Social media updates and new features to know this week

Welcome to a new week of updates. TikTok is showing steady growth across Europe, despite its heavy adoption of automated moderation. Its latest required disclosure under the European Union’s Digital Services Act shows the platform now has 189 million monthly active users in the EU, up by about 9 million in the first half of 2026 per Social Media Today.

The platform says it removed about 104 million pieces of content that violated its rules in the first half of the year, and 94.1% of those removals were automated.

At the same time, its human moderators in the EU have dropped by nearly half over the past two years, from 6,354 moderators in 2024 to 3,738 now.

Here’s what else is new.

What’s happening with TikTok comments?

TikTok is creating new ways for users to reply to comments. Tech Crunch reports the platform is adding three main features:

• Voice comments up to 60 seconds
• Polls that can be posted directly in the comments
• Photo carousel comments with up to nine images.

Voice comments and photo carousels are rolling out over the next month and comment polls are available now, the outlet said.

How is YouTube changing its Shopping Affiliate Program?

YouTube is making a few changes to branded and affiliate content in order to make sponsored posts easier to manage across different markets.

First, YouTube is testing automatically showing viewers the same affiliate product from a local retailer instead of the original retailer.The idea being that faster shipping or easier access could lead to more buys and, in turn, more affiliate revenue for creators. This only applies to YouTube’s Shopping Affiliate program, not videos marked as paid product placements.

The platform is also tightening up sponsorship disclosures. It’s updating its branded-content label, letting creators restrict sponsored content by age or location, and using automated detection to identify branded content that creators may have failed to disclose. Basically, if an undisclosed sponsorship is detected, YouTube may add the disclosure label itself.

YouTube is also simplifying how users use their phone and TV together. The app makers say as long as both devices are signed into the same Google account, a user’s phone can control videos on TV.

From their phone, a person can like a video, comment, subscribe, read descriptions and open creator links while the video keeps playing on TV. Users can also browse other videos, search YouTube, watch Shorts or add something to the TV queue without interrupting what’s currently playing.

How is X changing creator payments?

X is making a change to how creators are paid in the U.S.

Payouts from its Original Content Rewards program and creator subscriptions will now go through X Money, the platform’s own payments service, instead of Stripe.

X says the benefit for creators is faster access to their money, though obviously there’s a self-serving aspect here. Payouts will be available as soon as they’re sent, rather than people waiting for a payout cycle or reaching a minimum threshold. Previously, payouts were processed every two weeks and required at least $30.

What are Reddit ‘s Max ads?

Reddit announced it’s making AI-powered Max ad campaigns available to all advertisers after testing them in beta earlier this year.

Max campaigns automate most of the campaign setup, including audience targeting, creative selection and rotation, ad placement and budget allocation.

The platform says beta advertisers saw 17% lower cost per acquisition and more than 27% more conversions.

Advertisers can also manage Max campaigns through Reddit’s Advertising API.

Reddit has also added a new ad feature called 15-second Engaged Video Views, designed to help advertisers reach people who are more likely to stick with a video instead of scrolling past it. For videos longer than 15 seconds, a view counts once someone watches at least 15 seconds. For shorter videos, it counts when the viewer completes the video.

Reddit says early testers saw a 51% increase in 15-second view-through rates and a 71% increase in video completion rates, based on its own internal data. The feature is now in public beta for advertisers globally.