Instagram: More reach through the algorithm

Instagram – Founded in 2010, Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks in the world. Within the first 10 years, the number of users increased from 1 million to 1 billion. Most of the users are between 18 and 34 years old. The gender ratio is about 1:1. What makes Instagram work so personalized is the algorithm. This is very special, but what is an algorithm actually?

Algorithm explained: how does it work?

What is an algorithm simply explained?

The term algorithm comes from computer science (IT). Basically, an algorithm is a program written by experts that examines and analyzes user data and search behavior in an app.

For this, it looks at various parameters, e.g. who publishes a content. Does this person already have relevance or not? Which ones are really relevant? Which ones are displayed to you? That’s what the algorithm decides. Based on this data, users are then shown posts that are tailored to their interests.

What advantages this understanding has and how you influence the algorithm you will learn in the following.

Algorithm factors: What matters?

As described at Social Hub, there are 3 factors to use the algorithm to your advantage.

The three factors of the algorithm summarized:

1. Interest
2. Topicality
3. Interactions

Now briefly in detail:

Interest

Interest – Instagram measures how people interact with the different content. For example, if you often interact with posts that fall under the fashion category, you will automatically be shown more posts from the fashion world.

Topicality

Timeliness – Even though the chronological listing of Instagram feeds is no longer available, the time period in which the post is published still plays a role. Also the frequency of use, makes the difference.

Interactions

Interactions – Interacting with people’s accounts also boosts your reach. If users interact with you often, you will appear more often in their feed.

Social Media Week: The news of the week

Here you can find the current social media usage in Germany.

All Facebook: The path to the metaverse

This week on All Facebook, it’s “Bridge to Metaverse – Hear me speak #AFBMC 2022” and “Social in 30 languages – Social Media Management at Deutsche Welle.” More news from this week:

• It’it’s about TikTok – Feature Update 2022
• Social in 30 languages – Social Media Management at Deutsche Welle
• Bridge to Metaverse – Hear me speak #AFBMC 2022

Brandwatch: Consumer behavior for brands

In contrast, Brandwatch reports this week on “TikTok Guide: Useful Tips for Getting Started” and “Brandwatch + Cision.” More headlines of the week:

• Brandwatch + Cision
• Cost of Living Webinar: What does changing consumer behavior mean for brands?
• TikTok Guide: Useful tips for getting started

Social Media Hoffmann: Community Management – very important!

This week’s Social Media Hoffmann blog is all about “Why Community Management is the Beginning of Everything” and “Training Employees for Social Media.” Updates and news from the blog:

• Why community management is the beginning of everything
• 7 reasons for the corporate blog
• Train employees for social media

Social Hub IO: The Instagram Algorithm

Social Hub IO’s blog reports on “Advertising Labeling in Influencer Marketing” and “These Social Media Books You Should Know in 2021!”. More news from the blog:

• The Instagram algorithm: 7 tips on how to make your posts “visible”.
• Advertising labeling in influencer marketing
• These are the social media books you should know in 2021!

Hootsuite: Ads on Instagram

Exciting news this week from Hootsuite, such as “Posting to Instagram from your desktop: Here’s how (3 methods via PC or Mac)” and “How the Facebook algorithm will work in 2022 and how to make it work for you.” More news from this week:

• Post to Instagram from your desktop: Here’s how (3 methods via PC or Mac)
• Advertise on Instagram: a 5 step guide to using Instagram Ads
• How the Facebook algorithm will work in 2022 and how to make it work for you

Social Media One: Multi Channel Marketing

New from Social Media One this week includes “Amazon Music Doc: Now Online!!! Multi Channel Marketing” and “Social Media Industries: Practical Examples and Marketing Methods”. More recent news:

• Amazon Music Doc: Now online!!! Multi Channel Marketing
• Reasons: Why social media? Why Marketing? + 7 simple advantages
• Social media industries: practical examples and marketing methods

Blog 2 Social: Social media recruiting

This week on Blog 2 Social, among others, articles on “Building a Solid Social Media Recruiting Strategy – Tips & Tricks” and “From WordPress Website to Social Media, Email, Apps and Print – How to Share Your Content with Multiple Media Formats.” More from the blog:

• Social media calendar 2022: 1,387 action days and events for your content marketing
• From the WordPress website to social media, email, apps, and print – Here’s how to share your content with different media formats.
• Building a solid social media recruiting strategy – tips & tricks

Business Insider: Influencer & Food Trends

This week Business Insider has topics like ” Comedian Aurel Mertz on humor in times of crisis: “People have lost the ability to change their minds” ” and ” Influencers have discovered the next food trend – a startup from Berlin is helping “. New topics of the week:

• <a title=” “No matter how crappy your day has been so far, at least you’re not working in influencer marketing at Ankerkraut.” ” href=”https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/business/das-sagt-das-netz-kritik-am-ankerkraut-nestle-deal-b/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener”> “No matter how crappy your day has been so far, at least you’re not working in influencer marketing at Ankerkraut.”</a></li>
• Influencers have discovered the next food trend – a Berlin-based startup is helping
• Comedian Aurel Mertz on humor in times of crisis: “People have lost the ability to change their minds”.

T3N: Misinformation on climate change

This week at T3N among others “Russian parliament complains about blocking of its Youtube channel” but also “Do quality media help against Fake News? How to read without high costs.” New articles, headlines and trends:

• Does quality media help against fake news? How to read without high costs
• Russian parliament complains about blocking of its Youtube channel
• Pinterest bans climate change misinformation

FutureBiz: The chronological Instagram feed

New articles and posts from FutureBiz this week include “/article/why-instagram-hashtags-locations-content-don’t-save/” and “On the importance of social media & the irrelevance of social media marketing.” More headlines of the week:

• Why hashtags, locations & tags won’t save your Instagram content
• Chronological Instagram feed is back
• About the importance of social media & the triviality of social media marketing

W&V: Elon Musk takes over Twitter

This week, W&V has interesting topics like “On Twitter: Katjes is now doing NFTs – and reaping fierce headwinds” and “Brand valuation: How social media influences brand value” on the blog. The posts and more tips can be found here:

• On Twitter: Katjes now makes NFTs – and reaps fierce headwinds
• Battle for Twitter: Financial investor could help Musk with Twitter takeover
• Brand valuation: How social media influences brand value

Functions: Channels, bots & surveys

As a classic messenger, Telegram offers many additional functions. For example, users can create groups or channels or create surveys and perform various tasks with bots. More functions listed below.

The functions summarized:

• Social logins
• Chats
• Cloud-based chats
• Groups
• Channels
• Drafts
• Survey
• Bots
• Voice chats
• Secret chats
• Video news
• Voice & video calls

Telegram also advertises special data security for chats. Chats and messages are secured with special encryption to keep users’ private data secret. The entire messenger should also be protected from hackers.

The most important functions in detail for you:

Social logins

For some years now, it has been possible to register or log in to various networks with your Telegram account.

Surveys

In 2018, the polls option was added, allowing users to create polls in groups independently of script programs. Later updates added the option of multiple answers, quiz mode and anonymous participation.

Bots

The bots, which were added to the app in 2015, initially allowed larger groups to be controlled by artificial intelligence. You could give them commands to follow the chat in groups and thus remove or report users who make hate speech or racist statements. The advantage of the bots is that you could program them completely yourself. This means that over the years the bots have become more and more creative and the selection of different bots has grown.

Apps in PlayStore and AppStore

Click here to go to the website and the apps:

• Telegram
• Telegram – PlayStore
• Telegram AppStore

Social apps worldwide: A-Z

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, messengers such as Whatsapp, Telegram or apps in Asia such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, Line, Snow, Youku, here you will find an overview of the most important apps from all over the world:

• Social apps

App & login to Reddit: First steps

To register with Reddit for the first time, all you need is an active e-mail address. Alternatively, you can register with Reddit using an existing Google or Apple account.

For the registration you need:

• E-mail address

alternatively

• Google Account
• Apple account

Apps in PlayStore and AppStore

Click here to go to the website and the apps:

• Reddit
• Reddit – PlayStore
• Reddit – AppStore

Social apps worldwide: A-Z

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, messengers such as Whatsapp, Telegram or apps in Asia such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, Line, Snow, Youku, here you will find an overview of the most important apps from all over the world:

• Social apps

App & registration with Pinterest: First steps

For the first registration you need an e-mail address, a password and your age. Alternatively, you can register with either a Facebook account or an existing Google account.

