Dispatches from the world of social media

Photo: Adam Przezdziek (CC)

The latest on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat …

1. Instagram finally allows multiple accounts. For social media managers, this is a long overdue feature, one that’s been available in Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other channels.

Why Instagram still insists on app-only posting and management is beyond me. The Web interface should allow posting and scheduling, but nope.

This help article explains how to add and manage multiple accounts. I’m content to manage my sole account, the Y’all Connect Instagram feed.

Thanks to Andrew for alerting me.

2. Twitter has begun shuffling timeline tweets. Sort of. Many Twitter users (including me) have been complaining about the latest “improvement” to the service: algorithmic timelines.

Normally, users see tweets from the people they follow in reverse chronological order, with the latest updates always at the top. This was how Facebook used to work, until it decided to show everyone’s updates based on “importance” to the user. (I still switch my Facebook News Feed to “Most Recent” despite its insistence on the “Top Stories” setting.)

Twitter has now copied Facebook to show tweets out of order based on its own secret algorithm. But not by default on existing accounts, and not yet implemented on all accounts. (It’s available on only one of my Twitter accounts so far.)

Here’s Twitter’s Help article how to turn the feature on or off.

The Washington Post has a good example of how the new feature is already causing confusion among users: The London transit system announced it would cut back on real-time system updates, given that the tweets would no longer be delivered to people in chronological order. This naturally sparked even more bewilderment.

3. How to use Snapchat in 200 easy steps. Matt had asked me about using Snapchat for business. I admitted I hadn’t used it — rarely do I engage in new channels till I have a project or client request.

I should’ve sent him this BuzzFeed how-to article, “My Little Sister Taught Me How to ‘Snapchat Like the Teens’,” that shows how easy it is to connect with peers on the most popular app among teens.

Chances are that Brooke, our 13-year-old guide to the horrifying time-suck of Snapchat, has sent dozens of snaps since you started reading this section. I’m not kidding.

You will never be as good as Brooke is at Snapchat, and note in the interview that she points out peers who are really on their Snapchat game (one girl runs through 60GB of data a month).

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