Hundreds of Instagram users were unable to access their accounts this week and third-party apps are crippled after Twitter’s new API takes effect. Meanwhile, LinkedIn Groups will be rebuilt for a better user experience. Here’s what’s trending in social media.
Instagram Hacked Despite Two-Factor Authentications
On August 13th, Mashable reported that hundreds of users had their Instagram accounts hacked. Soon after, Instagram posted a blog stating that it was aware of the issue and investigating. They didn’t state how many accounts were affected but encouraged users to take security precautions and enable two-factor authentications (2FA). However, several users told Mashable their accounts were recently hacked despite having 2FA enabled.
Last month, Instagram announced that it would be improving its 2FA settings, but for now it still relies on text messages. The source of the hacking is still unclear, but Instagram said that “if you have reached out to us about your account, you will hear back from our team soon.”
Third Party Companies Frantic Over New Twitter API
If you’ve been using third party applications to access and manage your Twitter feed, we hope that you were warned about the changes that have disabled many of their features. In May, we posted about the change to Twitter’s API and how that would have a negative impact on third-party apps like Tweetbot and Twitterific and brands that use them. That time has come as Twitter has officially made the change as of August 16th.
The most notable changes that Tweetbot reported are to the timeline streaming feature and push notifications. The Wi-Fi streaming allowed users to view a continuous stream of new tweets without refreshing, and now it will refresh automatically every 1-2 minutes. Push notifications that alert you of mentions and direct messages will be delayed by a “few minutes” and alerts of likes, retweets, quotes and follows have been disabled altogether. Are you still using third party applications? How has this changed the way you use Twitter for your business?
LinkedIn Groups Get A Makeover
LinkedIn is finally rebuilding the Groups feature, aiming for a better experience for users and group admins. In February, the company announced that it was doing away with the standalone LinkedIn Groups app. And now, just 5 months later, the company finally reveals that there is an entire revamp to come. The group feature will now be accessible via both the mobile app and desktop so that accessing the groups will be easier and new groups can be discovered from the LinkedIn homepage and feed.
Group administrators will be able to take advantage of this new experience as well. For the first time, admin functions are being included in the main LinkedIn app. Admins will be able to take membership actions including messaging group members, appointing managers or removing members. Groups were never accessible via mobile on the LinkedIn app before, so these changes are a pretty big deal for the LinkedIn community. The new Groups are scheduled to roll out at the end of August, and we’re excited to see how this will change the usage of Groups.
How do you feel about these recent changes on LinkedIn and Twitter? We want to hear your thoughts! Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. PT (3:30 p.m. ET) on Facebook Live for Social Media Help Desk – a roundtable discussion on the latest social media trends and news.
