A was highly interactive, and it makes me wonder, are Twitter chats so 2013?
(Facebook) Live Audio: Facebook launched a new features called Live Audio where publishers and general users can post audio-only content on the platform. We can listen to the broadcast voice recordings as we browse through Facebook, and as a Samsung Galaxy user, I love that Android users can still listen to the audio when they leave the app.
- As Adweek notes, “Facebook is heavily pitching Live Audio towards publishers and broadcasters who are already cranking out loads of live video to win over Facebook’s algorithm that reaches a massive audience. A podcast or radio publisher may be able to livestream an episode straight from Facebook or a news outlet could collect audio snippets from a live event.”
- Instagram Live – Instagram has been a busy bee with its new Snapchat and Facebook like features, including the introduction of Instagram Live – live streams from Instagram that are not available after broadcast. Glossy gives us insights from fashion and lifestyle industry editors on this visually forward platform feature.
- “Due to its ephemeral nature, a number of publishers — including Allure — plan to use it to share exclusive content that doesn’t require extensive production…Instagram Live is even more nimble than Facebook Live because, once the stream is done, it’s gone forever…At the get-go, there’s less pressure to have full production — and in return, the audience loves the raw feedback.” – Gerilyn Manago, senior social media editor at Allure.
- “Instagram Live is particularly useful for news publishers because its sharing authentic content, which is crucial amid the flurry of fake news that has become ubiquitous since the presidential election.” – Jessica Pels, Digital Director at Marie Claire
- “The biggest benefit of live tools in general is the ability to bring your audience to where you are in real time, but the significance of having live tools on yet another social platform is that your audience is going to vary between the platforms. Our Instagram audience is a younger and more tuned-in to things that our Facebook audience might not be as receptive to, so now we’ll have a whole new way to reach them.” – Ben Boskovich, social media editor at Esquire
Which one will become your new favorite? I’m personally ready to see the Instagram Q&A tool used more.
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Jarryd Boyd, Life + Relationships Coach 