Social media updates and new features to know this week

Hello, social friends! This week’s updates include numerous AI-powered tools for TikTok Shop creators and advertisers. YouTube is also rolling out more features to help creators with audience targeting from a desktop. Let’s take a closer look at how these improvements can steer your social strategy in the right direction.

TikTok

TikTok recently launched a variety of new AI-powered features for TikTok Shop.

With AI Fashion Video Maker, TikTok Shop sellers can turn product photos into short, high-quality videos automatically. Users upload still images and the new tool generates videos with music, voiceovers and visuals to help make products more engaging.

TikTok also rolled out AI Dubbing for Product Videos, a tool that automatically writes and voices scripts for videos. It can also use a synthetic version of a user’s own voice and sync lips for a more dynamic, native-sounding video from the provided product details.

The app also released List With AI Product Listings. This feature turns basic product details, like a photo and a short description, into a more polished product listing. The AI writes titles, descriptions and picks categories for each user, so they don’t have to spend time crafting every detail.

The app’s updated CRM Tool and Judge.me Reviews improves how users connect their CRM to Shop, giving more ways to launch promos and track results. The app also added a Judge.me integration so users can show real customer reviews in their TikTok Shop.

Finally, TikTok launched Automated GMV Max Campaigns. This is the app’s AI-powered campaign tool found directly in TikTok Shop, which will now automate ad targeting and creatives for more specific audiences to help drive sales and “maximize overall merchandise value.”

Instagram

Instagram’s Edits has been updated to include some new features for video creation and sharing. The app now lets users add internal Instagram links directly into videos, making it easier to point viewers to other Reels or creator accounts once the clip is shared on IG.

The app also introduced weekly content ideas based on a user’s past Reels, offering up to 10 tailored prompts to help keep post momentum going.

Edits also added 25 new video effects, including options like bounce, fisheye and blackout, giving users more creative ways to style their videos.

YouTube

YouTube will now give parents more control over how teens use the platform, particularly with new settings for supervised accounts.

Parents can limit how long teens scroll Shorts, with the ability to set a timer (even to zero) so teens focus on other stuff when needed. They can also set custom “Bedtime” and “Take a Break” reminders to encourage healthier habits.

The platform also introduced new quality-focused content principles and a guide for creators, so the system can better promote videos that are age-appropriate for teen viewers, while helping steer teens away from lower-quality content.

YouTube is additionally loosening its advertiser-friendly monetization rules for controversial or sensitive topics. This means creators can now earn full ad revenue on videos about issues like domestic abuse, suicide, self-harm, etc., as long as the content is non-graphic and either discussed or dramatized rather than shown with explicit detail.

Previously, YouTube said it limited some ads regardless of how the topic was covered, but this change aims to let more serious or educational discussions about those subjects be eligible for revenue.

Lastly, YouTube introduced Interest Targeting for YouTube Promote, a new option in the Promote tool that lets creators choose specific audience interest categories, like gamers or beauty fans, when boosting their videos from desktop. This gives creators more control over who sees paid promotions outside of standard discovery methods.

X

Following backlash over the discovery that Grok AI was being used to undress real people, including children, X’s Safety team announced updated restrictions on how its Grok AI image tools can be used. They said the platform will be firm on zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity and unwanted sexual content, and that it’s taking measures to remove or report accounts that try to create or spread illegal material.

“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the @Grok account on X globally from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis. This restriction applies to all users, including paid subscribers,” X said.

Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].