Head of Marketing at SocialBee
Are you adjusting your strategy based on the latest social media updates and trends?
With new features rolling out across all major platforms every month, there’s a lot to keep track of. Here’s what you need to know and how you can adapt.
If you find it challenging to keep up with constant changes, get new updates directly to your inbox by subscribing to Shareable TL;DR. It’s SocialBee’s specialized newsletter, designed to bring the latest social media news straight to your inbox every other week.
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Table of Contents
- Meta (Facebook) Social Media Updates
- Instagram Social Media Updates
- Threads Social Media Updates
- LinkedIn Social Media Updates
- YouTube Social Media Updates
- TikTok Social Media Updates
- X (Twitter) Social Media Updates
- Pinterest Social Media Updates
- Google Business Profile Social Media Updates
- Keep Up with the Latest Social Media News
Meta (Facebook) Social Media Updates
- Meta tests “Clear Mode” when viewing Reels that would hide the description and any buttons for an uncluttered view (source).
- Meta changed their “Made with AI” label into “AI info” across all apps (source).
- Meta will enable influencers to create AI versions of themselves (source).
- Meta is rolling out Broadcast Channels to pages with over 10K followers (source).
- Meta publishes their holiday marketing guide (source).
- Meta has launched an AI-based feature for comments, “Summaries” (source).
- Facebook now allows you to edit Reels after posting (source).
- Meta plans to allow new studies into Instagram’s impact on teens (source).
How to Adapt
Meta’s new “Clear Mode” for Reels hides descriptions and buttons, creating an uncluttered view that can boost engagement. To capitalize on this, ensure the first few seconds of your Reels are highly engaging to capture and keep viewers’ attention without any distractions.
Since we’re on the topic of Reels, did you know that Facebook now allows you to edit Reels after posting? You can now tweak your content to make it more effective. If a Reel isn’t performing well, try updating the description to make it more engaging or relevant. Change the thumbnail to a more eye-catching image to draw in more viewers. Adjust the privacy settings to either reach a wider audience or target a specific group.
Moreover, Meta’s introduction of AI avatars for influencers is a great opportunity to produce more content and reach a wider audience. Experiment with AI avatars for interactive content or personalized messages, but ensure they align with your brand identity. This can help you engage with your followers in new and exciting ways.
Do you have over 10K followers? Then, the new Broadcast Channels feature is a fantastic tool for direct communication. Use Broadcast Channels to share exclusive content and updates, and engage more directly with your audience. This can help you build a stronger community and keep your followers informed and involved.
Have you tried Facebook’s AI-based “Summaries” feature? It uses generative AI technology to provide concise overviews of conversations, helping you stay on top of audience interactions more efficiently. This allows you to understand the overall sentiment of your comment section and identify key discussion themes, allowing you to respond more effectively.
We know it’s July, but it’s never too early to get ahead of the holiday madness. Meta’s holiday marketing guide is packed with tips and strategies. Dive into it to see what trends and tactics can boost your holiday campaigns.
Instagram Social Media Updates
- Instagram’s CEO says Instagram will not focus on long-form videos anytime soon (source).
- Instagram now allows you to add images over carousels (source).
- Instagram is testing a “Recent Highlights” section in the Home feed, providing a dedicated space for Instagram users to start saving their Stories to highlights (source).
- Sends are one of Instagram’s biggest signals for ranking content (source).
- You can post carousel images in the ratios you want (source).
- Instagram is restricting the promotion of variable image size carousels (source).
- Instagram is also giving creators the option to keep share counts to themselves via a new ‘Hide Share Count’ option (source).
- Instagram is encouraging users to use hashtags, despite CEO saying they don’t help with reach (source).
- Instagram added a lead form under the ‘Set Up Action’ button (source).
- Instagram is working on Shared access: invite people you trust to access your IG account (source).
- Instagram has added an “open to collaboration” feature on the professional dashboard (source).
- Keep an eye on your insights for a few days after posting (not just the first few hours) your content can reach new people for a few weeks after posting (source).
- Instagram is testing a 2 x 2 grid display for suggested Reels (source).
- Instagram appears to be testing prominent counts for likes, comments, and shares directly next to icons under posts (source).
- Google Perspectives can show Instagram posts (source).
- Instagram launched a more detailed editing UI / X for Reels (source).
- Instagram expands Notes to Reels and Feed Posts (source).
- Instagram shares 6 tips for Reels creators (source).
- Instagram is looking to enable retrospective tags for collaborative posts (source).
- Instagram is sticking to short videos, says Adam Mosseri (source).
- Instagram is testing moving the DMs tab in the center of the nav tab (source).
- Add up to 20 audio tracks to a single Reel (source).
- Instagram lets you pause/stop a Reel (source).
- Instagram is working on Super Like for Stories (source).
How to Adapt
1. Instagram Content Creation
Let’s start by looking at ways you can improve your content according to the latest Instagram updates.
Reels Creation Tips
As Instagram tests a 2 x 2 grid display for suggested Reels, ensuring the first few frames are eye-catching will help your content stand out in this format.
Since Instagram is prioritizing short-form content over long-form videos, it’s essential to focus on creating engaging and trendy Reels to maximize your impact.
For creating Reels that drive growth, follow these tips from Instagram:
- Hook viewers in the first 3 seconds to grab their attention.
- Keep your Reels between 30 to 60 seconds long to maintain engagement.
- Use trending and relevant hashtags to increase discoverability.
- Incorporate trending audio to make your Reels more appealing.
- Ensure high-resolution uploads for a professional look.
- Aim to post 10 Reels per month to stay active and relevant.
To further enhance your content, Instagram’s new editing tools for Reels give you more control over your videos. Adding effects, transitions, and overlays can make your Reels more engaging and captivating.
Creative Carousel Posts
In addition to Reels, Instagram now allows you to add images over carousels, giving you more creative flexibility to create layered visual Stories that stand out. You can also experiment with different aspect ratios for your carousel posts, making them unique and visually appealing.
Just keep in mind that using full-screen images in your carousel means you won’t be able to boost those social media posts, which could impact your promotion plans.
Notes Expansion
With Instagram expanding Notes to Reels and Feed Posts, you can now add extra context or reactions directly to the content. These temporary notes last three days and are a great way to spark interaction with your followers. Use Notes to share quick thoughts, hot takes, or hype up your friends’ posts.
Retrospective Tags for Collaborative Posts
Another exciting development is Instagram’s work on enabling retrospective tags for collaborative posts, which can significantly boost your reach. Currently, you need to add collaborators during the initial creation of feed posts and Stories, but soon you’ll be able to do this even after publishing.
This change will make it easier to manage collaborations and expand your content’s audience since collaborative posts appear in both creators’ feeds and profiles, and collaborators can view all likes and comments, gaining valuable data insights.
Audio Tracks and Pause/Stop Feature
Adding up to 20 audio tracks to a single Reel opens up creative possibilities, allowing you to align your audio with text, animated stickers, and clips while editing within Instagram. This feature lets you create unique audio mixes that your fans can save and reuse, enhancing your creative freedom and engaging your audience in new ways.
2. Instagram Engagement Strategies
To enhance your marketing tools, Instagram has added a lead form under the ‘Set Up Action’ button, allowing you to capture leads directly from your profile.
Moreover, to keep your content accessible and visible, Instagram is testing a “Recent Highlights” section on the Home feed. Start saving your Stories to highlights to ensure your engaging content stays accessible for longer periods.
Now, when it comes to boosting engagement, shared content ranks higher. Encourage your followers to share your posts by making them relatable and shareable.
Creating posts on timely topics that resonate with your audience’s current interests can improve shareability. Additionally, incorporate questions or prompts that invite your audience to share their own experiences or opinions, fostering interaction and shareability.
Despite some mixed messages about their effectiveness, Instagram still encourages using hashtags. Continue to use relevant ones to boost discoverability and monitor their impact on your reach.
3. Instagram Account Management and Growth
Managing your account is becoming easier with the upcoming shared access feature, allowing you to invite trusted people to help manage tasks securely.
This streamlined management pairs well with the new “open to collaboration” feature on the professional dashboard, simplifying the process of attracting creator collab campaigns and expanding your network.
Additionally, with Instagram posts now appearing in Google Perspectives, optimizing your content with SEO best practices becomes crucial. To enhance discoverability on Google’s search page results, use descriptive captions, and incorporate relevant keywords, hashtags, and geo-tags in your content.
Adjust your social strategy with ease from SocialBee
Threads Social Media Updates
- Threads shares usage insights to mark their one-year anniversary (source).
- Threads is working on temporary posts that last 24 hours (source).
- Threads has “Live Activities” as well (source).
- Threads is working on a “Use media” option that will let you reuse media from other posts (source).
- Threads launched a bonus program; if you’re eligible, you’ll receive a pop-up notification (source).
How to Adapt
Want to learn more about the user behavior on Threads?
Here are some of the main usage insights Threads shared to mark their first anniversary:
- Over 50 million Topic Tags have been created, enhancing content discovery and audience engagement.
- Gen Z consumers primarily log in for entertainment, music, food, and fashion news.
- 63% of all posts on Threads are text-only.
- 73% of Threads users believe proper sentence case is necessary, but many Gen Z users prefer all lowercase and minimal punctuation.
- One in four posts on Threads includes photos.
- The in-app camera feature has increased photo usage, especially among Gen Z and Millennials.
- 77% of users use emojis to show laughter, with popular choices being the rolling on the floor laughing (🤣) and loudly crying (😭) emojis.
- Threads has enabled new influencers to emerge, with some users viewing content creation as a career or side hustle.
Use these insights to tweak your content strategy to be more entertaining and in tune with what the Threads audience prefers.
One more important thing to keep in mind is that Threads is working on temporary posts that last 24 hours, which is perfect for quick updates or promos that benefit from a bit of urgency.
Also, if you’re eligible for the bonus program, you’ll receive a notification in your Instagram app. Once you’re in, you can start earning extra cash depending on how your posts perform or how many you create. Just make sure your posts adhere to the rules, like avoiding copyrighted content and ensuring your views are genuine. Find out all the details here.
LinkedIn Social Media Updates
- LinkedIn is rolling out sponsored newsletters (source).
- LinkedIn makes its automated “Accelerate” campaigns available to all brands (source).
- LinkedIn audio events get even better (source).
- If you screenshot a post, LinkedIn will prompt you to share the post (source).
- LinkedIn updated the way it’s displaying comment threads (source).
How to Adapt
LinkedIn is now letting you use sponsored newsletters to reach more people and generate leads. This means you can pay to promote your newsletters, just like you can with articles, making them more visible to your target audience. With a lot of people engaging with newsletters on LinkedIn, this is a great way to get your brand noticed.
If you’re already creating newsletters on LinkedIn, you can boost them to attract more sign-ups and grow your audience. You can also sponsor popular newsletters from others, helping you connect with a wider audience.
To set up a sponsored newsletter, go to the “Content Library” in LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager. You can boost these newsletters to get even more reach. This feature is rolling out gradually, so if you don’t see it yet, it should be available soon.
Moreover, using the new “Accelerate” ad campaigns on LinkedIn can really make your marketing efforts a lot smoother. Essentially, LinkedIn’s AI takes a look at your website and your company’s LinkedIn activity to set up a marketing campaign that’s already tuned up with the right targeting and creative details. This not only saves time but also ramps up your campaign’s impact.
Also, don’t miss out on the updated LinkedIn Audio Events. This professional network now offer automatic recording. This is great because you can save your events and share them later, either for everyone to see or just for a select audience.
It’s a handy tool for adding more value to your content strategy and catching those who couldn’t attend live. You can find these recordings on the event pages, in posts, or on profiles, making them super accessible and a breeze to use in your other marketing efforts.
YouTube Social Media Updates
- YouTube published what options creators have to resolve a copyright claim for music in their video (source).
- YouTube published a video on “Policy Training for 3rd Party Content Violations”, and “YT Shopping Card on Studio Desktop” (source).
- YouTube expands channel @Handles to 75 languages (source).
