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Week in Social: Twitter's new look, LinkedIn on the rise, and Netflix eyes the international market

22 Jul 2019 Majed Alnahwi

Twitter launches brand new website design

Last week, Twitter unveiled its new desktop website; the UX is faster and makes it easier for users to navigate. With the redesign, the desktop site’s look and feel is more closely aligned with that of other devices, including mobile apps. The direct messaging experience has been simplified and the navigation between multiple user accounts has been streamlined all in one place. Twitter has also given users the ability to customize the look to fit their aesthetic with various “dark mode” themes.

LinkedIn shows strong growth in latest quarter

During Microsoft’s FY19 Q4 earnings call, it was announced that LinkedIn saw revenue growth of 25% driven by a strong increase in engagement and a 22% increase in sessions. LinkedIn users are interacting with content much more, with a 50% growth year over year in user actions including likes, comments, shares. The platform is also seeing an increase in users, hitting 610 million this year. LinkedIn has also seen growth in China, with more 41 million users in that market. Breaking into the Chinese market has been incredibly difficult for numerous social networks; LinkedIn’s willingness to adhere to China’s requirements on speech and censorship has allowed it to grow there.

Instagram expands its “hidden likes” test

Following an initial test earlier this year for Canadian users, Instagram expanded its testing of hiding the number of likes in 6 more countries: Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand. The rationale behind the test seems to be the platform’s goal to reduce “competition” and “social comparison” as well create a more positive and connected community. If this change is implemented across all users on the platform, it will change the way brands, agencies, and influencers interact. The number of likes is a key vanity metric that influencers rely on to show their value to brands. It will be interesting to see where Instagram lands with this test and how influencers and brands adjust to any potential change.

Netflix looks international as US growth slows

Netflix announced it lost 130,000 in the US in Q2 during its earnings call last week. This was the streaming platform’s first loss of US subscribers since 2011. Following a price increase earlier this year as well as recent news that key content like The Office and Friends will be taken off the platform over the next few years, Netflix is working hard to fight off competition from Disney, Apple, and NBC who are all building their own streaming services. The earnings call led to a 10% drop in stock price pointing to a small decline in confidence from investors. The company continues to work on expanding its presence in international markets like India, China, and Europe; it added 2.7 million new global subscribers in Q2.