Halloween Shortage, IGTV Retirement and CarPlay News | Bolt Trend Report

October 10, 2021

We hope you’ve recovered well from the global Facebook family of apps outage. We jumped right back into our daily digital marketing plans and are excited for another Monday on the Bolt blog. From a scary shortage on Halloween items to the retirement of the IGTV brand, we’ve got the latest.

Upcoming Holidays & Observances

  • National Boss’s Day – Oct. 16
  • National Pumpkin Day – Oct. 26
  • National Candy Corn Day – Oct. 30
  • Halloween – Oct. 31

Must-Know Trends

A Scary Shortage on Halloween Items

Halloween is only a few weeks away, and shoppers are learning the haunting news that there might be a shortage on spooky items. Stores are hurrying to get costumes and decorations on the shelves, but supply chains are creating problems. This lack of inventory is a result of the Covid-19 shipping crisis that hit the global supply chain. Major Halloween suppliers like Spirit Halloween said they would have already shipped over 90% of Halloween items to its stores, but with the delay, they’ve only sent out around 80%. If you’re unable to find that perfect Halloween costume at a store, you just might have to get creative with a D.I.Y. project!

Apple CarPlay Future Plans

Apple CarPlay is making updates and extending features to interact more closely with vehicles. Currently, CarPlay connects to iPhones and shows maps, communication apps and more. The new features that could be rolling out soon take its relationship with your car to the next level. These changes, codenamed ‘IronHeart,’ could include controlling air conditioning, adjusting seats and other settings. Of course, the carmakers need to be on board with these futuristic plans, and it may mean that different car brands offer different subsets of the new rollout.

Instagram Retires IGTV Brand

Instagram is organizing and condensing its video features by saying ‘goodbye’ to the IGTV brand. Basically, this means that Instagram will streamline its video experience by combining IGTV and feed videos into one format called ‘Instagram Video.’ With this update, you’ll notice a new Video tab on your profile where Instagram Video will be available. Now, your uploaded videos will all be in one place. Also, Instagram is adding new filters, trimming tools and location tagging capabilities for all video clips. Not to worry, a few video features remain the same, like the posting process.

The Facebook and Instagram Outage

It seems like a lifetime ago that the world of Facebook shut down for over five hours. Just last Monday, the Facebook family of apps shut down for millions of users across the country. By 11:42 a.m. ET, both the mobile and web browser versions were not working. This outage cut vital communication for many, making us realize just how dependent we are on this huge platform. In fact, more than 3.5 billion people around the world use Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp to stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues. Once the platforms were restored, Facebook released an apology and a statement that there is no evidence of any user data being compromised during the outage. Facebook’s last notable outage was in 2019 when it shut down for 24 hours due to a technical error. We’re hoping we don’t see another shutdown anytime soon. Thanks for spending some of your Monday with us on the Bolt Blog. We’ll see you next week for more of the latest trends and exciting news.

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