Social Media Platform News – February 2025

As always, social media continues to evolve with fresh updates and new features that could shape how we engage online. From AI-powered enhancements to user experience improvements, platforms are continuing to roll out changes that could boost engagement and refine content discovery… Ready to dive into this month’s social media platform news?

Let’s go!

Snapchat:

It’s an unusual start to the round up this month, and we’re kicking off with a quick update from Snapchat who are integrating in-house AI image generation. Snapchat developed its own AI model specifically for mobile, enabling fast, high-quality image creation. It can generate high-resolution images in under 1.5 seconds on an iPhone 16 Pro Max! Now, that’s pretty quick!! This technology will support features like “AI Snaps” and “AI Bitmoji Backgrounds,” and should be rolled out later this year.

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TikTok:

Over to TikTok now and it’s been pretty quiet this month.

As debates continue over its future in the U.S., TikTok is available for download on App Stores for US users. The reinstatement follows official assurances to both companies that they will not face penalties for providing access to the app.

As we’ve said before, the ban doesn’t impact users in the UK. But, our recommendation to repurpose your content to other shortform platforms still stands!

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LinkedIn:

LinkedIn has introduced new vertical video features to enhance its appeal to content creators. This move positions LinkedIn closer to the TikTok-style format as video-sharing continues to gain traction. With a growing pressure on professionals to establish personal brands, this seems to be a logical update from LinkedIn!

LinkedIn is also experimenting with a new feature that allows users to customise their feed by focusing solely on updates from their first-degree connections. The test introduces two feed options: “All,” which is the current default experience, and “My Network”. My Network will filter content to display only posts from your direct connections, followed people and pages. While this update aims to provide a more personalised experience, it could potentially boost engagement across the platform too.

Next, LinkedIn has rolled out another new feature that allows users to see how many people have viewed their comments on posts. This update highlights the importance of engagement beyond original content. Let’s not forget – comments play a key role in boosting visibility and building connections…

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Sticking with analytics:

LinkedIn has introduced two new analytics features for newsletter creators. Previously, the focus was only on views and subscriber growth. These new insights offer more ways to measure and optimise audience engagement. This update gets a thumbs up from us and if you’re using newsletters you’ll get deeper insights into audience behaviour!

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Meta:

Over to Meta now and they’re updating the livestream storage policy. Now, this might not sound like much. But they’re cutting down the time broadcasts remain available to 30 days. After that, they’ll be removed! The change is part of an effort to reduce video storage costs, so if you want to keep your past livestreams, we’d recommend downloading and saving them elsewhere ASAP!

Next, Meta users have started noticing a new pop-up in the app, introducing its latest AI chat features. The message serves as a disclaimer on data privacy, letting users know that Meta AI can now be accessed across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Sounds pretty straight forward, right!? Well, there’s a catch – any information shared in these chats could be used for AI training! Keep this in mind, like with all free AI tools, before you start firing off your questions and inputting data!

Meta is also testing a simplified Advantage+ campaign setup, eliminating the choice between manual or Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns. If this update is rolled out, Advantage+ optimisation will apply across all campaign elements, making ad management far more seamless and efficient for users.

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It’s been a busy one for Meta, and here is some more Social Media Platform News:

Meta has begun introducing its AI Images feature on Instagram in India, allowing users to share AI-generated visuals directly within Stories. This new update would be found in the Instagram Stories interface. The new “AI Images” option provides a selection of pre-generated AI images for users to post. Additionally, users can create custom AI-generated images by providing a description to Meta AI, tailoring visuals to their preferences before sharing.

You may think this isn’t relevant, Meta is always testing new features in different countries before rolling them out wider. Watch this space!

Meta is preparing to roll out Community Notes, which replaces third-party fact-checking (in the USA) with a user-driven approach. The company released an overview detailing how the feature will work, and it will give users the ability to flag and annotate posts to challenge misinformation. It’s worth noting that however, this feature will not apply to ads.

