Social Media Buzz Weekly: Roundup of Social Media Updates
- ClickInsights
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Welcome to Social Media Buzz Weekly, your weekly bulletin of the latest social media updates. With the social media landscape evolving with each passing day, it can be challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments. Well, not anymore, as we have taken it upon ourselves to keep you abreast of every happening in the social media space.
So, without any further ado, let’s look at some of the most significant developments from the last week in the world of social media.
1. Senators Call on Zuckerberg To Explain Meta’s Teen Safety Approach
Meta could be facing even more regulatory scrutiny, with a group of U.S. senators submitting a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to question why Meta failed to prioritize the safety of teen users based on its own research.
Senators Brian Schatz, Katie Britt, Amy Klobuchar, James Lankford, and Christopher Coons have called on Zuckerberg to offer an explanation for his company’s actions, which they suggest may have put young people at risk, in favor of business growth. The claims are based on testimony submitted as part of a multidistrict litigation against several social media platforms over their efforts to drive growth, even at the cost of user safety.
2. Meta Is Working on a Dedicated AI Chatbot for Group Chats
Meta is developing a new AI bot called “Kai,” which would be available in group chats specifically, and will be able to analyze the content of your group discussions.
Kai, presumably, will keep your private chat data separate from your main profile, and by having a separate DM chatbot, that will provide the benefits of AI analysis, without exposing your chat data. Kai will also be able to generate images on the fly, and help you compose responses. The chatbot is part of Meta’s broader push to make AI a key element of its apps.
3. TikTok Offers Enhanced Shops Promotion Program
TikTok has launched an updated promotion opportunity for TikTok Shop merchants, with its “Smart Promotion” program offering significant amplification of your products, as well as lower fees, in order to attract more retailers to the app.
TikTok’s Smart Promotion program sees both TikTok Shop and sellers contribute marketing funds, which TikTok’s system then strategically allocates across various promotional activities. So the program is designed to promote both TikTok Shop and your business, which is why TikTok is contributing to its operation.
4. ByteDance Launches Impressive New AI Video Generation Tool
ByteDance has announced its latest artificial intelligence video tool, called Seedance 2.0. Seedance 2.0, currently in Beta, is currently available to some users of Jimeng AI, which is another video platform owned by ByteDance.
The tool utilizes the latest generative AI video capacity to produce more refined results than many other models, with more life-like, realistic movements, and less of that moving underwater feel. While it’s not on the cards for TikTok as yet, it seems likely that it’ll eventually make its way to the video platform, which already has a range of generative AI tools available to assist creators and marketers.
5. Snapchat Faces Growth Challenges Ahead of AR Specs Launch
Snapchat has published its latest performance update, with the app, unsurprisingly, seeing a decline in daily active users, though it still posted a steady rise in revenue for Q4 2025.
Snapchat lost 3 million daily active users versus Q3, and is now sitting at 474 million DAU. Snapchat usage has been steadily declining in both the U.S. and EU over time, which suggests that the app may have reached its saturation point, and that it’ll now have to rely on pumping in more ads to boost its revenue intake.
6. Snapchat Launches AI-Powered Lens Promotion With Gucci
Snapchat has launched a new AI-powered ad activation, partnering with Gucci on its first-ever AI Lens for a luxury brand, which will give Snapchatters the opportunity to view themselves in classic Gucci looks.
The new Snapchat Gucci Lens will use AI to transform a photo of the user into one of six Gucci outfit styles, giving them a means to see what they would look like in this depiction. Those six depictions are L’Incazzata, La VIP, La Bomba, Direttore, Il Figo, and Principino.
7. Snapchat Expands Home Safe Alerts to Any Destination
Snapchat has announced an expansion of its Home Safe alerts, with users now able to activate automated arrival notifications for any location that they’re traveling to, in order to provide more reassurance to their close friends in the app.
Originally launched in July last year, Snapchat’s Home Safe alerts enable users to switch on automated notifications that inform their Snapchat friends that they’ve arrived home safely. And now, users will also be able to add other locations and arrivals, providing more assurance via the app. Snap says that its Home Safe alerts have already proven popular, with a million users activating Home Safe notifications in the past six months.
8. X’s French Offices Raided as Part of Ongoing Investigation
French police raided the local offices of X, as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged manipulation of the platform’s algorithm, as well as more recent concerns about misuse of its Grok AI chatbot.
French authorities have been pursuing the case over the past year, with investigators seeking insight from the company about alleged foreign interference in relation to its algorithmic amplification of content. The latest Grok controversy has seen the case expand, which has led to this latest action, in which police have searched X’s Paris office.
9. X Under Investigation in the UK Over Grok-Generated Images
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has announced a formal investigation into X and xAI in relation to the processing of personal data for X’s Grok AI chatbot, as well as the use of Grok to produce harmful, sexualized image and video content.
Early in January, the Grok nudification trend on X saw hundreds of thousands of sexualized images of people being shared publicly in the app every day. That sparked authorities in various regions to implement restrictions on Grok, while others called on X to remove this functionality, and stop the misuse of its AI tool.
10. X Tests Collaborative AI-Powered Community Notes
X is experimenting with a new way for AI to write Community Notes. The company is testing a new "collaborative notes" feature that allows human writers to request an AI-written Community Note.
It's not the first time the platform has experimented with AI in Community Notes. The company started a pilot program last year to allow developers to create dedicated AI note writers. Community Notes has often been criticized for moving too slowly so adding AI into the mix could help speed up the process of getting notes published.
11. X Revamps API Pricing, Adds xAI Credits
X has rolled out a new pricing structure for its API access, which will see developers charged for what they use, as opposed to having to pay a pricey monthly subscription fee in order to access the data stream.
X’s API is what enables third-party developers to build apps that utilize X data and connection. However, in recent years, many third-party tools and apps have been forced to shut down due to X increasing the price of its API access, as a means, primarily, to keep artificial intelligence projects from integrating vast amounts of X data. But now, X seems to be looking to realign itself with the developer community, as it seeks to make X a bigger element of focus, while also hopefully integrating xAI and Grok into more projects.
Wrapping Up
And that was a wrap of this week’s Social Media Buzz. We’ll be back next week with more news and updates for you from the social media world. Till then, stay tuned!
If you want to read more on the latest developments taking place in the social media space, take a look at ClickInsights’ Social Media Buzz, wherein we bring to you monthly reports on everything going on in social media, ranging from platform updates to policy changes that influence the way we market.
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