New social media features and updates to know this week

Big changes are happening across social platforms this week, with new features focused on giving creators more control over the ways in which they engage their audiences.

LinkedIn is expanding a program allowing brands to place video ads alongside trusted publishers’ content, while TikTok is offering new ad exclusion features. YouTube is expanding its Hype program to help emerging creators gain more exposure.

Let’s dive into the details.

Instagram
Instagram is testing two new Reels filters – Latest and Most Viewed – to give users more control over what content they see.

These filters, accessed through an up arrow on the Reels tab, allow users to sort by either the most recent content or the most popular. Social media reporter Lindsey Gamble first spotted the test.

Instagram’s also testing a new feature called Storylines. This lets friends who follow each other add related Stories to one another’s posts, creating a shared narrative around events. For example, if a user and a friend attend a sporting event together, they could link their Stories, building a larger, connected Story.

Collaborative Stories would be visible to connections if shared publicly. If shared privately, non-followers could still see that a person participated but not the content itself.

Along with these tests, Instagram has officially launched Blend for Reels, a feature that lets users and a friend or group create a shared feed of recommended videos based on each person’s app activity. Instead of sending Reels back and forth, Blend combines suggestions into a single, evolving stream based on shared interests.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is expanding its Wire program, which allows brands to run pre-roll video ads alongside premium publisher content, according to Social Media Today.

Now available to more brands through LinkedIn’s Campaign Manager, Wire lets advertisers display video ads at the start of selected publisher clips. The program has started with a handful of major outlets, such as Barron’s, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal.

TikTok
TikTok is enhancing its brand safety features with two new advertiser controls: the Video Exclusion List and the Profile Feed Exclusion List.

These new resources enable brands to control where their ads appear, block ads from appearing next to specific video IDs or prevent ads from showing up alongside certain user profiles. Both are available globally inside TikTok’s Brand Safety Hub in Ads Manager.

For users, TikTok is testing a new feature that displays user reviews for tagged locations in the comments tab of certain videos. When tapping the comments section, users can access a Reviews tab that shows star ratings, feedback and photos, according to TechCrunch.

TikTok is jumping into the community notes game with a new feature its testing called Footnotes. The feature lets select users in the United States to add extra context to videos similar to the systems used by X and now Meta.

TikTok users will vote on the notes and only those that meet a “helpfulness” threshold will be visible to others. U.S. users can apply to be a Footnotes contributor. Users have to have been on the platform for more than six months, be at least 18 years old and have no recent history of violating our Community Guidelines.

This is part of TikTok’s larger push into improving content integrity, alongside its existing content labels, Election Centers and fact-checking partnerships.

X

X has redesigned its analytics page for premium users, with a faster, more user friendly content tab and improved sorting and filtering options. The update also provides insights into the first 48 hours of post activity, helping users gain a clearer picture of early engagement.

YouTube
YouTube is expanding its Hype program to Taiwan, Brazil and Turkey to help lesser-known creators gain exposure.

The program, which allows viewers to allocate “Hype points” to videos to increase their reach, is now available for creators with 500 to 500,000 subscribers who are part of the YouTube Partner Program.

“If you’re a creator who has access, the option for viewers to Hype will automatically appear on eligible long-form videos for the first seven days after posting,” YouTube said during its latest Creator Insider episode.

The episode also included an update on YouTube’s upcoming changes to mid-roll ad placements. Starting in May, the platform will automatically insert ads into the ideal gaps in videos, including older content.

Creators can manually adjust placements in YouTube Studio until May 12 or let YouTube’s system do the work to maximize earnings potential.

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