- YouTube app now allows you to stream videos horizontally or vertically directly within the app (source).
- You can request the removal of AI-generated content that simulates your face or voice (source).
- YouTube launches a new feature that lets you upload custom thumbnails for playlists (source).
- YouTube tests “Add Yours” sticker for Shorts (source).
- See all the 6 new editing tools for YouTube Shorts (source).
- YouTube is developing thumb frame customization for Shorts (source).
How to Adapt
YouTube has some great new tools to help you manage your channel better. If you run into music copyright issues, YouTube now offers clear ways to resolve them, so be sure to learn these options to keep your videos up and running smoothly. They also provide training videos about their rules to help you avoid any trouble.
Moreover, YouTube has expanded its @handles to 75 languages, so creators in more regions can use these unique channel identifiers. This means you can choose a handle in your preferred language, which helps people find and connect with your content more easily, similar to how handles work on X (Twitter) and Instagram. Your @handle is unique to your channel and can also be used as a custom URL, providing another branding opportunity.
Additionally, the app now supports horizontal and vertical streaming, so make sure you post videos that look good in both formats. If someone creates an AI video using your likeness or voice, you can request its removal to protect your brand.
You can also create custom thumbnails for your playlists to make them more attractive. For the best results, use bright colors, clear text, and engaging images in your thumbnails to catch viewers’ attention.
Don’t forget to try out the new “Add Yours” sticker for Shorts, which encourages viewers to respond to your challenges or questions, similar to features on Instagram and TikTok. It’s a great way to boost engagement and possibly start new trends.
Experiment with the latest editing tools for YouTube Shorts. These include an auto layout tool to easily turn long videos into Shorts, text-to-speech for narrating your videos, and interactive stickers to get your audience involved.
There are also cool new Minecraft effects to celebrate its anniversary and a fun “Remix a Remix” feature to keep creative chains going. Don’t forget to use stylized captions to make your Shorts more engaging and accessible, even when watched on mute. Find more details here.
TikTok Social Media Updates
- TikTok has now added two options when saving your videos: “Save with watermark” or “Post to save without watermark” (source).
- TikTok is testing a new “People also search for” section (source).
- TikTok has released a text-to-speech feature that generates meme text (source).
- TikTok Shops will soon allow sellers to offer partial refunds to customers (source).
- TikTok is testing a new “Auto scroll” button (source).
- Voice search comes to TikTok (source).
- There’s a new green screen feature on TikTok (source).
- TikTok looks to re-launch its in-stream shopping push in Europe (source).
- TikTok partners with Eventbrite to simplify event promotion and creation (source).
How to Adapt
TikTok has added some new features to help you grow your presence. First, you can now save your videos with or without watermarks. This means you can choose to keep the watermark for brand recognition or go for a cleaner look without it.
Additionally, they’re testing a “People also search for” section. This feature can help more people find your content, so make sure to use relevant tags to show up in these searches.
Also, TikTok’s new text-to-speech feature for meme text is a fun way to make your videos more engaging. It adds an interactive element that can attract more viewers.
Let’s not forget about TikTok Shops. They will soon allow sellers to offer partial refunds. This update is great for improving customer satisfaction and handling issues more flexibly.
One more piece of news for those selling products, TikTok is re-launching its in-stream shopping push in Spain and Ireland. This move aims to boost sales as in-app shopping gains traction, even though it hasn’t yet reached the popularity seen in Asia.
As we mentioned before, TikTok is testing an “Auto Scroll” button to enhance user experience by making it simpler to consume content. This means your videos need to be captivating right from the start to keep viewers interested so they don’t scroll past your content immediately.
Moreover, with the new voice search feature, it’s important to use clear and concise keywords in your video descriptions and tags to help people find your content using voice commands.
One last thing about the platform, TikTok has partnered with Eventbrite to simplify event promotion and ticket sales.
You can now add Eventbrite links directly to your TikTok videos, making it easy for the TikTok community to find event details and buy tickets without leaving the app.
X (Twitter) New Social Media Features
- X is considering free trials for Premium (source).
- X weighs adding a downvote button to replies (source).
- X lets you add “Work History” in your “Expanded Bio” from mobile (source).
- X is testing an option to block links in your post replies (source).
- X continues to test post reply sorting (source).
- People on X can request a Community Note on a post (source).
- X launches trend genius ads (source).
- X tests auto advance mode for video viewing (source).
- X reports a new record high in usage (source).
How to Adapt
You can now add your work history to your Expanded Bio, which helps create a more detailed and appealing profile for relevant followers.
X (Twitter) is thinking about offering free trials for Premium, which might bring more users on board. This could be a great opportunity to see how Premium features can benefit your social media strategy.
They’re also considering adding a downvote button for replies. This means you should focus on the quality of your interactions, as downvotes could impact visibility.
Moreover, X is also testing an option to block links in post replies. This aims to reduce spam and keep discussions focused on the platform, although it might limit sharing counter-arguments and external sources. Furthermore, people can now request Community Notes on posts to ensure accuracy and context. Verified accounts can make up to five requests daily, helping highlight posts that need notes.
Still on the topic of replies, X is working on a new feature allowing users to sort their replies and highlight the most relevant engagements. This can boost interaction and is particularly beneficial for creators in the Ad Revenue Share program, which pays verified users a percentage of ad income from ads in their replies.
Speaking of ads, X has introduced Trend Genius ads, using AI to place ads during trending conversations. Advertisers can select specific topics, like the Olympics or fashion, and X’s AI will deploy ads when these topics trend. This maximizes ad spend by targeting relevant topics and turning off ads as trends die down, though the AI’s accuracy is crucial for this to work well.
Additionally, X is testing an auto-advance mode for video viewing, allowing continuous playback of videos. This creates a more relaxed viewing experience, similar to watching TV. With improved TV connectivity and a focus on video content, X aims to increase video consumption. Therefore, creating engaging videos that quickly capture attention is important.
Pinterest Social Media Updates
- Pinterest adds options for sharing Pin Boards to other apps (source).
- Pinterest introduces AI background generation for product shots (source).
How to Adapt
Pinterest now lets you share Pin Boards to other apps, making it easier to promote your content across different social media platforms. This is a great way to drive more traffic and engagement with your pins.
When sharing your Pin Boards, think about where your audience is most active and share your content there to maximize visibility. Additionally, focus on creating visually appealing pins with high-quality images and clear, descriptive text to attract more users.
These updates make it easier to expand your reach and connect with a wider audience, helping you get the most out of Pinterest.
Another interesting feature from this photo sharing app is Pinterest Canvas, a text-to-image tool that enhances your images and products. This in-house model uses advanced tech to create personalized and visually consistent content. With over 1.5 billion high-quality text-image pairs for training, it can generate stunning new backgrounds for your products. This means your pins will look better and more appealing, helping you reach a wider audience on Pinterest.
To get the most out of Pinterest Canvas, enhance your product images with attractive backgrounds, and personalize your content to match your brand’s style.
Google Business Profile Social Media Updates
- Google has added new fields and options to the Google Business Profiles verification status tool (source).
How to Adapt
Google has added new fields and options to its Business Profile verification status tool. These include fields for uploading proof like pictures of your business signage, address markers, and a recent utility bill to confirm your address.
This update makes the verification process smoother, especially for businesses that have struggled with verification before.
Make sure your profile is fully updated and that all business information is accurate and complete. Regularly check the status tool to quickly resolve any issues and keep your profile active and credible in search results.
Keep Up with the Latest Social Media News
Are you ready to adjust your strategy based on the new feature updates and trends?
Social media never stands still, and neither should your strategy. These updates offer new ways to connect with your audience and improve your content.
By understanding and incorporating these changes, you can stay ahead of the curve. Experiment with the new features, and ad tools to adapt your approach, and keep your social media game strong.
If you find it challenging to keep up with constant changes, get new updates directly to your inbox by subscribing to Shareable TL;DR. It’s SocialBee’s specialized newsletter, designed to bring the latest social media news straight to your inbox every other week.
Customizable tone of voice 
Several variations to choose from 
1,000 pre-made AI prompts