So you need to register:

• E-mail address
• Password
• Age

alternative:

• Facebook account
• Or Google account

Here is the Pinterest registration screen

Apps in PlayStore and AppStore

Click here to go to the website and the apps:

• Pinterest
• Pinterest – PlayStore
• Pinterest – AppStore

Social apps worldwide: A-Z

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, messengers such as Whatsapp, Telegram or apps in Asia such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, Line, Snow, Youku, here you will find an overview of the most important apps from all over the world:

• Social apps

Functions: Delivery services, invoices & doctor’s appointments

At first glance, the app looks like a regular messenger, but behind this messenger lies a whole host of useful functions. In addition to the familiar chat functions, WeChat can also be used to order food or book doctor’s appointments.

All functions at a glance:

• Chat
• Sending audio files
• Send videos & photos
• Video calls
• Call cabs
• Groceries & food ordered
• Pay restaurants
• Paying electricity bills
• Find jobs and people
• Book doctor’s appointments
• Book a visa
• Play games
• Operate mobile store

The app also has its own app store and a news team that publishes news on a daily basis.

Apps in PlayStore and AppStore

Click here to go to the website and the apps:

• WeChat
• WeChat – PlayStore
• WeChat – AppStore

Social apps worldwide: A-Z

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, messengers such as Whatsapp, Telegram or apps in Asia such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, Line, Snow, Youku, here you will find an overview of the most important apps from all over the world:

• Social apps

App & registration with TikTok: First step

To register with TikTok for the first time, the app requires your date of birth, your telephone number or alternatively an e-mail address. However, you can also register with TikTok using an existing Facebook, Google or Twitter account.

For the registration you need:

• Date of birth
• Telephone number or e-mail address

alternative:

• Facebook account
• Google Account
• Or Twitter account

This is what the TikTok registration screen looks like:

Apps in PlayStore and AppStore

Click here to go to the website and the apps:

• TikTok
• TikTok – PlayStore
• TikTok – AppStore

Social apps worldwide: A-Z

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, messengers such as Whatsapp, Telegram or apps in Asia such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, Line, Snow, Youku, here you will find an overview of the most important apps from all over the world:

• Social apps

YouTube: Founder, functions & reach

YouTube was founded in 2005 by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim in California. YouTube has been a subsidiary of Google LLC since 2006. YouTube offers an ideal platform for marketing and advertising, as YouTube is financed almost exclusively by advertising revenue. In addition to the classic video format, it is now also possible to create and watch so-called YouTube shorts. Over 100 hours of video material are uploaded to YouTube every minute and with over 10% of all data traffic on the Internet, YouTube is one of the fastest growing platforms of the modern age.

• Founded in 2005 in California
• Founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim
• Video platform
• Subsidiary of Google
• 10% of all data traffic on the Internet
• 100 hours of video footage published per minute

Other video platforms such as TikTok and Vimeo are also interesting for companies. Here, too, there are opportunities to market your own products with social media marketing and then analyze the results with performance marketing.

• TikTok simply explained
• Vimeo simply explained

App and registration: first step

Unlike related platforms, YouTube can also be used without registration. On your first visit, content that is currently very popular and topical will be suggested to you.

This is what YouTube looks like at first glance on the screen:

Registering with YouTube: how does it work?

For the first registration you only need a Google Account. To create a Google Account you need:

• First name
• Surname
• E-mail address
• Password

If you don’t have a Google Account yet, the registration screen will look like this:

Apps in PlayStore and AppStore

Click here to go to the website and the apps:

• YouTube
• YouTube – PlayStore
• YouTube – AppStore

YouTube: How do I create a channel?

Despite the initial unmanageability and the immeasurable size of YouTube, the platform is basically very simple. In addition to a few important functions for creating videos, you as a consumer also have several functions that you should be aware of. It is also interesting for companies to know what options they have as producers and what functions consumers have.

In this video you will learn everything you need to know about YouTube:

Advertising with YouTube: How does it work?

