Social Media Shake-Ups: what you need to know NOW

Big things are happening in social media land, and if you blink, you might miss them. And if you really miss them, your boss/client/micromanaging board member will ask why you didn’t see it coming. So let’s get you ahead of the curve.

Here’s what’s shaking up your feeds:

?? New Rules, New Headaches

• Age Verification Crackdown – Platforms are scrambling to comply with new laws. Apple’s rolling out an age range API (read: now social apps can actually tell if a user is under 16). Australia’s making it illegal for anyone under 16 to have social media at all. TL;DR? If your brand targets Gen Z, get ready for big engagement shifts.
• US Lawmakers Want Kids Off Social Media – The Kids Off Social Media Act (KOSMA) proposes banning kids under 13 from having accounts and limiting algorithmic recommendations for users under 17. That’s right—your perfectly crafted content may no longer reach its teen audience like it used to. Time to rethink your strategy.

?? Platform Power Moves

• Instagram’s New Bells & Whistles – Expect fresh text fonts, a "cut silences" tool for Reels (goodbye awkward pauses), and more group chat features. Oh, and message translation—so you can finally understand what your international audience is saying when they DM you.
• LinkedIn Goes Vertical – If your boss still thinks LinkedIn is just for job-hunting, tell them it’s now a TikTok competitor (sort of). Vertical video, new in-feed layouts, and beefed-up analytics make it way more creator-friendly. If your brand isn’t leveraging LinkedIn yet, now’s the time.

? Meta’s Big Pivot

• Content Moderation Is Changing – Meta’s switching up how it handles fact-checking, shifting more to community-driven notes. And they’re relaxing some hate speech policies. Why does this matter? If your brand relies on Meta ads, you’ll want to keep an eye on the shifting rules of engagement. Plus it may be good news for causes who have struggled to share content about important issues on gender and race in the past.?

What This Means for You

Organic reach is about to get weird. Be ready to test new strategies. Targeting younger audiences is about to get harder. Paid ads? Maybe. Community engagement? Definitely. Video. Video. Video. Platforms are doubling down on it—so should you.

That’s your cheat sheet for the social media chaos happening right now. Need help navigating it? Let’s chat. Or at least, let’s complain about it in the DMs.

Talk soon,

Alecia

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P.S. If you like staying ahead of the game, keep an eye on my updates. I’ll keep you posted before your boss/client asks, "Why didn’t we know this?"

You can also join my private community inside The Training Vault, so you have all the social media answers at your fingertips, when you need them.?