Tripepi Smith’s Always-Be-Learning (#ABL) culture drives us to stay up to speed on constantly changing social media platforms. This knowledge empowers our team to track, interpret and adapt to the latest and greatest social media trends on behalf of the public agencies we serve. The following is the latest installment of our regular roundup of social media news you need to know:

  1. Facebook has rolled out new updates to boost Reels engagement, introducing indicators of when Friends have liked a reel and refining its algorithm to surface newer videos more quickly. The result: better recommendations, faster learning of your preferences and more ways to shape the algorithm around user interests.
  2. Instagram is testing a new way to help creators secure brand sponsorships: downloadable PDF summaries of their account stats. The feature could be especially useful for Reels creators, allowing them to highlight specific views and engagement metrics to attract advertisers. It’s the latest step in Meta’s broader effort to help creators generate revenue from their content.
  3. Threads is testing a new feature called “Ghost Posts” — temporary updates that automatically disappear after 24 hours. Still in early testing, the feature has no confirmed rollout date, but Threads hopes it will enable users to share quick, broadcast-style updates.
  4. X has rebranded its business offering from “Verified Organizations” to “Premium Business” and introduced three new subscription tiers to attract more accounts. The plans include benefits like a gold checkmark, affiliate badges to boost brand visibility, advanced impersonation defense and priority VIP tech support. For governments and multilateral organizations, a version of Premium called “Premium Organizations” will offer a gray checkmark.
  5. TikTok has announced upgrades to its AI-powered Smart+ ad tools and performance tracking features to help brands optimize campaigns. Advertisers now have greater control over Smart+ campaigns with new advanced settings, access to a new Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) Max dashboard to better track performance and expanded ways to measure ad impact beyond last-click conversions through “Assisted Conversion” tracking.

For more #AlwaysBeLearning insights from Tripepi Smith: