Social Media Buzz Weekly: Roundup of Social Media Updates
- ClickInsights
- 1 hour ago
- 6 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. Meta Fined $567M for Failing to Protect Teens
A New Mexico judge has ruled that Meta will have to pay $567 million for facilitating harm to teens in its apps. New Mexico Chief District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the state of New Mexico is in a youth mental health crisis and that Meta’s platforms are “a significant contributing cause to the crisis.”
The penalty was the second element of a two-phase litigation pursued by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. In the first phase, which was subject to a jury verdict back in March, Meta was found liable for failing to protect young users from child predators in its apps, with the jury approving $375 million in civil damages against the social media giant. This second phase also relates to Meta’s failure to protect teens, with the ruling increasing the total financial impact to a combined $942 million for the business. The funds will go towards support, awareness and prevention measures.
2. Meta Adds More Incentives For Paying Users
Meta is reportedly adding more options designed to help drive growth for creators and businesses to sweeten the deal for Meta One subscribers. As part of this, Meta is alerting its paying users to a range of improved and updated incentives, including a bigger follow button on Reels to help users with Facebook Professional Profiles build an audience, expanded access to its artificial intelligence-powered response tools within Messenger, enhanced profiles, and profile listing improvements.
Meta One subscribers are also being told they can now set up auto-invites for people that interact with their posts. This is being promoted as a means to “grow followers automatically,” according to the company. The updates show that Meta is getting more serious about growing its subscription revenue by providing access to tools and business partnership options that could be valuable to creators and brands.
3. Meta Adds More Experimental Edits Features to Its Beta Tab
Meta is giving creators access to new experimental video editing features via the beta tab in its Edits app. Updated features include speed ramping, color-correction adjustment and a new way to manage ongoing projects.
Meta said that new beta tab features on iOS include speed curves, which will enable “precise, dynamic speed ramping along a customizable curve.” Meta added that this has been one of its more requested video editing features, especially for short-form video creators. Meta is also trying out one-tap color correction, which will automatically optimize exposure, contrast and tone in video projects. The company is also testing folders on both iOS and Android that will provide another way for creators to manage multiple projects at once by saving them into separate areas in the app.
4. Mark Zuckerberg Releases AI Manifesto
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reaffirmed his commitment to an artificial intelligence-driven future by publishing a 6,500-word manifesto outlining his views on the future of personal superintelligence and the benefits that it will bring to humanity.
Zuckerberg’s main contention is that superintelligence will be one of the most important technological developments in history, and as such, it should be made available to everyone, and not controlled by corporations and government bodies. His view is that AI isn’t about automation or replacing human labor with machines. Rather, it’s about expanding opportunity via systems that can help unlock new knowledge. This runs counter to Zuckerberg’s previous statements that AI will replace human staff at his own company. It also contradicts Meta’s own actions, after the company cut 20% of its employees earlier this year.
5. Meta Adds Dedicated Ad Exclusion Audiences
Meta has added the option to create exclusion-only audiences for Meta ad sets, providing another way to omit specific people from ad targeting in the app. An exclusion-only custom audience is a type of customer list custom audience that can only be used to exclude people from your ad audience. Unlike a regular custom audience, an exclusion-only custom audience cannot be used to include people in your audience.
Meta said that exclusion-only audiences can be used to ensure that people who’ve opted out of a business’s products or services no longer see those promotions, reducing wasted ad spend. This can also be used to exclude people that a business has “a legal or regulatory obligation not to target,” the company said. Meta added that the option can be used as a permanent guardrail against accidental inclusion when utilizing custom audiences.
6. TikTok Partners with Disney
TikTok has announced a deal with the Walt Disney Company that will let TikTok users use Disney characters and scenes in their creative content. In what TikTok is calling a “first-of-its-kind global deal,” TikTok users will soon be able to use approved Disney assets in short-form video clips.
As part of the arrangement, Disney will in turn be able to use any created clips in its own short-form video feed on Disney+, which could expand the reach of creator content. The agreement will also include a Disney Creator Ambassador Program that will enable best-in-class creators to unlock special rewards and provide them with increased visibility, as well as access to exclusive events and career development pathways.
7. TikTok Shutters Nashville Office, Lays Off 250 Employees
TikTok USDS JV, which manages the U.S. operations of TikTok, is shutting down its office in Nashville. Up until now, that office was the home of part of the platform’s local moderation team. TikTok is laying off 250 employees as a result of the change, and the Nashville office is set to close on October 5.
TikTok said in a statement that the decision to shutter its Nashville office was made in an effort to streamline operations and better align its teams for long-term growth. TikTok did not share details regarding the impacts of this closure on its moderation efforts. The company also declined to comment on replacing labor capacity lost as a result of the change.
8. Nikita Bier Steps Down as X's Head of Product
X’s Head of Product Nikita Bier has announced that he’s stepping down. Bier, who came to X after a year ago after building two successful social engagement apps of his own, told users in an X post that although he’s leaving his current position, he will stay on as an advisor.
Over the past year, Bier has become the public voice of the app. Bier’s personal X account has often been the only communications channel sharing updates on app development. Bier said that in his time at X, the platform has seen “unprecedented growth in new users & engagement,” and that it breaks records every month. However, Bier’s growth claims haven’t always been reflected in X’s official reported numbers. In February, a week after X owner Elon Musk said the app was seeing record-high usage, X’s own EU DSA disclosure report showed that X usage in Europe had actually declined by 15% in the second half of 2025.
9. X Updates Creator Revenue Share Parameters
X has announced an update to its creator revenue share program, which is designed to better incentivize original content creators and further curtail content aggregators and re-posters. Rebranded as the Original Content Rewards program, the new plan sets updated parameters around is considered original content.
X will stop accepting new Revenue Sharing participants, while existing participants will continue earning money through September 7. Then, starting on September 8, they’ll be able to apply for the new program. Participants will still need to subscribe to one of X’s Premium tiers, and there will be qualifying thresholds for follower count (500 verified followers) and impressions (500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users in 90 days), but it sounds like the big change is the emphasis on originality. All participating creators will now have to abide by these new restrictions in order to earn payouts. X says that the goal of the new incentive program is simple, “Reward creators who bring something new to X,” the company said.
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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