Periodically, it’s important to check in with the social media world and take stock. So every now and then, we stop and regroup with a post covering the latest changes. Are there new tools for marketers? New regulations? Changes in algorithms to be aware of? We evaluate the headlines, review the information and curate the most important news marketers need.

Undoubtedly, you’ve heard that Facebook stock tanked last week and that Twitter purged its rolls to eliminate bots causing some users to lose many followers, but there’s a lot more going on. Let’s take a look:

Instagram

IGTV- In late June, Instagram announced a new in-app feature and new standalone app that will allow users to post hour-long videos. This article, To compete with YouTube, Instagram announces hour-long videos, explains how the feature works and why Instagram created it.

glee’s Take: Used thoughtfully, this could be a good tool for marketers to showcase their brands, events and craft their stories in a compelling way…but an hour might be a bit much for marketers to expect targets audiences to commit to their brands.

Instagram Stories– Gone forever; not so much anymore. Instagram stories can be permanently posted to profiles. Here’s How to Supercharge your Stories according to Wired.

glee’s Take: This is a really useful tool that every marketer should be taking advantage of for two reasons. First, it’s a great way to highlight services, products or blog content for your audience and new followers. Second, it gives a little more return on the investment you’re making into the time spent creating stories.

But wait, there’s more. There are currently 400 million people using Instagram Stories, paid ads in this feature are continuing to take off, and Facebook says, with great results. So now, Facebook is adding them to Facebook Stories: With 150 Million, Facebook Stories Introduces Ads for Businesses.

Finally, Instagram remains the number one network for influencer marketing. But before jumping all in, beware of the risks. Some celebrities are being paid up to $1 million per post and Bots are Eating Up To One Third of Brands’ Budgets for Instagram Influencers says a report by Chief Marketer.

glee’s Take: Start small; look for micro influencers in your advertising and build relationships with attention and care.

LinkedIn

Hot off the presses, LinkedIn rolled out voice messaging and everyone seems confused as to why.

glee’s Take: We’ll see how long this lasts…we don’t recommend calling your prospects on LinkedIn just yet.

Facebook

TechCrunch reports Facebook is testing augmented reality ads in the News Feed. The idea is to bridge the gap and allow people to try stuff at home instead of having to go to the store.

glee’s Take: Something to watch as it develops over the next few months. It could be really cool in the long term for event brands that want to share their event experience with new prospects who have never attended.

In June, Facebook launched its Branded Collabs Manager to help connect brands to social media influencers. It believes this form of marketing is growing.

glee’s Take: It’s really, really time to take influencer marketing and paid social media marketing seriously. Neither is something a brand can just jump into tomorrow. Plan how your organization will put budget behind these efforts and establish reasonable and measurable goals for each. Then determine how you’ll accomplish those goals whether through internal hiring or using an outside consultant.

So there you have it, you’re all caught up on the social media news you need to pay attention to…for now.