Autumn 2016 is upon us and Instagram, for a second month, leads the charge with new developments and updates to their app. Pinch and zoom or tell a story? We are doing both but have you used the new features yet? See below for more information on these popular updates.

See Social Media in July 2016 for the previous month’s developments.

Tell a story on Instagram

The big news in August was the introduction of stories on Instagram. If you are a Snapchat user, you will know exactly what Instagram stories are all about because they are exactly like those found on Snapchat. In fact, in a rather refreshing omission the CEO of Instagram confessed to a blatant copy of the popular Snapchat feature.

Read more on the TechCrunch blog ‘Instagram CEO on Stories: Snapchat deserves all the credit.’

A step towards taking on the trendy and popular Snapchat app this move sees Instagram copying key features but with the backup of the huge Facebook infrastructure. How long before you see Snapchat style filters on Instagram? Not long we think!

Photo zoom on Instagram

A feature wanted by many for quite some time. Now you can pinch to zoom in on photos and videos uploaded to Instagram. Sounds like quite a basic feature but since its launch this feature has been missing from Instagram.

A small update to this popular platform but one you should remember if you are trying to hide certain details in your photos. Now viewers can investigate in greater detail. Will you use this feature?

100 million users on LinkedIn – from Asia Pacific

With the predominance of the English language in the West it is easy for us to forget about the huge social media networks in the East and specifically Asia Pacific. LinkedIn has not forgotten and has, in-fact, been investing heavily in the area. It is no wonder there are now more than 100 million users of LinkedIn now in Asia Pacific.

See below for just a little key data:

• A total of 450 million users. The 100 million users from the Asia Pacific region make up 22 percent of LinkedIn users.
• India is the second largest user base with 37 million LinkedIn members. Second only to the US.
• LinkedIn has doubled its member based in Asia Pacific from 50 million to 100 million in only two years!
• 40 percent (280 million) of the world’s professionals currently live and work in Asia Pacific. Therefore, it is expected LinkedIn will continue growing within the region.
• LinkedIn built a data centre in Singapore in April 2016, its first outside the US and at a cost of $80 million.

Promoted Pinterest Videos

For product orientated businesses Pinterest is still a major player, now it looks to further cement its position with promoted videos.

With this update comes loads of compelling statistics released by Pinterest encouraging the use of their promoted video service. Such statistics include:

• 67% say videos inspire Pinterest users to take action.
• 55% of Pinterest users want to shop or find products.
• 75% of the content people enjoy on Pinterest comes from businesses.
• There has been a 60% increase in videos on Pinterest.

Will you publish and make use of the promoted video option on Pinterest? Have you seen one on the platform yet? Let us know your thoughts.

That’s it for August. Have we missed any key developments you think need to be covered? Are any of the above going to make a difference for you? Let us know your thoughts.