There wasn’t too much news this week from the world of social media however there is some interesting news from both Facebook and Instagram this week.
Facebook Quietly Rolls out New Features for Pages
Facebook seems to be quietly rolling out new features for certain pages. These updates include customizable sections in the timeline and page templates for different business types.
There?s also an easier way to see and share the unique URL for your individual tabs.
We don?t have these new features on our Facebook page yet but one of our clients does.
You can see if you have them by going to your page settings and clicking on ?Edit Page?.
Here are our page settings without the new features:
And here’s how things look if you have the new features (notice the new templates section):
Here are examples of the new templates that are available.
These templates appear to affect which buttons appear on your page and the default tabs.
We expect that these new features will officially be announced and available for everyone soon.
Facebook Tests New Nearby Wi-Fi Feature
For the past few weeks Facebook has been quietly asking Pages to list whether or not they have Wi-Fi at their physical locations.
Now select users of the iOS app have an option to find nearby Wi-Fi hotspots. You can find this option in your general Facebook settings in the app.
This new feature is most likely due to Facebook?s emphasis on Facebook Live. If a user wants to do an impromptu live stream it?s much easier to do it using a nearby Wi-Fi network instead of using their phone?s data.
This new feature is slowly rolling out to users of the iOS app but there?s no word yet on Android.
Instagram Adds Disappearing Photos and Videos
Users on Instagram are now able to share disappearing photos and videos directly to groups and individual friends.
These videos and photos can only be sent to your followers.
If you don?t have access to this new feature yet just wait a little bit, Instagram says it should be available globally really soon.
Instagram Adds Live Video to Instagram Stories
Another update from Instagram this week is the ability to live stream video on Instagram Stories.
Users can go live instantly and share video for up to an hour. Your friends and followers may receive a notification when you go live so they can tune in.
These updates are expected to roll out globally and be available for everyone in the next few weeks.
Are you part of the lucky few that has access to these new features? Let us know what you think about this news in the comments.
The Status Update: A Busy Week for Facebook