It is time for a new social media news roundup, in which I share some added features or major moves being made over at our favorite online networking platforms. This fall, there are changes happening to how Facebook users can interact with Instagram content, an explanation of why Twitter revamped its Trending Topics section and a breakdown of LinkedIn’s new features, which include video calling capability and LinkedIn Stories. Let’s get into it!

View Instagram Stories Directly Through Facebook: The Verge reported on this news, which I myself just noticed on Facebook this week. While Facebook has allowed Instagram users to cross-post to Facebook for a while now, a new feature now brings Instagram stories to Facebook directly. Per the Verge, “You’ll know whether you’re looking at a Facebook or Instagram story based on what color encircles the profile photo; Facebook stories have blue circles, and Instagram’s have the same pink / orange hues of the app icon.” That said, Facebook assures its users that those on Facebook (or the public) can’t see your Instagram stories if they don’t also follow you on Instagram.

Twitter Now Clarifies Why a Topic is Trending: Have you ever gone to the trending topics section on Twitter to see a much-loved celebrity’s name trending, and then spent a couple of minutes frantically scrolling to find out WHY they are trending? Twitter will now save you a heart attack and the pain of worrying unnecessarily that Bill Murray has met an untimely end: Now, Twitter will add pinned tweets and descriptions on trending topics to help users understand why something is trending. Phew!

LinkedIn Introduces Video Chats, Stories, More: Possibly due to the uptick in video chat use during the spread of COVID-19, LinkedIn is jumping on the video calls bandwagon. Maybe now your next job interview can take place directly on LinkedIn! Other new LinkedIn features include the ability to edit direct messages you’ve already sent, add emojis in messages and post LinkedIn Stories: LinkedIn’s answer to Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Stories. You can upload videos of up to 20 seconds, tag other users and add stickers and text. Stories will be added to your profile. Just remember to keep them professional!

That’s all this time around. We will be back this winter to share more social media developments!