Social Media Buzz Weekly: Roundup of Social Media Updates
- ClickInsights
- 18 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. Facebook Adds AI-Generated Profile Videos
Facebook has announced a new option to use AI to animate your profile image, with a range of preset options available to give your headshot motion and depth.
The option to animate appears when users click “Animate profile picture” on their Facebook avatars, and the feature gives a limited set of animation options, including party hat, confetti, wave, and heart, in which a photo’s subject makes a heart shape with their hands. Meta says there will be additional options in the future for seasonal moments and special events.
2. Meta Launches Manus AI Integration in Ads Manager
Meta has taken the next steps in its integration of Manus AI, with some Meta advertisers now being informed that they can access Manus functionality within Ads Manager direct.
All Meta advertisers can now access Manus within the “Tools” listing in Ads Manager. But Meta is looking to highlight the option to more businesses, as it continues to integrate Manus into its systems, and maximize its functionality within the Meta Ads system.
3. TikTok Launches Local Feed in the US
TikTok USDS JV has announced that it’s bringing TikTok’s Local feed option to U.S. users, providing a means to hone in your search and engagement to local creators and businesses in the app.
TikTok has been testing variations of its Local feed in several regions since as far back as 2022, when its Nearby feed was launched in South East Asian markets. It announced a full launch of the Local feed option in Europe last year, and now, U.S. users will also get access as well, which could help to promote local creators and businesses in the app.
4. TikTok Adds New Ad Types for Entertainment Marketers
TikTok has launched some new ad options in Europe to help entertainment marketers maximize their campaigns.
TikTok is rolling out two new ad types in the EU, in Streaming Ads and New Title Launch. Streaming Ads is an artificial intelligence-powered ad option for streaming providers that will showcase relevant programming promotions to TikTok users based on their engagement history. The other new option is New Title Launch, which aims to help entertainment marketers turn cultural moments into ticket and subscription sales.
5. Instagram Looks To Tap Into the Mini Drama Trend
Instagram is reportedly experimenting with a dedicated Short Drama element within the app. The new element, which is currently in early testing, and is not available to the public as yet, would seemingly enable Instagram users to follow their favorite short drama shows, and stay up to date on the latest episodes more easily.
Mini dramas are big on TikTok, with one estimate indicating that the format generated $1.3 billion in the US in 2025, mostly via direct payments from viewers. TikTok launched a Minis section in the app last year, while it has also launched a dedicated mini dramas app, called PineDrama, in the U.S. and Brazil.
6. Snapchat Adds AI Generated Bitmoji Option in Lens+
Snapchat has added a new way to create a Bitmoji character in your likeness, with Snapchat Lens+ subscribers now able to access a new Lens option that uses artificial intelligence to generate a Bitmoji character from an image.
Lens+ subscribers can use a special AI Lens to style their Bitmoji based on a photo and place it in their Snap. Subscription to Snapchat’s Lens+ package costs $8.99 per month, and gives users access to Snap’s latest AR experiments and features.
7. Pinterest Posts Strong Q4 Results
Pinterest has published its latest quarterly earnings update, posting solid increases in user numbers and revenue, as it continues to establish its position as a key platform for shopping-related discovery.
Pinterest added another 19 million monthly actives in Q4, taking it to 619 million overall. The only down point is its slower growth in the U.S., which Pinterest remains reliant on for its revenue. Though it is still seeing good results on that front, with the company bringing in $1.3 billion in Q4, and $4.2 billion for the 2025 full year.
8. X Looks To Combat Bots With New Detection Tools
X has announced a new crackdown on bots and spam, including improved detection of artificial intelligence-powered bot profiles and scraping activity, as it continues to battle fake engagement in the app.
Bots were a key focus of Elon Musk’s early, pre-purchase notes on Twitter, with Musk vowing to rid the platform of all bots, which he claimed had become a major problem. According to Musk, bot activity on Twitter had exceeded 20% of all activity in the app before he took over, which Musk had actually tried to use as a lever to get out of his $44 billion acquisition of the app.
9. LinkedIn Adds SMB-Focused Premium Subscription
LinkedIn is looking to get more small businesses to sign-up to its Premium program, with a new All-in-One professional dashboard offering that aims to make it easier for SMBs to manage their LinkedIn presence.
LinkedIn’s All-in-One platform incorporates client prospecting, marketing, and hiring tools, within a single streamlined system, along with recommended actions on what SMB owners should do next to help grow their business via the app. The program includes artificial intelligence guidance on each element, and provides monthly credits for boosting both posts and job ads, as well as profile suggestions, product spotlight tools, and more.
10. India Tightens Social Media Grip as X, YouTube, Meta Face 3-Hour Takedown Rules
India’s government has said that social media companies would have to take down unlawful content within three hours of being notified, tightening an earlier 36-hour timeline in what could be a compliance challenge for Meta, YouTube and X.
The changes amend India’s 2021 IT rules, which have already been a flashpoint between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and global technology companies. The amended rules also relaxed an earlier proposal that would have required platforms to visibly label AI-generated content across 10 percent of its surface area or duration, instead mandating that such content be “prominently labelled”.
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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