Every marketer knows that social media platforms are constantly rolling out new features. After all, it’s our job as marketers to keep up with them. 2025 is no exception, and during the first half of this year, we’ve seen big developments on every major social media channel.
Our team at Go Getter Marketing Group has compiled the most important ICYMI social media updates for your team, so let’s dive in!
TikTok
First of all, it’s still here. A third executive order from the Trump Administration in June has further delayed the United States’ ban on the app to mid-September, and we predict that it will continue to get pushed back until a divestment sale goes through or any ban is officially off the table.
Now let’s talk about your actual user experience!
New in-app features that put the “fun” in “function” include…
- TikTok’s very own font, TikTok Sans.
- The launch of Bulletin Boards, which allows users to post text-style updates similar to YouTube Community Posts.
- Integrations with YouTube Music and SoundCloud.
And marketing-specific updates include…
- For social media strategists: You can now schedule content in the TikTok Studio app.
- For content creators: Updates to their generative-AI tool TikTok Symphony, and the introduction of AI Alive which turns still photos into moving images.
- For SEO specialists: Heightened control of everyone’s For You page with topic management and smart keyword filtering.
- For community managers: The addition of an “other messaging apps” Ad Goal that allows brands to connect with TikTok leads on WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and more.
Regarding branded content, TikTok issued an updated policy change in July that places new restrictions on certain industries, products, and topics, including healthcare, dating apps, financial services, body image, and more.
Read all the new Branded Content Policy details here to learn if your brand’s marketing is impacted.
It seems like every week Instagram has rolled out a new update. From changing their photo aspect ratios (again) to launching Tumblresque reposts, there is much to know for your Q3 and Q4 strategies. Here are the highlights…
- For content creators: Instagram launched and is continuously upgrading their own video-creation app, Edits. To optimize your content before hitting Post, Adam Mosseri (head of IG) has some recommendations which were reaffirmed in an official Instagram For Business announcement, as well as a Reels-specific guide.
- For social media strategists: Reels has a new feature where you can trial your Reel to a sample audience, and Instagram is reporting that it’s significantly helping increase reach. In your plans for video content, however, know that the ability to use Instagram Live has now been restricted to accounts with at least 1k followers.
- For copywriters: SEO for captions are crucial now that Instagram posts will show up in Google Search results.
- For marketing analysts: Instagram shared some detailed insights into Views metrics, with Adam Mosseri explaining the current algorithm ranking priorities. They’ve also been adding in-app features like monthly performance summaries and Recaps and Celebrations.
- For community managers: You can now translate DMs into your preferred language, optimizing the globalization of your brand’s community! Other new DM features include scheduled messaging, pinned messages, and more.
Instagram has also recently launched a Map feature that shares your location… your precise location. Here’s how to turn it off…and you’re welcome.
- Go to your Settings menu.
- Scroll down to the “Story, live, and location” setting. This may be called “Hide Story and lives” in your Settings menu instead, but it’s the same thing.
- Tap “Location Sharing.”
- Select your location sharing preference.
We expect even more updates to Instagram in the coming months, so make sure to check back in with us in December for our 2025 End-Of-Year Social Media Wrap-Up! We’re especially excited to see where tests for lockable posts and collaborative Stories will lead.
Threads
This Instagram-based Twitter competitor has really taken off since its launch in 2023. With up to 300 million monthly active users, Threads now ranks second highest in worldwide iOS app downloads! That’s great news for digital marketers taking early advantage of this Meta platform, and we can’t wait to see how more opportunities develop now that Threads is officially testing ad campaigns in the US and Japan. In the meantime, here are some recent upgrades to help you set up your Threads strategy…
- For social media strategists: Not only can you now create a Threads account without an Instagram account, but you can add multiple links to your Threads profile and (if you do use both Threads and Instagram) cross-post your Threads to Instagram Stories.
- For community managers: Direct Messaging is now available to all Threads users, including being able to send images and GIFs! Plus, you can now tag people in photo posts.
Catch-up on more Threads insights, including Meta’s official educational resources, in our last Social Media Round-Up blog.
