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Instagram is rolling out a dedicated Reels tab to its Lite app

by www.androidcentral.com Leave a Comment

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The app is currently available only in India.

Instagram logo on a Galaxy S10 Source: Joe Maring / Android Central

What you need to know

  • Instagram has released a new version of the Instagram Lite app.
  • The latest update adds a dedicated Reels tab for users in India.
  • Instagram says it added the “feature” to the app because of the traction Reels is seeing in the country.

Back in December, Instagram introduced a clutter-free version of its app for users in India, dubbed Instagram Lite. To provide a smooth experience to users even on low-end phones with limited storage, Instagram got rid of features like Reels, Shopping, and IGTV for the Lite version. However, Instagram has now rolled out a new update for the app, which adds a dedicated Reels tab.

The new feature allows you to watch short-format videos in the Reels tab, but you’ll only be able to create Reels from the regular Instagram app. In case you don’t see the Reels tab on your phone yet, you will have to download the latest update from the Play Store. While Instagram Lite is currently available only in India, Facebook plans to make it available in other developing markets in the future.

In a statement sent to XDA Developers regarding the update, Facebook said:

Now with this update, everyone using the Instagram Lite app in India will be able to view Reels with the Reels tab. This feature was expedited for India because of the traction Reels is seeing in India, and the early adoption of the new Instagram Lite app.

Even though the app is no longer quite as “Lite” as it was at launch, it still offers a fast and reliable Instagram experience. Instagram Lite weighs in at less than 2MB in size and supports nearly all popular Indian languages.

work family

The messaging apps you use the most are probably the ones you use for work

Everyone is talking about WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram right now, but the messaging apps many of us use the most are probably on our computers, rather than our phones. Slack and Microsoft Teams are how the business world communicates these days, but we don’t often think of them as “messaging” apps, do we?

Reels comes to Instagram Lite app in India, first country to get support

by www.gadgetsnow.com Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI: Instagram has announced an update for its Instagram Lite app . Users will now be able to view Reels within the app. India is the first country where the feature to view reels will be available to users.

Facebook-owned Instagram started testing the Instagram Lite app in India in December 2020. The app is less than 2MB in size and aims to deliver an Instagram experience that remains fast and reliable for more users. The app experience is similar to the core Instagram app experience, though at launch some features were not supported such as Reels and IGTV creation.

Now with this update, everyone using the Instagram Lite app in India will be able to view Reels with the Reels tab. “This feature was expedited for India because of the traction Reels is seeing in India, and the early adoption of the new Instagram Lite app,” as per the company.

The Instagram Lite app is available on Google Play Store for download. Its current version is 238.0.0.8.121.

Recently, Instagram said that it will take stern stand against recycled TikTok videos populating its Reels section. “We’ve also heard that low video quality reels (i.e. blurry due to low resolution) or content that is visibly recycled from other apps (i.e. contains logos or watermarks) makes the Reels experience less satisfying. So, we’re making this content less discoverable in places like the Reels tab,” the company said in a post.

Reels.txt

Displaying Reels.txt.

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TV actress Sara Khan drops a sensational dance video on Kareena Kapoor’s ‘San Sanana’ song – Watch

by zeenews.india.com Leave a Comment

New Delhi: Popular television actress Sara Khan is an avid social media user as well. While surfing through her gorgeous photo album on Instagram, we got our hands on one of her Instagram Reels where she can be seen grooving to Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Ásoka song ‘San Sanana’.

Sara Khan can be seen donning a black outfit , quite similar to the one Kareena was wearing in the song. Watch it here:

The actress became a household name with her show ‘Sapna Babul Ka…Bidaai’ as Sadhna and before that she even won the Miss Bhopal title in 2007. The actress has also acted in the Pakistani drama ‘Tujhsey Hi Rabta’.

She participated in the hit reality TV show ‘Bigg Boss 4’ in 2010 and her marriage inside the house hogged the maximum eyeballs.

Sara has featured in a number of hit shows on television such as Preet Se Bandhi Ye Dori Ram Milaayi Jodi, Junoon – Aisi Nafrat Toh Kaisa Ishq, Sasural Simar Ka, V The Serial, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Bhagyalaxmi, Saubhagyalaxmi, Shakti — Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki and Woh Apna Sa to name a few.

