Social Media Buzz Weekly: Roundup of Social Media Updates
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 Launches Meta One for Business Add-On Packages
Meta has announced a new set of Meta One for business subscription packages, which will provide paying users with access to a range of add-on artificial intelligence-powered tools. These paid packages build on Meta’s existing consumer subscription options, and could be a valuable consideration for brands looking to make Facebook and Instagram a key focus of their online presence.
Meta One for business offers various iterations, ranging from $14.99 for the entry-level option to $499 per month for the highest-level offering. There are also Instagram-specific features, including expanded scheduling options and links in posts and Reels. The new business packages build on Meta’s existing paid add-on tools for users, which also now include the new AI subscription offerings launched last month.
2. Meta Adds More Creator Partnership Tools
Meta has officially launched its new Creator Marketing Hub, a dedicated platform that will provide access to all of Meta’s discovery and outreach options in a single UI. First announced in June, Meta’s updated Creator Marketing Hub includes a range of elements designed to facilitate brand partnerships.
Meta has also integrated partnership messaging directly into the platform, which will make it easier for brands to go straight from discovery to outreach in-stream. Meta also announced an expansion of its API connectivity options for creator insights. New features include an integration of Facebook and Instagram creators in its Creator Marketplace API and an updated Messaging API element that will more easily facilitate creator outreach.
3. Facebook Pages Get Charged for Link Posts
Meta is expanding a test that limits how many link posts a Facebook Page can publish for free, and more non-paying professional accounts are now capped at two link posts a month unless they subscribe to Meta One.
Some accounts are being limited to two link posts on Facebook per month, unless they pay for a Meta One subscription. Meta had launched a limited test restricting certain pages to two links per month in December 2025. However, with the arrival of Meta One for Business, which Meta is pitching as a key value-add, it seems that the company has expanded this restriction to more Pages.
4. Report Highlights the Value of Creator-Led Collabs on Instagram
Collab posts on Instagram are driving improved performance for brand promotions, according to the latest data insights from Emplifi. The Emplifi team recently reviewed more than 520,00 posts from 3,791 brand profiles on Instagram in order to glean insights into the trends driving brand performance in 2026.
Emplifi’s data showed that more than 73% of brands on Instagram are using Instagram’s collaboration feature. Instagram now offers two different types of brand collaborations. Emplifi defined these as owned collaborations, where the brand publishes the post and invites a creator to collaborate, and accepted collaborations, where a creator publishes a promotional post and invites the brand to collaborate.
5. Threads Advertisers Will No Longer Need an Instagram Account
Meta is changing its Threads ad creation process so that advertisers will no longer need to have a matching username on both Threads and Instagram to run promotions. Advertisers who don’t have an Instagram presence will also now be able to launch ads on Threads.
Up until now, Threads has been attached to Instagram, and advertisers were therefore required to maintain their IG identity on Threads to launch ads. But with Threads becoming a significant consideration in its own right, Meta has now updated this element. This will enable advertisers to focus their campaigns on Threads specifically.
6. Snapchat Adds New AI Features Including Chat-to-Song
Snapchat has announced a range of artificial intelligence-powered updates for Lens+ subscribers, including Snap-to-song, which enables users to generate a song from their chats, AI re-touching for photos, and a remix option to re-create the scene in an image.
First, Snapchat launched a new option that will let users generate songs from chat messages. Users can select a message and genre, and the DM text will be translated into an AI-generated song. Snapchat is also rolling out AI Photoshoot, which will offer AI editing options to clean up and improve images before sharing. There’s also a new AI Remix option, which will let users re-create images with entirely new scenarios and contexts.
7. Snapchat Report Highlights Users’ Political Engagement
With the U.S. midterm elections coming up in November, Snapchat has made its pitch for political ad spend with the release of a new report into civic engagement in the app, and how Snapchat users are influenced in their voting decisions.
The study is based on a survey of more than 1,000 Snapchat users aged between 18 and 45, which was conducted by Alter Agents earlier this year. The response data shows that Snapchat users are increasingly interested in civic participation, and are more likely to respond to in-app outreach based on causes. Snapchat users are very politically active, with 78% planning to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, per the report. That makes Snapchat users 1.2 times more likely to vote than non-users.
