Social media updates and new features to know this week
Including Meta, X, TikTok and more.
A new Pew Research Center survey found that 56% of U.S. adults support banning kids under 16 from using social media, while 21% oppose it and 23% are unsure.
Social Media Today reports that this is another sign that the political and public pressure around teen social media use is not cooling off, as countries including Australia, Canada and the U.K. move toward age-based restrictions.
The study also found growing support for more guardrails, with 85% showing support for parental consent for minors to create accounts, 78% supporting age verification and 78% supporting limits on how much time minors spend on social platforms.
Here’s what else is new.
What is Meta’s new subscription service?
Meta is trying out a paid Meta One subscription that comes with extra benefits for AI glasses, but the caveat is that it’s limited right now and not available everywhere. The platform’s help page says its AI glasses will still work without a subscription, so this is not a paywall for the basic product.
The main perks of the subscription are more access to “conversation focus” and premium device support. Conversation focus, which uses the glasses’ open ear speakers to amplify sound of a person speaking, is available for free for three hours per month, while Meta One Premium subscribers get 15 hours per month. Unused hours will not roll over. Premium support gives subscribers faster access to trained human support agents for any issues with the glasses.
The platform is also bringing back Facebook Creator Studio, but this time it’s being rebuilt around AI. The old Creator Studio was shut down in 2023 as Meta pushed creators toward Meta Business Suite. Now it’s returning as a standalone, AI-powered app meant to help creators manage content, get personalized recommendations, track progress toward goals and find the most important audience comments.
How can creators use X’s livestream studio?
X is adding a new livestream studio inside its Creator Studio platform for Premium subscribers. The feature should make it easier for creators to schedule, set up and run live broadcasts from a desktop.
The update includes a simpler launch process, chat controls, thumbnail uploads and a dashboard that shows audience data like viewer peaks, comment peaks and audience demographics.
What’s inside TikTok’s Agentic Hub?
TikTok has launched a new feature called Agentic Hub, a place where advertisers can find AI tools to help run TikTok ad campaigns. These tools can help with things like building campaigns, creating ads, checking performance, finding audience insights and managing product catalogs.
What’s new about YouTube Shorts?
YouTube is changing how users react to Shorts. The thumbs-up button is being replaced with a heart, and the dislike button is going away. Rather than disliking a video, viewers will be pushed toward responses like “Not interested” or “Don’t recommend this channel,” which should offer creators better and more specific feedback.
How can advertisers use Reddit’s Split Testing?
Reddit is rolling out Split Testing to all advertisers. It’s a self-serve A/B testing tool inside Reddit Ads Manager that lets brands compare two versions of a campaign and see which one works better.
Advertisers can compare and test things like Reddit Max versus a regular campaign, automated targeting versus manual targeting, different budget setups or two pieces of creative.
Reddit says the point is to make ads less of a guessing game. The tool splits the audience, runs both versions at the same time and declares a winner when it determines the result.
What is Instagram testing out?
Instagram is testing ways to make its algorithm easier for users to control. IG Head Adam Mosseri said Instagram wants users’ algorithms to feel more useful across the app, so people can quickly tell Instagram what they want to see more or less of.
Some of the ideas include pulling down from the home feed to open algorithm controls, swiping up from a Reel to adjust recommendations and using buttons under Reels to give quick feedback. Not all of this is guaranteed to launch, Mosseri said. Some of it is testing now and some is coming soon.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].
