The week in social: Twitter character count, Instagram users, and Vimeo goes live

Twitter expands its character count limit above 140

It has long been rumored, but Twitter is finally increasing its character for text in posts from 140 to 280 characters. The increase for now is a test within a small group of users within specific languages such as English. Twitter has previously relaxed its 140 character rule but not having links to media (photos and videos) count against the character limit. It remains to be seen if this will cause increased usage on the platform or be a permanent feature.

More information on Twitter Blog.

LinkedIn users can now add information onto the Office 365 profile card

Following Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn, users of the latter are now able to add information from LinkedIn into their Office 365 profile card. This in addition works for contacts the user is in touch with across both platforms. If the user links their Microsoft and LinkedIn accounts, they can see the latest their contacts are up to through the joint service. Where users are not connected on both platforms, the Profile Card can be used to send a connection request for LinkedIn.

Snapchat introduces more paid media opportunities

Snapchat is working hard to attract new advertisers, and the latest move towards this end is the offering of sponsored 3D World Lens. The new lens offers advertisers to create an augmented reality experience with the objects that represent their brand. Snapchat likens the experience to the 3D dancing hot dog lens, which has been viewed more than 2 billion times on the platform.

More information Snapchat Blog.

Facebook Messenger’s M has new features

M, Facebook Messenger’s virtual assistant, now offers new features to help users navigate various needs more easily, all while staying within the Facebook platform. These things include GIFs, Quick Replies, and Fandango movie recommendation integration. All of these new features are created with the intent of making conversation easier between contacts.

Instagram now has over 800 million users

Reaching another brand new milestone in a short time frame since the last was announced, Instagram has reached 800 million monthly active users, a growth of 100 million in just four short months. In addition, there are 500 million who use the service daily. Further stats from the announcement included that consumption of video on the platform is up by 80 percent, and that four times as many users are creating video content than last year.

More information on TechCrunch.

Snapchat debuts new ‘sky’ filters

A push towards letting users create their own ‘reality’ with editing on social media, Snapchat has introduced sky filters which will change the visual composition of the sky in snaps. Snapchat will detect the sky in the photo and present the user a number of different filters to layer on top, such as stars in the sky, clouds, sunset, different colors, and more. In addition, Snapchat announced several other new features as part of its 6th birthday celebration, including more 3D Bitmoji lenses.

Vimeo launches its own live streaming platform

In an official blog post, and as a response to requests from their community, Vimeo has launched its own live streaming platform. Among the features included with this service are an embeddable player, statistic around viewership, the ability to capture viewers’ email addresses, and more. The feature requires a subscription, but when users sign up, they also get features from either PRO or business accounts.

More information on Vimeo Blog.

Instagram adds features to protect users who have public accounts

Many users on Instagram want to have a public account to share their content with the world, but this often causes unsavory reactions from other users in the comments section. To address this, Instagram has added features such as allowing users to limit commenting to only users that are following the account, or users that the poster is following. This feature is added on top of the offensive comment filter, which Instagram launched in June and has been improving since its inception according to an official blog post.