The actress was married to TV actor Ali Merchant but got divorced after two months in 2011.

At present, she is seen playing Devi Poulami in the TV series Santoshi Maa – Sunayein Vrat Kathayein.

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage .

Snap plans to take its India localisation strategy to the world

by brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com Leave a Comment

After ignoring the country in its early years, the social media company is doubling down on the Indian market by rolling out localised versions of its offerings. This includes rebuilding of Snapchat ‘s Android app with support for nine Indian languages and an India-specific version of its content discovery platform Discover that now has over 85 local channels. In October 2020, it announced its first slate of mobile-first licensed and original shows for the Indian market along with its first gaming partner in the country.

To be sure, India was one of the first markets where Snap Inc. made investments to localise its product, including building local augmented-reality creator communities, adding local content, and investing in local marketing initiatives. These tactics form the basis of a “repeatable playbook we can now leverage to drive growth”, Andersen said.

“We focused on India early because it has a large and fast-growing population of young smartphone users, high-speed mobile networks are expanding quickly, and GDP per capita is growing rapidly,” Snap’s CFO said. “We have made significant progress in implementing our playbook in India, and we are encouraged to see that our DAU (daily active users) in India has more than doubled year over year in each of the last four quarters.”

Journey Into India

Earlier this month, Snapchat said that it has crossed the 60 million users-mark in the country, clocking 150% year-on-year growth.

Over the past year, Snap Inc. has trained over a thousand students in building AR-based experiences through offline and online workshops at several high schools and colleges like Pearl Academy, Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), Symbiosis Pune, and Manipal Institute of Technology, among others. The company now claims to have over 5,000 local lens creators.

Also Read: BE Reports: Are there new normal patterns in media consumption?

The firm has also launched programmes with local high schools to “deeply understand communication behaviours” of its core demographic of 13-24-year-old users, apart from recreating the network environments in its labs to better develop for the local connectivity, said Snap Inc’s Vice President of Product Jacob Andreou during his presentation at the investor day.

“Importantly, our efforts in India and other markets were focused on enhancing the existing value of our five platforms rather than needing to create new value through new features or products specific to a market,” Andreou said. “Having a universal set of values at our core and a clear path to making them accessible to new cohorts and markets, ensures that our growth is scalable and repeatable.”

Post-Earnings Analysis

During a post-earnings conference call earlier this month, Snap Inc. Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel said that they were reorganising the product team across five core platforms on Snapchat—Map, Communication, Camera, Stories, and the recently launched short-video offering Spotlight, as it looks to convert each of them into a monetisable business.

On Tuesday, Spiegel said that Stories has become the largest revenue stream for the company, despite substantial competitive pressure. Over the years, several companies including Facebook’s Instagram, Google’s YouTube, Twitter, Microsoft’s LinkedIn and Spotify have adopted this format on their respective platforms.

AR represents the next major shift in computing and they will be doubling down on it in 2021, he said. “Our strategy is to take product innovations like augmented reality lenses and evolve them into platforms by building tools for creators and developers and providing distribution for their creations to reach the Snapchat community,” Spiegel said.

Monetisation Strategy

At the investor day, Snap Inc. executives also touched upon how they approach monetisation as they grow in new markets at the three-hour-long event.

Jeremi Gorman, chief business officer at Snap Inc., said the company first focuses on building “a sufficient base” of daily active users (DAU), following which they start bringing in non-local advertisers who could be interested in advertising in the market.

“We then augment those efforts with a local, certified third-party reseller. As DAU, engagement and revenue grow, we transition the sales responsibility more towards in-house, direct sales teams,” Gorman said.

Andersen said that they can responsibly grow the company’s topline revenue at “50% or more year over year for at least the next several years”, based on the monetisation platform Snap has built and its future product roadmap, which was also echoed by several other senior executives during their respective presentations at the event.

Also Read: Looming Apple privacy changes weigh on Snap despite revenue growth

How to Add Your Social Media Feeds to WordPress (Step by Step)

by www.wpbeginner.com Leave a Comment

Do you want to add your social media feeds to your WordPress website?