8. Snap Launches AR Specs
Snap has launched its AR-enabled Specs glasses, with consumers able to pre-order the fully contained mixed reality device for $2,195.
Snap’s Specs include a 51-degree field of view, which will enable all new forms of digital interaction via in-lens overlays and artificial intelligence-powered elements. The device will also include Specs Intelligence, an “anticipatory AI service” which Snap said is designed to help Specs users manage different tasks.
9. Snapchat Report Examines the Rise of Microdramas
Snapchat has published a new report on the popularity of microdramas and how Snapchat users, specifically, are responding to this new format.
Based on a study of 3,000 people across the U.S., U.K. and Saudi Arabia conducted by Ipsos earlier this year, the report shows that Snapchat users are more likely to be engaged by episodic short drama programming, which could present new promotional opportunities for brands in the app. Snapchat users are clearly enamored with the format. The data shows that 42% of Snapchat users watch microdramas daily, and are watching more over time.
10. Pinterest Announces Visual Search Ads And an AI Restyle Feature
Pinterest has announced a range of new discovery innovations at its annual Pinterest Presents event today. First, Pinterest announced visual search ads, which will let advertisers place promotions in Pinterest search results and Pin close-ups.
The placement will display paid promotions within visual search responses, providing more contextually relevant matches for image-based discovery. Pinterest’s visual search ads will be available in beta in selected markets over the next few weeks. Pinterest has also announced a new restyle option, which will let Pinners use AI to reimagine a space, test ideas and compare home décor options. This will generate multiple ideas based on different styles and products, which could help to provide relevant visual context ahead of potential purchases. Restyle will launch in the U.S. and Canada over the coming weeks.
11. XChat Disappears From App Stores
X has quietly removed its separate XChat app from both the Apple and Google Play stores as the company moves to consolidate more functionality into the main X app. As reported by 9 to 5 Mac, the XChat app disappeared from both app stores. The outlet confirmed that X chose to unlist the app itself, as opposed to being suspended.
X launched its separate X Chat app in April, after beta testing it with selected users for several months. Though even at launch, the creation of a separate chat app seemed to run counter to X owner Elon Musk’s stated vision of transforming X into an all-in-one “everything app,” within which users would be able to undertake all forms of interaction and transaction via a single platform.
12. X Adds In-Stream Stock Trading
X has taken another step toward facilitating in-app financial activity by offering the ability to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies in-stream.
X’s Cashtag Partner Program, which is now live in the U.S., builds on X’s existing cashtag functionality, in order to facilitate trade activity stemming from related discussions in the app. In April, X launched its updated Cashtags option, which links embedded market info to stock codes listings. The Cashtag Partner Program expands on this. Users can now tap through from these listings to buy or trade stocks by accessing their account on partner trading platforms.
13. LinkedIn Ditches Post Enhancement, Launches Post Proofreader
LinkedIn has replaced its AI-powered post enhancement feature with Post Proofreader, a new tool designed to help Premium users refine posts before publishing. Unlike the previous feature, which could substantially rewrite content, Post Proofreader suggests language improvements while preserving the user's original voice.
Suggested edits appear with inline change tracking, allowing users to review and approve changes individually. The move comes amid growing concerns over AI-generated “slop” on the platform. LinkedIn recently introduced an AI slop reporting option, which was used more than one million times within three weeks of launch, highlighting growing user demand for more authentic content.
14. LinkedIn Tests Network Tab to Encourage Engagement Among Connections
LinkedIn is testing a new Network tab that gives users an alternative feed featuring updates exclusively from people they have explicitly followed or connected with.
Announced by Chief Product Officer Hari Srinivasan, the feature aims to encourage more meaningful interactions and help users stay connected with people they actually know. The test comes as LinkedIn seeks to address concerns around AI-generated content and engagement pods that can artificially inflate post metrics. The platform has experimented with other alternative feeds in recent months, including suggested and topic-based feeds, but neither has been rolled out widely.
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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