YouTube gives you the opportunity to inform users and fans with simple and (literally) fast video material. The big advantage here is that you do not need a high advertising budget for your film material, but that it is sufficient to produce authentic, short videos. In YouTube you have the option of saving different videos and sorting playlists to send to many users. You can also offer explanations of certain products or services. But it also has a lot of potential when it comes to exclusive video and backstage material. Once published, videos are saved permanently and can therefore always be accessed by users.

• YouTube Marketing

YouTube Ads: How do they work?

To be seen on YouTube and successfully turn your marketing strategy into reality, you need reach. In fact, no matter how “good” your content is, it is subject to certain algorithm limits. On the one hand, your company channel is in competition with millions of private channels that are constantly publishing new content, even at night and on weekends, completely free of charge. On the other hand: YouTube lives from selling reach. Find out everything about YouTube Ads in our article:

• Place YouTube Ads

Users on YouTube

With over 2.3 billion users on the platform, YouTube is the second largest platform in the world. It is behind Facebook but ahead of apps such as Instagram and Whatsapp. The main target group is between the ages of 16 and 64 and the gender distribution is almost 1:1.

Top 5 social networks:

• Facebook: 2.7 billion users
• YouTube: 2.3 billion users
• Whatsapp: 2 billion users
• Facebook Messenger: 1.3 billion users
• Instagram: 1.2 billion users

Social media app usage at a glance:

YouTube at a glance: Advantages, disadvantages

Let’s summarize YouTube once again. YouTube is a social network where you can share your creativity with the world in the form of videos. YouTube is also the second largest search engine after Google. Many people are no longer satisfied with a simple Google search and try to find more information on YouTube.

Advantages of YouTube

In addition to the marketing opportunities for companies and the opportunity to express creativity, the platform also has some disadvantages that need to be considered.

The advantages of YouTube are:

• Videos stay for a long time
• Search engine optimization (YouTube belongs to Google)
• Monetization for Creator
• Comprehensive analyses and insights

Disadvantages of YouTube

The disadvantages of YouTube are:

• Copyright disputes
• High advertising competition

Due to the popularity of the video platform, many companies use YouTube as a network for advertising. This leads to a high level of competition and therefore also to higher prices.

The videos with the most views: sport, music & co.

Whether sports, music or other entertainment formats, the popularity of the videos can be illustrated based on the views. To show you a few examples, here are the most viewed videos from various sectors:

• Soccer videos
• Kanye West videos
• Dog videos

To give you an overview of what works well on YouTube and which content gets the most views, here are some statistics to illustrate this. Here you can see the ranking of the world’s most viewed videos on YouTube. All 10 videos have over 4 billion views.

Social apps worldwide: A-Z

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, messengers such as Whatsapp, Telegram or apps in Asia such as WeChat, Sina Weibo, Line, Snow, Youku, here you will find an overview of the most important apps from all over the world:

• Social apps

Xing is the German pond to the American network LinkedIn. Companies and entrepreneurs in particular use Xing intensively. With Xing it is possible to maintain business contacts, take part in events but also write messages like in other social networks. Xing is also an interesting tool for networkers to acquire contacts. Xing is less interesting for end consumers, where it is difficult to spread messages as it is used almost exclusively for professional purposes.

Xing link

• The Xing website

While most social networks only serve to connect users with each other, Google Plus gives you another essential advantage – if your company operates online. This is because Google Plus belongs to the industry giant Google, the search engine operator. If you actively use and apply the Google Plus network, Google will also appreciate this. You can also rate individual pages of your website with a +1. This function brings you higher and further rankings in the search engine.

Benefits and users of Google Plus

At present, relatively few users are active on Google Plus, which is mostly used as a communication channel for marketing messages from companies. Nevertheless, the network should not be disregarded, also because Google will of course continue to try to stand up to industry giant Facebook. The social network will grow and perhaps sooner or later there will be more users here. An early positioning in Google Plus can therefore only give you advantages.

Google+ Link

• The Google Plus website

Origin and history of VK.com

In 2006, brothers Nikolai and Pawel Duro developed the first version of VKontakte. Initially, it was mainly students who could be found on the social network, which was originally also to be called Studlist. Only gradually did the brothers start advertising campaigns, promising VKontakte users benefits and prizes if they recruited new users. From then on, things took off and since 2007 it has been one of the most popular social networks in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine. The “professional contacts” sub-platform was launched in 2008. This is a network for professional users from the IT, legal and finance sectors. In addition, VKontakte was expanded to include the Ukrainian language, as a large proportion of users come from Ukraine.