Adding social media feeds in WordPress can help increase your followers, improve social engagement, and enrich your existing content.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add custom social media feeds to WordPress and create a social wall that brings all your social feed content together in one place.

How to add your social media feeds to WordPress

Why Add Social Media Feeds to Your WordPress Site?

Millions of people use social media every day to connect with family, friends, and brands they love.

You can bring this experience back to your website by taking your existing social stream and adding them to WordPress.

That way, visitors don’t have to leave your site to consume your engaging social media content.

What are some other reasons to add social media feeds to WordPress?

  • Your following and engagement can act as social proof
  • Help increase your followers across other networks by exposing them to your feeds
  • Display real-time content to your posts and pages with your social media feeds
  • Give off positive SEO signals like lower bounce rate and increased dwell time
  • Make more product sales by including shoppable Instagram images
  • Get more social media attention with an engaging feed, instead of easy to miss social icons

      • How to Add Social Media Feeds to WordPress

      The best way to add social media feeds to your WordPress blog is by using a WordPress plugin.

      With a plugin, you don’t have to spend time dealing with jQuery code, APIs, or trying to get things to display correctly. It just works.

      Some commonly used plugins include Feed Them Social, Flow-Flow Social Stream, and EmbedSocial.

      But, we recommend using the Smash Balloon plugin. It’s the best social media feed plugin for WordPress and it’s trusted by over 1.5 million users.

      The plugin is easy to use and has all the features to add media-rich social feeds as well as a social wall with multiple social networks, to your WordPress website .

      In this tutorial we’ll show you how to add social feeds for the most popular social networks:

      Adding a Facebook Social Media Feed in WordPress

      Facebook is one of the most popular social media networks in the world. There’s a good chance you’re using it to interact with your fans and followers on your profile or business page.

      One benefit of adding your Facebook feed to WordPress is you can highlight feeds from your Facebook groups and profiles in real-time. It can also help you get more likes and engagement on your social media posts.

      Smash balloon custom facebook feed example

      The easiest way to add a Facebook social media feed is with a WordPress plugin. A plugin lets you add a custom Facebook feed to your site quickly.

      We recommend using the Smash Balloon Custom Facebook Feed plugin. They have a pro and free version available.

      The plugin lets you do things like combine feeds from multiple pages, let users share posts directly from your website, and customize your Facebook feeds appearance without HTML.

      Smash balloon custom facebook feed customization options

      It comes with Gutenberg blocks to easily embed the feeds in your posts / pages, and built-in widgets that you can add in your sidebar or footer.

      You can even add your Google Analytics script and other tracking codes to the plugin for retargeting purposes .

      For more details, see our guide on how to create a custom Facebook feed in WordPress .

      Adding an Instagram Social Media Feed in WordPress

      On average, people spend 30 minutes per day using Instagram.

      What if, instead, they spent that time on your website?

      Instagram excels at presenting visually-oriented content. From images, to stories, IGTV videos, and more.

      Standard Instagram feed

      By adding your Instagram social feed to WordPress, you can offer your visitors a custom, highly engaging experience. All without having to leave your site.

      You can add photos manually , but then you’re missing out on all the benefits of a live Instagram feed.

      With a WordPress plugin, you can add your Instagram feed directly to WordPress. That way, whenever you upload an image to Instagram, it’ll automatically appear on your site.

      Instagram feed plugin example

      We recommend using the Smash Balloon Instagram Feed plugin. It’s the best Instagram feed plugin for WordPress. There is a pro and free version of the plugin available.

      This plugin lets you display content by hashtag or Instagram account, show comments and like counts, include lightbox popups, and more.

      Instagram feed plugin lightbox

      It also connects through the Instagram API instead of RSS, so new posts will automatically display on your WordPress site.

      For more details, see our detailed guide on how to create a custom Instagram feed in WordPress .

      Adding a Twitter Social Media Feed in WordPress

      WordPress lets you manually embed single tweets into your posts and pages.

      What if you want to embed an entire Twitter feed, not just a single tweet?

      Adding a Twitter feed to WordPress gives you all kinds of flexible content options.

