Now that June is already more than halfway over (how did that happen?), here are a few recent announcements you may have missed from the social media apps you and your businesses use most.

Instagram introduces ads to Reels

As part of its effort to be a moneymaker for influential users, Instagram has introduced ads to its Reels feature, its popular competitor to TikTok.

After successfully testing the ads in multiple countries, Instagram is now making them available worldwide, allowing businesses to reach people who don’t already follow them or aren’t familiar with them.

Ads will be full screen and vertical, can loop and last up to 30 seconds, and will appear in between individual Reels. The ads can be liked, commented on, and shared by users as well.

For more information on how to purchase an ad, visit the Instagram help center.

Pinterest adds new ways to shop in-app

While most Pinterest users in the United States can shop directly from Pins, boards, and searches, the feature has been unavailable to users in other countries. But now, the app is offering that feature to users in Australia, France, Canada, and Germany.

In addition, Pinterest has introduced Shopping List, a way for users to save items they plan to purchase down the road. Items are automatically added to the list anytime they’re pinned, as long as the Pins are shoppable (meaning they’re enhanced with the capability to buy in-app). Users may also get price-drop notifications on these items, allowing them to take advantage of sales and keep track of pricing trends.

A new Shop With Lens feature allows users to incorporate a visual search into their online shopping. If they snap a photo of an item in the real world, the feature will then use that photo to search for similar in-stock products in the home decor and fashion categories.

Pinterest is also beginning to feature Shopping Spotlights, which consist of expertly curated product picks based on recent trends on the app.

Finally, the app’s Verified Merchant Program now displays a blue check mark on the profiles of businesses that have met the platform’s qualifications for high-quality products and websites, in addition to positive customer service experiences. Retailers interested in signing up can learn more at Pinterest.com/verified.

Spotify introduces its own Clubhouse-like app

While time will tell how Clubhouse will fare in a world that’s slowly returning to IRL interactions, that’s not stopping competitors from throwing their hats into the ring. The latest comes from music app Spotify, with its version called Greenroom.

The new mobile app stems from Spotify’s acquisition of sports-focused audio app Locker Room, and uses that app’s existing code to allow users to join or host live audio rooms with a range of topics.

Spotify will also be introducing a Creator Fund to spur more content for the app in the future.

Spotify users can join the Greenroom using their existing login information. The company says it plans to leverage its personalization technology to help introduce users to new rooms in the future.

There are many more details available at TechCrunch, which has a full report of the new app.

Facebook introducing a podcasts feature

In more audio entertainment news, Facebook is introducing the ability to create and discover podcasts on its app—to only a select number of podcast creators for now.

This feature will allow users to listen to podcasts without ever leaving the Facebook app, ensuring lengthier user experiences; it will also draw on new features to keep people interested. While the ability to create, discover, comment on, and recommend podcasts is only available to a small amount of users at the moment, Facebook says it plans to open up this capability to more creators in the coming months.

(Photo: Getty Images Plus/pressureUA)

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