Friends Tab, Instagram Pop-Up & Twitter Takeover | Bolt Trend Report

May 18, 2022

Wake up, because a popular mattress brand is launching a podcast to turn sleepless nights into sweet dreams. From the growing audio market to a TikTok Friends Tab, Instagram real-life shopping and Twitter updates, we’ve captured the latest trends and are ready to share.

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Must-Know Trends

 

Friends Tab Replaces Discover Tab on TikTok

TikTok just got a lot friendlier. What do we mean? Well, the video platform with a reported 1 billion monthly active users has replaced the Discover tab in the bottom menu of the app with a Friends Tab. This has our experienced Digital Marketing team speculating that maybe TikTok is leaning more toward a social network platform. Essentially, the purpose is for users to easily find content created by those they’re connected with on the app. Like other social platforms, if someone is not yet connected with other users, TikTok will suggest friends from contacts or Facebook.

Instagram Pop-Up Store in NYC

Get ready for Instagram IRL (in real life). This week, the photo sharing app’s @shop account is celebrating three years and 1 million followers with a physical retail pop-up store in NYC. This is a unique experience where users can check out some of the most popular @shop products in-person. Shoppers can snag home, beauty and lifestyle items from unique small businesses. This exciting opportunity merges online shopping and offline purchases, which makes sense with 70% of shoppers tapping into Instagram for product discovery. Not to mention, the huge inspiration sparked by influencers.

Mattress Firm Podcast

A podcast featuring sleep-related stories and tips? That sounds like a dream! Mattress Firm is snuggling up to the rapidly-growing audio medium with the launch of a new podcast in partnership with Vox Creative. From tips on how to get a good night’s rest to stories on why sleep is important, the 10-episode podcast series is called “Are You Sleeping?” It’s loud and clear, the audio platform is growing, and brands are expanding their marketing into the space where consumers are listening. In fact, podcast ad revenue in the U.S. is expected to double to $4.22 billion by 2024.

Twitter Takeover on Hold

In the latest Twitter buyout news, Elon Musk is reportedly pausing the $44 billion deal due to fake accounts. The updates are moving at the speed of a Tweet, and just last week, we shared the Tesla CEO’s hefty goals for the social platform, which included an annual revenue of $26.4 billion by 2028. Now, Musk says the deal won’t move forward until Twitter proves it has less than 5% fake accounts. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Twitter says it has fewer than 5% fake accounts, but the soon-to-be new owner wants proof.

Netflix Subscriber Losses

Subscribers are fleeing Netflix, and in April, the streaming service forecasted a decline of 2 million subscribers. On the heels of the company’s low-performing quarter, it’s now announcing the layoff of 150 employees. Most cuts are happening in the U.S., and the staff reductions account for less than 2% of the business’s 11,000 employees. Regardless, the changes are tough for those impacted, and the streamer’s subscriber loss is the first in over a decade. Now that you’re up-to-speed on the latest trends, there’s so much to do. From adding friends on TikTok, hitting the city for an in-person Instagram shopping experience, listening to sleep stories and scrolling Tweets for Twitter takeover news, we hope you learned something new today. Meet us back here next week for another round of the latest.

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