2016 saw the rise of video on social media. Facebook launched Facebook Live, and Twitter started broadcasting sports. Instagram and Snapchat became short-form video hubs. It was an exciting year for sharing content on social media, but it likely drained away most of your monthly data plan.
There are a couple ways to save data. The first is to get an unlimited plan, but for the more thrifty, that’s not a palatable option. Fortunately, there are life hacks for limiting the amount of data your mobile social media apps use.
Facebook
Facebook videos autoplay in your newsfeed. This eats up a lot of data when you’re not on WiFi. To stem the tide, in the iPhone app, tap the three lines in the bottom right corner, then select Settings > Account Settings > Videos and Photos > Autoplay > Autoplay On Wi-Fi Connections Only. On Android, tap the three lines in the upper right, then App Settings > Autoplay > On Wi-Fi Connections.
Instagram
Instagram has a setting that allows you to limit it from loading photos and preloading videos in the Stories section. You can activate this setting by tapping the person icon in the bottom right corner then hit the settings gear in the top right corner > Cellular Data Use > switch on Use Less Data.
Snapchat
Snapcat’s Travel Mode makes it so you have to tap stories to load them. You can turn it on by tapping the ghost on the top of the screen, and then tapping the Settings gear icon in the upper right > Manage Preferences > switch on Travel Mode.
Twitter
Twitter also has a feature that limits data usage. Tap the Me tab > then the gear icon > Settings > Data > Video autoplay > Use Wi-Fi only.
Story via The Wall Street Journal.