Anyone else noticing big changes on their social media homepages? TikTok’s influence is really taking over! User interfaces across your favorite social media apps are continuing to look more like TikTok in their newest updates on their platforms. From full homepage feeds to prioritizing different forms of content, there are big design changes coming to social apps to anticipate in order to best use each app to its fullest marketing potential. 

Here are 3 big design changes coming to social apps!

Photo by Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash

Full Screen Home Feeds

Emphasis on visual content! TikTok users love the look of TikTok’s feed with videos taking up the entire device’s screen and transparently overlaying the caption and interactive buttons on the video. Big and bright, it’s more than just the personality of the TikTok that shines through.

It would be interesting to see how text-based social apps follow this trend, but Instagram has already started rolling out the full screen home feed, putting their Reels front and center on the feed similarly to TikTok. Having more space on a device’s screen means more creative possibility for your brand!

Instagram is testing a full-screen home feed https://t.co/7Gi76yYgXY by @asilbwrites

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 3, 2022

Short-Form Videos are Key

TikTok dances may be something to tease but their success created a whole new experience in short-form video not seen since Vine’s sudden dissolution (RIP) or the big boom of YouTubers. There’s all kinds of content across TikTok but what keeps it interesting is the short amount of time users have for their video content.

Although Instagram has received pushback, even from Instagram Royalty like Kylie Jenner, they continue to push ahead by making video content the priority for user feeds. Although Instagram seemed to have had the upper hand by inspiring Stories years ago, the expiring videos aren’t enough. We need more! If the videos are short, your brand has exciting opportunities for new ideas that use the time most creatively.

Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash

Catered to User

Just keep scrolling, just keep scrolling! With the For You page becoming more of a priority to users when looking at content, other social apps that put users’ Following lists directly into user feeds are switching gears, putting posts liked by other users and recommendations based on algorithms first in the feed. 

Twitter has started to show Similar Tweets as early as 2019, but Facebook has most notably broken from its conceived design to align with TikTok’s success. No longer is it just your Friends list on your feed, now anyone’s content can pop in based on an algorithm’s prediction. Knowing your content could appear on anyone’s feed means so many more opportunities to network!

Facebook and Instagram are racing to keep up with TikTok https://t.co/4wNsh6FQLs

— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) July 27, 2022

It’s obvious that TikTok is here to stay a while, meaning that social media user attitudes continue to favor quick, easy-to-watch videos that pull from all over the internet based on the user’s interests beyond who they choose to follow. These design changes coming to social apps signal new and exciting ways to continue experimenting with digital marketing across all social media; the possibilities for who to reach are endless!

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