Into the Metaverse: Understanding Facebook and Instagram in the Age of Meta
Social media is always evolving, and the arrival of Meta signals sweeping change and a fundamental restructuring for a very different future. As a digital marketer, what do you need to know?
What Is the Metaverse?
In October 2021 Mark Zuckerberg announced the consolidation of Facebook and related products—including Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp—into a new brand called Meta. The rebranding is a nod to the metaverse, which Zuckerberg sees as the successor to today’s mobile internet.
The metaverse doesn’t have a single definition, but we can think of it in general terms as the next evolution in our digital lives. Today’s mobile internet gives us access to social media, email, internet browsers, cameras and more—all in one device we carry around with us.
The metaverse will combine social media platforms, digital storefronts, gaming applications and more into a single digital experience: a more fully fledged digital world, perhaps accessed with Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) headsets.
What will this look like exactly? No one knows for sure. In short, the metaverse is not here yet, but many of its components are. It remains to be seen how everything will come together, and it won’t happen all at once.
What Has Already Changed on Facebook and Instagram?
First things first, Facebook and Instagram are so popular that the leaders of these companies have every incentive to keep the user experience consistent. Even the most loyal users will only put up with so much change. As such, the biggest changes so far have been in branding, not function.
One change you might have noticed is increased connectivity and interoperability of Meta’s platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. Regular updates to messaging tools such as Messenger and Instagram direct messaging have brought increased coordination, allowing marketers to more seamlessly manage direct messages across multiple platforms.
Another area for updates: ads management. The new Meta Advantage Suite will collect different automated ad products under one umbrella, allowing for increased efficiency in ad management.
Meta is also boosting their metaverse platform Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality video game focused on world-building for social interaction. A new fund for creators will further incentivize user-generated content on the platform.
Three Steps You Can Take Now to Prepare for More Changes
If you’re wondering what you need to do right now to prepare for the internet of the future, our first advice is don’t panic. These are long-term changes, some of them purely hypothetical, and even Meta sees the full introduction of the metaverse as more than ten years away.
However, there are steps you can take to improve your marketing efforts now and prepare for the future.
1. One of the goals of the metaverse is to build community. The hope is that a more fully realized digital world will encourage interaction among visitors that looks and feels more like “real life.” We recommend revisiting your buyer personas to make sure you understand what makes your potential customers tick, and keep refining your messaging to feel more natural and authentic.
2. Investigate ways to incentivize and promote user-generated content. The future of our digital lives will likely look more decentralized, with greater influence in the hands of individuals rather than platforms and other businesses.
3. As Meta continues to release updates and tweaks, take advantage of new features that make sense for your business. This could mean linking WhatsApp to your Facebook page to decrease your response time to direct messages, creating an account in Horizon Worlds just to explore, or experimenting with new enhanced product tagging on Instagram.
What Is Coming Next?
The long-term plans outlined by Meta are subject to change of course, and no one can predict exactly how the metaverse will unfold.
As we head into an uncertain future, remember that while it may not be your job to explain the technical details of the metaverse to anyone, it’s helpful to have a firm understanding of the ideas behind it. Of note: the majority of consumers, your potential customers, don’t have a strong understanding of what the metaverse is.
We’re all in this together, and regardless of what we call it, we use social media to connect with others and meet potential customers where they are on the buyer’s journey. The fundamentals have not changed.
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Keeping Up with Instagram Updates in 2021
Instagram never stops surprising us. While the world is trying to stay positive through these challenging times, it is exciting to see how Instagram rapidly develops new features and functionalities to tackle main business issues and help users support their favourite brands.
And now, more than ever, keeping up with what’s new on Instagram can be quite a challenge. There are new Instagram features almost every week. We know it is essential to stay up to date with the latest changes on Instagram, so we put together a list of important updates announced by Instagram in 2021 so far.
More Security for Users Under 18
The world of the internet can sometimes be overwhelming for young users. Providing them with protection online is the real need of the hour.
Here are some latest safety features for young users by Instagram:
Private account by default for everyone under 16
Instagram’s main priority is to stop strangers from making unwanted contact with young users. Private accounts for users under 16 is the best way to deal with it. It lets you control who can see and comment on their content, and it won’t be possible for unwanted users to see their content on Explore or Hashtags.
No unwanted contact
Having a private account is the first step to avoid unwanted contact. But that’s not all! Instagram goes above and beyond to ensure young users aren’t exposed to unwanted contact from adults they don’t want to hear from.
Instagram has developed a new technology to keep “potentially suspicious behaviour” away from users under 16. Accounts belonging to adults that may have recently been blocked or reported by a young user is defined as potentially suspicious behaviour.
With this technology, these accounts won’t be able to see any young users’ accounts or content in Explore, Reels or ‘Accounts Suggested for You’. They won’t be able to follow them even if they find these accounts by searching their usernames. So much so that they won’t be able to see comments from young users and won’t be able to leave comments on their posts.
We think this is one of the best features Instagram has introduced so far!
Advertising limitations for targeting young people
Another game-changing feature that Instagram introduced is how advertisers can target young users with ads. The platform now allows targeting ads based only on their age, gender and location, which means that advertisers no longer have the options to target based on their interests or activities.
When these users turn 18, Instagram will inform them about the advertising policy change and the tools to control their ad experience.
No Place for Hate Speech
Protecting its users from abusive comments and DMs has been of the biggest concerns for Instagram for a long time. It seems like Instagram is working hard to deal with the situation, and the company rolled out an excellent feature called Limits.
With this feature, you can now limit or hide comments and messages from users that are not on your followers’ list or have recently started following you. The purpose of Limits is to help protect public figures from offensive comments and DMs.
It is no ‘Breaking News’ that Instagram creators and influencers often receive hateful comments from random profiles. Since the pandemic, it only seems to have gotten worse. A step in the right direction, we say!
A New Tab - Audio
Instagram is looking to lean into video-form after seeing the success of competitors like TikTok and YouTube. The company announced that it is no longer a photo-sharing app and promotes users to use reels and short-video form posts.
Recently, a new audio tab has appeared in the app. This tool gives users the ability to search for reels by song. Like any other music app, Instagram will provide a list of songs when users swipe and search.
Users will then be able to see 30-second reels with the song. Users can save any music they like for later, or there is also an option “use audio” to create a reel if they wish.
Translation Features
The company announced that a new accessibility feature would be added on Instagram – Translation. This feature supports 90 languages right now, and however, it is only possible to translate written text.
This new update will translate the text in Instagram Stories. Instagram will give you a “See Translation” option to translate the overlayed text in Stories. When the users click on it, they will be presented with a translation panel.
Brands in global markets will love this new update as users globally don’t have to miss stories from their favourite international brands. A similar option is also available for feed, comments and profiles.
Exciting News for Businesses
Data Tracking is made easy with the latest update. Instagram expanded the data tracking period for insights from 30 days to 90 days. Companies can quickly analyse their quarterly insights on the platform to create a better strategy. Something to look forward to for small businesses!
Additionally, the company announced testing a new feature that provides businesses options to display ads in the shopping tab. The ads can vary from a single image to a carousel.
Marketers can even use Reels as ads that look no different than any usual Reel, with a difference of ‘sponsored’ tab on it.
Research shows that users on Instagram are looking for more video, messaging and shopping content rather than images. There is no doubt that the platform will be making many changes to entertain its users more.
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