New social media features and updates to know this week

This week’s social media updates focus on giving creators and brands more tools to better engage their audiences and have more control over their in-platform experience.

YouTube, for instance, is expanding features to help creators connect more personally with their audiences, including AI-powered video options and voice responses. Meanwhile, TikTok added a badge system to highlight high-performing products in its shop.

We’ve got a lot to discuss, so let’s get into it.

YouTube

YouTube is enhancing Shorts with several promising updates. The Dream Screen now allows creators to generate backgrounds and standalone clips using simple text prompts, thanks to the Veo 2 AI model. This results in more realistic, high-definition content. To use it, creators select “Create,” enter a prompt and choose the video length.

YouTube is also expanding its text-to-speech Shorts option for iOS creators. Previously available only on Android, this tool generates AI voice overs from written text. Creators can choose from four voices to narrate their scripts.

Another new feature is voice replies, which is in expanded testing on Apple devices. Creators in the test can respond to comments with voice messages up to 30 seconds long, providing a more personal way to engage.

Lastly, YouTube has debuted a “Promote” button, which allows creators to pay to get more views for their Shorts through the Studio app. YouTube will automatically show promoted videos to viewers who are more likely to engage with it. However,the targeting isn’t as detailed as with traditional YouTube ads.

Instagram

Instagram has debuted several notable enhancements, starting with the testimonials option. This allows creators to provide short, text-based endorsements for brand products. These testimonials appear as “Sponsored” comments in posts and help creators earn more income.

Roughly 40% of users rely on creator recommendations when shopping, according to IG.

Instagram is also once again updating DMs with fresh features for users. First, Meta AI now lets users and businesses automate responses to messages, creating custom prompts and setting times for when they should be sent.

Other DM updates:

• Users can share a “Music” sticker in chats, sending 30-second previews of songs.
• The message scheduling option lets users send messages at a specific time.
• The ability to pin up to three messages, photos or memes.

Instagram has also added personalized QR codes for group chats, allowing admins to decide who joins by refreshing the codes as needed.

And we can’t put IG to bed just yet: Parent company Meta is testing a dislike button for comments to make users more central to IDing negative or harmful posts. The downvote button allows users to privately signal their disapproval of a comment without others knowing.

Meta noted that it may use “dislike” data to downrank comments in the future.

“There is no dislike count, nor will anyone know if you tap the button,” IG’s Adam Mosseri wrote on Threads.

Meta

Meta is giving businesses more control over where their ads appear on Facebook and Instagram with expanded third-party content blocklists. Meta now works with DoubleVerify and Zefr as well as IAS.

These lists allow businesses to block specific categories of content they deem unsuitable. Partners are free to create blocklists for any category, so long as they adhere to Meta’s Discriminatory Practices policy.

As part of that announcement, Meta also outlined a test of a feature that allows businesses to turn off the comments on their Facebook and Instagram ads.

X

X is rolling out its latest AI model, Grok 3, which has been trained on 200,000 GPUs and promises to provide more in-depth content and insights. A core component of Grok 3 is DeepSearch, which scans the internet to provide detailed answers to user queries. X also plans to introduce a voice mode that will let users interact with the AI through speech.

Powered by Grok 3, the microblogging app also has a pair of new resources to streamline ad creation and performance analysis. Prefill with Grok generates ad copy, imagery and calls-to-action based on a website URL in seconds, similar to existing options from Google and Meta. The Analyze Campaign with Grok option offers actionable insights for improving ads by highlighting trends and opportunities. The goal could help brands refine targeting or even adjust creative elements.

TikTok

TikTok Shop is improving user experience with a badge system. The “Most Loved” badge highlights products with high ratings, low return rates and positive customer feedback. This badge is available across categories like electronics, beauty and fashion, helping shoppers make informed decisions. Shoppers can contribute by rating their purchases.

This should help quality brands and products differentiate themselves from some of the junk available in the TikTok Shop.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn has introduced two additional metrics for newsletter creators: “email sends” and “email open rates.”

• Email sends is the number of subscribers who received an email for a specific article.
• Email open rate is the percentage of subscribers who opened the email. LinkedIn noted that this is an estimate only.

These metrics make LinkedIn newsletters more akin to standard email software, where send and open rate are basline metrics. They’re available via the newsletter analytics page alongside data like article views and new subscribers.

Bluesky

Bluesky has added several user-experience features, including the ability to restrict replies to only followers. This can be set on a per-post basis or as a default, allowing users more control over their interactions. It also improved its search functionality by adding a “Search posts” option to the menu, making it easier to find specific content.

If you’re interested in learning about the latest digital trends, plan to attend Ragan’s Social Media Conference at Walt Disney World from March 19-21. You can find more details on the event website.

Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.