While we continue to wait for LinkedIn’s creator monetization program, BrandLink (formerly called Wire), to expand to more users and advertisers, some of this year’s updates to this business-savvy platform include…
- For LinkedIn Premium subscribers: LinkedIn has integrated with Calendly to book your discovery meetings.
- For email marketers: LinkedIn Newsletters have two new metrics for your email analytics report. Plus, you can now spice up your articles and newsletters with video covers.
- For marketing analysts: Upgraded Post Analytics can show you more information on profile views and follower growth converted from specific posts, and you can also now view Impressions on your Comments.
- For event marketers: Livestream your LinkedIn Live Events via Zoom through their new integration.
- For content creators: LinkedIn recently released updated video requirements for sharing videos to your feed. Make note of these since video marketing on LinkedIn is up 36% over the last year!
Catch-up on more details of LinkedIn’s video content push over the past year in our last Social Media Round-Up blog.
YouTube
The king of video platforms is absolutely giving to marketers and creators this year! Here are the key updates that we’re most excited about…
- For social media strategists: YouTube has expanded the use of Community Posts to more channels, as well as upgraded its Shopping buttons for Shorts. Get the details on both here.
- For marketing analysts: Views on Shorts have changed from counting time watched to number of plays and replays, similar to Instagram Reels.
- For content creators: Similar to TikTok Symphony, YouTube has introduced a photo-to-video AI tool for Shorts. And speaking of TikTok, YouTube has partnered with Repurpose.io to enable users to repost TikToks and Instagram Reels to YouTube Shorts!
- For influencer marketing managers: YouTube has launched Open Call, which allows brands to connect with creators in their Partner Program in a call-for-work process similar to Upwork or Fiverr.
And these are just the platform upgrades already out! YouTube is also experimenting with comment threading, voice replies to comments, video title testing, their Ask Studio AI tool, and more. Stay tuned for our end-of-year social media wrap-up to learn which are ready to integrate into your brand’s YouTube strategy.
One of Meta’s biggest properties, Facebook remains strong in the marketing landscape despite the soaring popularity of its fellow Meta platform, Instagram. You may have even already heard about a bunch of their upgrades to video ads, creator resources, and partnership tools at the 2025 IAB NewFronts conference, but in case you missed some of their quieter announcements, we’ve got you covered…
- For content creators: Not only is there now a Facebook-specific copyright checker for Reels (which all videos uploaded to Facebook are now), but Facebook is stepping up their support of creators in combatting spam and uncredited copycatting.
- For social media strategists: Make sure to download your Facebook Live videos after streaming, because Facebook has cut down their video storage limits!
- For copywriters: You may already be implementing this strategy on LinkedIn, but Facebook is now actively encouraging putting links relevant to your posts in the comments rather than the caption.
There are also some Meta-wide updates that are more closely tied to other platforms that also affect Facebook, but we’ve paired those updates with their more relevant Meta platforms for ease. Keep reading to learn more.
WhatsApp and Messenger
If you use either of these platforms to communicate with your brand’s community, there are a few Meta updates just for you. These include increased file size sharing in Messenger and expanded AI support specifically for businesses in WhatsApp. As Meta continues to push development and innovation with AI tools, more is sure to come soon for these messaging-focused channels.
X (Twitter) and Bluesky
It’s been two years since Twitter was rebranded as X and has increasingly modelled their functionality after Reddit, but we’re not sure anyone has fully stopped calling it Twitter. New and upgraded features that are being more successfully taken to, though, include sorting capabilities for Communities, video reactions, and AI experimentations like Note Writers and Imagine. Plus, of course, launching a dedicated video tab to join the ranks of video’s reign on content.
If your brand instead prefers using the Musk-unaffiliated platform, Bluesky, then crucial info for your social media strategy include updates to the platform’s notification controls, verification expansions, trending topics, and reply controls and profile searching. And, of course, video tab upgrades.
To learn how to take advantage of all these insights for your social media marketing strategies, please feel free to contact us! We stay updated on all the marketing technology news and changes so that you can focus on what’s most important: your business.