Instagram: ?

We’ve got a couple of BIG pieces of social media platform news from Instagram this month!

First, Instagram is testing a new dislike button for comments, allowing users to ‘downvote’ irrelevant or unhelpful replies. This is currently being trailed on Reels and Feed posts, but the feature won’t display a public dislike count. However, Adam Mosseri has confirmed that dislikes will influence comment ranking over time, and is similar to Reddit’s downvote system.

Next, Instagram is reportedly considering launching a standalone Reels app. Adam Mosseri recently proposed the idea to internal teams, exploring whether Reels could function as a separate platform. With Reels now allowing videos up to three minutes long, the expanded content options could make a standalone app a viable option. We’re not 100% sure on this update so we’ll keep you updated on any additional news!

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A couple more updates worth mentioning:

Instagram may introduce a convenient way for users to manage their to-dos. The new “Create Task” feature within direct messages is being tested and could be helpful to users! If rolled out, it would allow users to turn key conversation points into actionable tasks.

Instagram has rolled out several new features to enhance direct messaging, including message translation, music stickers, scheduled messages, pinned content, and group chat QR codes. These updates aim to make it simpler and more engaging for users to connect with friends and family through DMs and seems to bring it inline with how WhatsApp operates.

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Threads:

Over to Threads now and they’ve reached another milestone! Now boasting 320 million active users, Mark Zuckerberg remains confident the app is on track to reach a billion users. While that milestone may still seem distant, Threads’ increasing popularity is drawing more attention – including from marketers. According to the latest Sprout Social Pulse Survey, 53% of marketers are already posting on Threads, with another 23% planning to establish a presence this year. If you’re wondering whether to start using Threads, it could be a good time to review your strategy!

Next, Threads has just rolled out a long-anticipated media tab, making it easier to view all your uploaded photos and videos in one place. Alongside this update, the platform has also introduced a markup tool for resharing posts and photo tagging. These are just a couple of the ways Threads is giving users more interactive ways to engage with content.

And lastly for Threads, they have introduced a new feature that lets users share custom feeds with friends. This update makes content discovery even easier and is similar to BlueSky’s Starter Packs.

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X:

It’s AI focused news for X this month with the latest AI model, Grok 3 now available to some users. Trained on 200,000 GPUs, the new model boasts more than ten times the computing power of its predecessor. According to X, this advancement positions Grok 3 ahead of competitors in several key performance benchmarks.

Following the launch of its Grok 3 AI model, X unveiled two new automated ad creation features. These features are designed to optimise creative and targeting strategies. One of these features, “Prefill with Grok,” is now available to select advertisers within X Ads Manager. This allows X’s AI to generate promotional content for businesses based on a provided URL, streamlining the ad creation process.

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BlueSky:

Social network BlueSky will soon give its users more control over who can reply to their posts. Confirmed by Paul Frazee, BlueSky will add a new “followers only” setting that users can configure to limit replies. Additionally, they will create a way for users to set their default reply settings. That means if you want to always limit your replies to followers only, for instance, you could. This is a good update from BlueSky and could help the platform to further differentiate itself from Threads and X.

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Flashes:

Last but not least, we’re talking about Flashes, an Instagram alternative brought to you by BlueSky! Like Threads and Instagram, Flashes is connected to your BlueSky account and briefly launched in beta before being removed from the test store. According to the developer, the app was taken down due to technical issues. We’ll bring you more information on this App once we have it, so make sure to check back for the next roundup!

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Stay Ahead of the Curve with AI in Social Media:

That’s your lot! Staying informed about the latest social media platform news is key to maintaining a strong online presence. If you’re looking to streamline your content creation, boost efficiency, and harness AI to enhance your social media strategy, now is the time to up-skill! ?The replay of our AI Made Easy Bootcamp is now available, giving you practical ways to integrate AI into your workflow, saving time while keeping your content authentic and engaging. Sign up now and take your social media strategy to the next level!