Since the cooperation with the Russian search engine Yandex, VKontakte has become the most popular social network in Russia. The new messenger, which makes it possible to receive private messages from Y.Online on VKontakte.

Pawel Durow – The man behind VKontakte and Telegram

Even as a schoolboy, he cracked passwords from school computers, defied the FSB several times, for example in an attempt to lock out the blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Alexey Navalny, and simply because he doesn’t care about money, he let 5,000-ruble bills fly out of his office window onto the street as paper airplanes. Together with his brother Nikolai Durov, he founded what is now vk.com in 2006. In 2014, the entrepreneur was asked by the Russian secret service to close down groups of protesters and hand over data on Ukrainian opposition members – Durov refused. And was dismissed as general director of VKontakte. Now the network is probably completely in the hands of Igor Sechin and Alisher Usmanov, both of whom are considered allies of President Vladimir Putin.

After leaving Russia, he donated to the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation and was granted citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis. In addition, he secured $300,000,000 from a Swiss bank. This enabled him to focus on his next company, Telegram. An alternative to the messenger Whatsapp.

The “Russian Marc Zuckerberg” travels a lot, sometimes working in London or Paris, sometimes in Finland or New York and sometimes in Berlin. In the meantime, however, he has probably settled down in Dubai.

Functions and special features

Profiles, groups and photo albums – what makes VKontakte different from Facebook?

It’s true, VKontakte is very similar to Facebook. The creation of a profile, the search function for other users, groups for discussion forums and photo albums with tagging function are all the same as on Facebook. The design is hardly any different either. Just like Facebook, it is kept simple in blue. On the left you can see a row of functions such as the link to your own profile, messages, friends, groups and photos. The timeline also shows hardly any differences, but there is one small difference. Unlike Facebook, where posts are displayed according to relevance or popularity, everything on VKontakte is in chronological order. The latest posts always appear right at the top. Despite the many parallels to Facebook, VKontakte also has some special features.

1. the music functions

VKontakte not only offers many social aspects but also free music. Whether current charts, oldies or death metal – you can find everything on VKontakte. For years there was a lot of trouble with major record companies, but the social network has now become legal.

A paid subscription model is planned for the future, similar to Spotify. However, the unlimited music stream will not cost €10 as it does here, but the equivalent of €2.40 for VKontakte.

2. video search similar to Youtube

Not only can you see videos on the timeline or on profiles like on Facebook, but VKontakte also has a similar video search function to YouTube. You can find many different music videos there, but also some content from Russian news portals.

New marketing perspectives

Unlike Facebook, companies can not only place advertisements with links to the website, but the network itself even has a shopping function where you can order products directly within a profile or group.

Criticism of the Russian app

VKontakte in the middle of the Ukraine conflict

15 million Ukrainian users were last counted on the popular network. As a result of an extension of the sanctions against Russia, some Russian internet services were blocked in Ukraine – including VKontakte.

Kiev accuses Moscow of supporting the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. By blocking internet services, Ukraine wants to prevent the use of online services from Russian companies and thus extend the sanctions against Moscow due to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Source: spiegel.de

The blocking of internet services has been in place since May 2017 and is set to last for at least three years.

Neo-Nazis are allowed to incite on the social network

Users who are blocked on Facebook because of calls for murder or right-wing extremist postings often register on VKontakte. The reason: although anti-Semitic propaganda is also banned on VKontakte, the postings are not deleted. Profiles on the social network that greet you with “Heil Hitler!” and swastika postings are not uncommon. The neo-Nazi organization “Der III. Weg”, the party “Die Rechte”, as well as the AfD and the Islamophobic Pegida movement are also represented on the social network.
The switch from Facebook to vk.com is also a political statement for convinced right-wingers. For them, Facebook often means “lying press” or it is also called “Jewbook”, as Marc Zuckerberg comes from a Jewish family.

The shopping function offers more than just fashion and the like. The “Migrant Scare MS55 Lady”, a scare pistol for “the modern woman”, is also offered on the social network.