Instagram’s onto downvotes and testimonials, the future of UGC and what did Poppi do?

Platform News

Instagram is testing downvotes in comments

Instagram is testing a new downvote feature in comments, a concept similar to what we’ve seen on platforms like Reddit and YouTube. This feature allows users to downvote comments they find unhelpful or inappropriate, providing a way to signal negative feedback. The goal behind this is to give Instagram’s algorithm more data on which comments users dislike, helping it better understand content preferences and manage comment quality. By collecting these signals, Instagram can improve the overall user experience by filtering out less desirable comments and promoting more relevant or positive discussions.

YouTube partners with repurpose.io to drive users to the app

Following the TikTok ban, many creators have diversified their presences across multiple platforms to maintain their reach and engagement, as well as the certainty of job security at a turbulent time. In response, YouTube has teamed up with repurpose.io, a tool that allows creators to easily download and share their existing content across various social media platforms, offering a 3 month free subscription. This partnership enables creators to republish their older videos to YouTube, effectively allowing them to kickstart their YouTube journeys, helping them expand their audience and stay relevant across different platforms without the need to create new content from scratch. It offers a simple way to maximise the value of past content and maintain a consistent online presence, which is a known barrier to moving to another platform as you have to start from zero again. We are intrigued to see the uptake of this promotion, is YouTube the next TikTok?

Instagram is introducing a new feature within its Partnership Ads

This new addition allows brands to feature creator endorsements as sponsored comments on posts. These "testimonials" are brief, text-only endorsements appearing in the post's comment section, and they’ll be marked as "Sponsored." This feature aims to give creators more ways to monetize their partnerships. Testimonials will be limited to 125 characters, with brands allowed only one per post. This initiative plays on the fact that 40% of Instagram users consider creator recommendations when shopping, making such endorsements potentially influential in driving interest and sales. While less visible than a dedicated post, this option offers an easy way for creators to earn more without creating additional content, and for brands to leverage creator influence without needing separate ads. The success of this feature depends on whether users engage with post comments enough to notice these endorsements. We’re definitely interested, are you?

Need to Know

Poppi’s Super Bowl Vending Machine Campaign Faces fail!

Poppi's Super Bowl promotion, where personalised vending machines stocked with canned drinks were sent to influencers, quickly faced backlash. Critics called the campaign out for being out of touch, environmentally irresponsible, and wasteful, especially when competitor Ollipop estimated the machines cost over $25K each. This backlash hurt both Poppi and the influencers, who saw hateful comments and lost followers. The lesson here: social media audiences now value realism and authenticity over extravagant stunts. Brands should focus on genuine, user-benefiting intentions when gifting creators, leading to better engagement and more positive reactions.

Influencer costs are down, while UGC content creation is on the up!

Collabstr.’s recent report proved that Influencer partnerships dropped to an average of $202 in early 2025, down from $214 last year, with platforms like TikTok seeing a significant 32.68% decrease as the relationship between brands and influencers has clearly shifted. In 2025, the brand relationship to influencers is for their following rather than the content itself, leaving fewer reasons to engage influencers and pay them for bottom-funnel activations.?

Meanwhile, 66% of creators now offer UGC services, up from 26% in 2024, with rates also dropping to $198.06. UGC is proving to be more effective than traditional branded content, with 93% of marketers saying it delivers better results, as greater awareness can be generated for cheaper cost. This clearly demonstrates the shift in perspective from brands, as we all align on the purpose of influencer content for audience and loyalty, and UGC content for reach and awareness.

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