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Social Media News

Social Media News Roundup: September 2019

In social media news this month, LinkedIn creates a new Skill Assessments feature, Facebook starts to remove the like count, and IGTV gets a new branded content tag tool.
LinkedIn let you showcase your skills

LinkedIn has made social media news this month with its new Skill Assessments feature that allows users to validate the skills they put on their profile. Users can endorse other people’s skills, but the new feature actually shows the proficiency of an individual to make a user stand out to businesses.

LinkedIn have stated that they will have assessments, each of which ‘is constructed through a rigorous content creation and review process in partnership with LinkedIn Learning industry and subject matter experts.’

Once candidates who want to showcase their skills have completed the skill assessment, they will receive a badge on their profile in LinkedIn Recruiter and LinkedIn Jobs so hirers are able to quickly identify and verify skill proficiency.

Facebook begins to remove the like count

It’s happening…it’s happening! Facebook have started removing the like count on some posts. The post looks the exact same, just with the like count emitted, which actually makes the whole concept look different. It seemed immediately after testing it, Facebook started rolling it out and soon it’s set to go live in Australia!

Maybe there’s no need for frenzy, maybe it’s a good thing. Facebook users and those who advertise on the social media platform can put less stress into getting those likes and get more enjoyment out of what they’re actually doing. Businesses can focus more on high quality posts, instead of ones that will just get them likes. Facebook hope this will give people a more positive experience while using the site and app. However, those who have posted the content will still be able to see the amount of likes the post has received, it’ll just be private to everyone else.

IGTV gets branded

IGTV is Instagram’s up and coming new way to share longer and more in-depth videos on the social media platform, with its features being updated regularly. This month, Instagram have added a Branded Content Tag to the feature, a.k.a. a ‘paid partnership with’ tool. However, the feature isn’t open to everyone. You have to be eligible for the tool, and also have a business or Creator account. When the video is published to IGTV, the tag will feature right at the top of the screen to show who the user has partnered with for the content they’re sharing.