Social media updates and new features to know this week
Including Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and more.
Meta reported a slight dip in daily users after its first quarter earnings call. Across its apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, daily active people fell slightly in Q1 to about 3.56 billion, down from 3.58 billion the previous quarter.
It’s not a massive drop, but it’s notable because it breaks Meta’s streak of steady growth, CNBC reports. The company says the decline was mostly due to external factors like internet shutdowns in Iran and restrictions in Russia, rather than a major user exodus. Still, it’s a signal for social media companies that growth isn’t guaranteed anymore.
Now, let’s dive into some updates.
Meta
Meta is turning ad management into a chat interface because it’s faster and more automated, they say. But this also means less hands-on control and more reliance on AI to make decisions about ad campaigns.
Instead of working inside Ads Manager, marketers can connect tools like ChatGPT or Claude and manage campaigns by typing what they want to achieve. They can ask for performance summaries, adjust budgets or generate ads, and the AI will pull in campaign data to make it happen.
TikTok
TikTok is giving creators more options to get their videos discovered. Social Media Today reports that when users post, TikTok will suggest keywords based on what it thinks a video is about, but users can edit them to add better keywords or remove ones that don’t fit, so that content shows up in the right searches to the most relevant audiences.
Instagram is cracking down on reposting to give more credit to original posters. If a user didn’t make the content or add something meaningful to it, the platform won’t push it to new audiences anymore. It’ll still show up to that user’s followers, but they won’t get growth from it. This is so the original poster gets the most recognition, IG says.
Snapchat
Snapchat is turning ads into chatbots. In addition to seeing the usual sponsored message, users could also now get ads in their inbox that they can actually talk to. These AI Sponsored Snaps show up in the Chat tab and let users ask questions, get recommendations or explore a product or service within the conversation, making it feel more personal and tailored.
X
X is pushing brands to lean into its AI tool, Grok, for ads and content. Marketers can use Grok to generate ad copy, ideas and real-time responses based on what’s happening on the platform. The broader move is to position X as a place where brands can tap into live conversation and instantly turn that into content or campaigns, they said.
“Advertisers can expect a smooth delivery of continuous improvements and a regular drop of new features as we keep pushing the platform forward,” X said.
Brands can now run Off-Platform Event Ads that send people straight to their own website, webinar platform or registration page instead of forcing them through a LinkedIn event page first.
Brands set up an Event Ad like normal, but instead of linking to a LinkedIn event page, they plug in their own external registration link, like a webinar landing page. The ad still runs in the LinkedIn feed and uses LinkedIn’s targeting, but when someone clicks, they go off-platform to sign up, LinkedIn says.
They added that this is a nice little push to help businesses drive conversions on their own sites.
YouTube
YouTube is rolling out a couple creator-focused updates, but the major one is AI-generated music. Creators can now generate instrumental tracks directly in YouTube to avoid copyright issues, instead of hunting for approved audio elsewhere. This will save time and potential lawsuits, YouTube said.
There is also a change to how notifications work for inactive viewers. If someone hasn’t been watching a creator’s videos or engaging with their channel, YouTube may stop sending that person notifications even if they’re subscribed.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].
