Social media updates and new features to know this week

As more regulators consider teen social media parameters, like the U.K.’s proposed ban, Meta is arguing that social media bans for teens will not work unless governments first solve age verification.

Meta says platforms need a reliable way to know how old users are, but asking every app to collect IDs or personal documents creates privacy and security risks, especially for smaller apps.

The company says a solution would be to make app stores handle age checks and parental approval at the device level, instead of forcing every app to do it separately.

“By verifying a person’s age just once at this device level, the phone itself acts as a single, secure checkpoint,” Antigone Davis, Meta’s head of global safety, said. “This allows parents to seamlessly approve or deny downloads across all platforms simultaneously, removing the need for people to upload sensitive personal documentation to dozens of individual apps.”

Here’s what else is new.

What’s new with Snapchat?

Related to teen accounts, Snapchat is changing how users under 16 can create and share public content.

Younger teens will now get a dedicated profile where they can save and show their Stories and Spotlight videos, but only mutually accepted friends can see them.

They will no longer be able to post Spotlight videos to wider, public audiences.

Snapchat says it is also removing public metrics, like favorite counts, from these profiles.

Any Instagram updates?

Instagram is rolling out a Reorder Your Grid feature that lets creators manually rearrange posts on their main profile grid.

Creators no longer have to keep their profile grid in chronological order. They can move posts around to highlight their best content or organize it around a certain visual style.

To use it, creators can go to their profile, tap and hold a post, choose “reorder grid,” then drag posts into the order they want. The changes save immediately and are visible to anyone who visits the profile.

Further, IG is bringing its Your Algorithm feature to the main feed. Users can now see topics the app thinks they’re interested in and adjust those topics directly from the feed, IG’s Adam Mosseri said.

The purpose of this is to give people more control over what shows up in their algorithmic recommendations, instead of only passively accepting what the app shows them, he said.

Edits is additionally getting its own AI assistant that will use a creator’s Instagram data, including views and video retention insights, to help explain what is working and suggest new video ideas. It can also recommend ideas tied to trending audio.

Edits is also now available for desktop, TechCrunch reports.

The outlet says the desktop version makes Edits easier to use as part of a fuller content workflow, especially for those editing higher volume videos and content.

Does YouTube have new feature?

YouTube is expanding in-app video sharing and messaging to the U.S. as well as other global markets.

Users 18 and older can now share videos and react to them inside the YouTube app, instead of copying a link and sharing in a text or DM on another platform.

Users can tap the new messaging icon in the app to invite someone to share videos and respond in real time.

What is LinkedIn Creator Marketplace?

LinkedIn is launching two new tools for B2B marketers: Creator Marketplace and BrandWorks.

Creator Marketplace lives inside the Campaign Manager feature and helps brands find vetted LinkedIn creators by topic, expertise, audience and performance.

Brands can also spot organic or sponsored creator content that mentions them and boost it through LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads.

Creators who opt in can choose what work they show, how brands contact them and how their sponsored content is used.

The second update, BrandWorks, is more of a hands-on support team for brands and agencies. It helps with strategy, creative production, campaign ideas and ways to make existing content perform better, LinkedIn says.

Can you connect Pinterest to Amazon Storefront?

Pinterest is adding Amazon Storefront linking for creators.

This means eligible creators can now connect their Amazon Storefront directly to their Pinterest account, show their Amazon Storefront handle on their Pinterest profile and tag Amazon products in Pins.

Pinterest’s help page says affiliate links can be applied automatically, and creators may be eligible to receive credit for purchases through their Amazon Influencer Program.

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