      For example, you can create a social feed of a relevant hashtag in your industry. Or, a rotating carousel of customer tweets that can serve as testimonials.

      Using a Twitter social feed plugin, you can accomplish all the above and a lot more.

      Smash balloon custom twitter feed

      We recommend using the Smash Balloon Custom Twitter Feed plugin. It’s the best Twitter feeds plugin for WordPress. You’ll find a pro and free version available.

      The plugin lets you do things like display multiple Twitter feeds, respond, like, and retweet while staying on your website, and add lightboxes for a full content experience.

      Smash balloon custom twitter feed lightbox

      For more instructions on adding a Twitter feed to WordPress, see our guide on how to embed tweets in WordPress .

      Adding a YouTube Social Media Feed in WordPress

      WordPress makes it easy to embed YouTube videos right into your site. Simply paste the URL into your post or page editor, and WordPress will automatically grab the embed code for you.

      What if you want to add more than one video? Or your entire YouTube video feed to your site?

      That’s where things get more difficult, unless you use a WordPress YouTube feed plugin.

      By adding your entire YouTube social media feed to WordPress, you can enhance your visitor’s viewing experience. Instead of leaving your site and going to YouTube, they can watch your entire channel in one place.

      Smash balloon feeds for YouTube plugin example

      We recommend using the plugin Feeds for YouTube by Smash Balloon . It’s one of the best YouTube social media plugins available for WordPress.

      There are pro and free versions of the plugin available.

      The plugin lets you do things like create a customizable gallery from all your channels, add live streaming, use advanced search queries to create custom feeds, and more.

      You’ll find a few different layout templates to choose from to change the appearance of your video feed.

      Smash balloon feeds for YouTube display settings

      For more detailed instructions, see our step by step guide on creating a YouTube gallery in WordPress .

      Keep in mind, you need to add your YouTube API key correctly. Otherwise, a lot of the social feed features won’t work.

      Adding a Combined Social Wall in WordPress

      You’ve learned how to add individual social media feeds to WordPress.

      Next, we’ll show you how to combine all your social networks in one place with a WordPress social media aggregator plugin.

      We recommend using the Smash Balloon Social Wall plugin. It’s the best social stream plugin for WordPress. It combines Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube social content into a single feed.

      This helps you increase social sharing, gain followers across all your channels, and get the most out of your social content.

      To use this plugin, you’ll need to install and activate one of the Pro Smash Balloon plugins mentioned above.

      After that, you need to install and activate the Smash Balloon Social Wall plugin. For a step by step tutorial on installing a plugin, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin .

      Once the plugin is installed and activated, navigate to Social Feeds » Create a Social Wall .

      Create a social wall

      On this screen, you can connect the social accounts you want to display.

      If your social media accounts aren’t set up yet, then now is the time to do it.

      Connect social media accounts to social wall

      Simply click on each account you want to show up in your feed and follow the instructions for setting it up.

      Then, leave the green checkbox checked if you want it to display. If not, then uncheck the box.

      Add social media accounts to wall

      Next, click the ‘Customize’ tab on the top of the screen.

      Here you’ll be able to change how your feed looks.

      Customize social wall

      You can change the number of posts that display, the feed layout, and more.

      For this example, we’ll input ‘9’ for the number of posts to display initially and select ‘Masonry’ for the ‘Layout Type’.

      Customize social wall layout template

      There are many other options you can change like the feed color scheme, background color, button text, and more. But, we’re going to leave most of the default settings.

      If you make any additional changes, make sure you click ‘Save Changes’ before exiting the screen.

      After you’ve finished customizing your wall, navigate back to ‘Configure Wall’ and copy the shortcode generated by the plugin.

      Copy social wall shortcode

      Then, paste the shortcode where you want your social media wall to display.

      This can be a dedicated page, within a blog post, or even inside a sidebar widget .

      Paste social wall shortcode

      Now, when your visitors view your social feed, they’ll see all of your social networks together.

      Plus, they can even filter by specific network and follow your other profiles too.

      Social wall display example

      We hope this article has helped you add social media feeds to WordPress. You may want to see our ultimate social media cheat sheet and our expert pick of 40 useful tools to manage and grow your blog .

      If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook .