April 2025 Social Platform Updates

April left us a whirlwind of updates across the social universe. 🌌

Instagram launched an Edits app, YouTube turned 20, and X bought…X. 🤷

Here’s what else is new from the land of social. 🛰️

Facebook 👍

✦ Some news publishers are noticing a resurgence in Facebook referral traffic, with outlets like Newsweek and The Hill reporting significant increases.

✦ Facebook is cracking down on spam by limiting the reach of accounts using irrelevant captions, excessive hashtags, or impersonation tactics. It’s also testing comment downvotes and rolling out tools to help page owners automatically hide impersonating comments.

Instagram 📷

✦ Instagram dropped a new app called Edits, packed with AI tools, green screen effects, and crisp, watermark-free videos. It already has more than 7.1 million downloads.

✦ Blend lets you share personalized Reels feeds in DMs.

✦ Notes have been removed from feed posts and Reels, but remain available in DMs.

✦ Repost functionality is on the way.

✦ Instagram is testing Community Chats, allowing up to 250 people to join group conversations to challenge apps like Discord and Telegram.

✦ The “Reply with Reels” feature is in testing. Instead of just replying to a comment, you can drop a mini Reel with the original comment popping up as a sticker.

✦ Instagram is experimenting with AI-generated comment suggestions to help users quickly tap and reply with tailored responses.

✦ You can now turn audio messages into text to read them when you can’t listen.

✦ Adam Mosseri confirmed Instagram is working on improved search focused on better recommendations and easier content discovery.

✦ Mosseri also urged creators to post to their main feed, make share-worthy content, and optimize for search. He noted that more content is now shared in DMs and Stories than in the main feed.

✦ Creators can share exclusive content using locked Reels, which are accessible only by entering secret codes.

✦ Instagram is testing blue search links at the top of comments, allowing quick exploration of related topics.

✦ Creators will soon receive a monthly performance recap, offering insights into engagement, growth trends, and top posts.

✦ New Reels filters are being tested, enabling users to sort their feeds by "Latest" or "Most Viewed."

✦ Instagram is considering a feature called Storylines, where multiple creators can link Stories into a shared narrative.

✦ A native iPad app is in the works, promising a better experience than the current iPhone version.

✦ Stickers are getting an upgrade with the new “Draw Yours” prompt for Stories, along with new fonts for Reels.

✦ Instagram is exploring a standalone Reels app, codenamed Project Ray, to boost video discovery and recommendations.

✦ The platform is also rolling out new safety features for teens.

Meta ♾️

✦ Community Notes are now visible across Meta’s apps as the company shifts away from relying solely on third-party fact-checkers.

✦ You can now send files up to 100MB in Messenger chats, including Word, Excel, PDF, and more, on both mobile and desktop.

✦ Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged a dip in engagement on Facebook and Instagram, citing user shifts toward messaging apps and platforms like TikTok.

✦ Meta’s Advantage+ Catalog Ads now support overlay offers, letting brands highlight limited-time promotions directly on product images.

✦ Meta Verified for Business offers a paid subscription that boosts brand credibility and engagement across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Benefits include a verified badge, improved profile visibility, and priority support.

✦ Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses now support live translation in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. You can also send Instagram messages and make calls directly through the glasses.

✦ WhatsApp’s new “Advanced Chat Privacy” feature helps prevent others from exporting chats, auto-downloading media, or using messages with Meta AI tools.

✦ Meta just dropped its own AI app to rival ChatGPT, complete with voice, vibes, and a feed to spy on your friends’ chats.

Pinterest ✨

✦ Pinterest introduced a Performance Essentials badge on its Academy platform to help marketers drive lower-funnel results and boost conversions.

✦ A new pop-up notification is being tested for users aged 13–17 in the US and Canada, encouraging them to close the app and disable notifications during school hours.

Reddit 👽

✦ Reddit’s Business Manager now includes a Partners page, making it easier for advertisers to collaborate by sharing assets like profiles and payment methods.

Snapchat 👻

✦ Snapchat launched an Affiliate Program that rewards marketers, publishers, and creators for referring new advertisers to the platform.

✦ The platform introduced Sponsored AI Lenses, allowing brands to create personalized, AI-generated images.

✦ A recent study revealed that ads evoking positive emotions significantly boost engagement. Based on 7,600 ad views across five countries, the data shows happiness drives stronger user response.

✦ With Snap School Sponsorships, brands can partner with creators through educational workshops.

✦ Creator Connect has launched in India, helping Gen Z creators grow through mentorship, storytelling tools, and monetization features.

Threads 🧵

✦ Threads is testing a feature that lets you follow the same creators you already follow on X, making it easier to recreate your feed.

✦ Meta has expanded advertising on Threads to all eligible advertisers worldwide, following initial tests in select markets. This move supports monetization as Threads surpasses 320 million monthly active users.

✦ Threads is prompting users to add topics of interest to their profiles. These topics show up publicly and help power personalized content feeds.

TikTok ♪

✦ TikTok released a new guide to help creators enhance photo posts with better storytelling and captions.

✦ TikTok Shop expands to France, Germany, and Italy, pushing further into in-app shopping.

✦ Images in carousels, Stories, and ads are now automatically resized to a 3:4 format.

✦ TikTok is testing a feature that displays comments in search results under “related to your search.”

✦ TikTok Notes, the app's photo-sharing spinoff, will be retired on May 9, 2025. Users are being directed to Lemon8, another ByteDance platform.

✦ Creators can now add alt text to photos during upload or later, improving accessibility.

✦ Reviews are now appearing in video comments, helping users discover and evaluate local content.

✦ TikTok is testing a “Preview post” button on Android so users can review photo posts before publishing.

✦ A new feature called Footnotes lets users add and rate extra context on videos—similar to Meta’s Community Notes.

✦ TikTok’s invite-only Specialized Rewards Program offers top creators new monetization incentives.

✦ New ad placement controls are rolling out, including Video and Profile Feed Exclusion Lists, available via partners like Integral Ad Science, DoubleVerify, and Zefr to boost brand safety.

X 🐦

✦ xAI has acquired X (formerly Twitter), valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion.

✦ Expanded DMs are in testing, featuring end-to-end encryption, file sharing, unlock codes, and vanishing messages.

✦ X is testing a revamped video UI with a dedicated tab and full-screen playback for a smoother viewing experience.

✦ X has quietly dropped the verification badge from its Basic plan perks, leaving users with fewer reasons to subscribe.

✦ Grok, xAI’s chatbot, rolled out a memory feature to recall details from past chats. Users can now view, manage, or delete saved info.

✦ xAI also launched Grok Studio, a flexible AI-powered workspace for writing, coding, and app-building. It supports real-time editing and split-screen collaboration, available to both free and premium users.

YouTube 🎥

✦ YouTube is supporting the bipartisan NO FAKES Act, introduced by Senators Chris Coons and Marsha Blackburn, to protect creators and viewers from unauthorized AI-generated replicas.

✦ Celebrating its 20th birthday, YouTube rolled out exciting updates like multiview on YouTube TV, voice replies for comments, enhanced playback controls, and personalized radio stations.

✦ An AI-powered video carousel is being tested in search results to improve content discovery.

✦ YouTube’s auto-dubbing tool is now available to all creators in the YouTube Partner Program, offering automatic voiceovers in languages like French, Spanish, and Hindi.

✦ A new AI Music Assistant lets creators generate custom background music by entering a prompt,  perfect for setting the mood of a video.

✦ A daily timer for YouTube Shorts is being tested to curb endless scrolling. Once the limit’s reached, scrolling pauses, though users can still watch individual Shorts manually.

Others 📝

✦ Discord is testing a new age verification process that may require users to complete a facial scan or upload an IDbefore viewing sensitive content.

✦ Bluesky rolled out Twitter-style updates, including emoji reactions in DMs, a revamped Explore page, and a new blue check verification system.

✦ BeReal launched ads in the US, allowing brands to tap into its real-time format with targeted posts and full-app takeovers.

✦ Substack now features a TikTok-style video feed, letting creators share short-form videos directly on the platform.

✦ Twitch has updated its moderation policy. Streamers hit with temporary bans will now face limited monetization as part of the penalty.

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