🥱 AI is everywhere

🔥 Our top 34 Social Media Marketing stories this week

Joshua Parkinson
July 28, 2025

In partnership with

Top Story

YouTube Shorts launches free image-to-video AI tools. YouTube supercharges Shorts with AI; turn any photo into an animated video, remix doodles, and test generative effects in the new AI Playground. The launch opens an easy path for brands and creators to produce eye-catching content, rolling out in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand first.

Get ready for the next wave of viral weirdness. 🤩 ~TWISM

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Instagram

Instagram rolls out unskippable feed ads. Full-screen, unskippable ads now stop users mid-scroll, raising reach for brands but risking user irritation as feeds get more intrusive.

Brave new ad world: stop-scrolling slots could mean more eyeballs, but risk turning feeds into billboards. 😬 ~TWISM

Instagram adds privacy controls for the Likes and Friends tab. Now you can control who sees your Likes and activity, tightening privacy for creators and regular users alike.

Instagram expands selfie verification for account access. More users can recover hacked accounts using selfie video verification, making it easier to regain access after lockouts.

Instagram lets you link Reels together. Creators can connect new uploads to older Reels, boosting discovery for past videos and helping keep viewers engaged with full content series.

Instagram debuts 'cut silences' tool for video edits. Save time on edits; Instagram will automatically remove awkward silences from your Reels for snappier, more engaging videos.

Facebook & Meta

Facebook offers free post boosts for ‘high quality’ content.
Posts that meet Facebook’s quality standards can now earn free reach boosts—no ad spend needed for top-performing creators and brands.

Organic strategy just became non-negotiable. 😳 ~TWISM

Facebook tests ‘For You’ and ‘Explore’ tabs in Reels. The new Reels tabs could help users discover more relevant or diverse videos, increasing the chance for brand content to hit new audiences.

Meta bans all political ads in Europe from October 2025. Due to new EU laws, Meta will block all political, electoral, and social issue ads across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp in the region, forcing brands and advocates to rethink outreach ahead of major elections.

Meta shows off mind-reading wristband. Meta's demoed a futuristic EMG wristband that uses AI to understand your muscle impulses, so you can open apps, scroll, or type just by intending to move..

Threads

Threads creator bonus payouts comes to an end. Meta has shut down its Threads bonus program, quietly pausing $500–$5,000 payments for top posts since April. Bad news for creators banking on extra incentives.

Threads debuts advanced analytics and audience insights. Get deep demographic, reach, and engagement breakdowns—perfect for fine-tuning content and targeting, plus more metrics for cross-posts on Instagram and Facebook.

Finally, real analytics for Threads! No more posting into a black hole—track what's working and double down. 🎯 ~TWISM

Threads rolls out group chat and DM upgrades. Edit or delete DMs, share GIFs and stickers, and finally gather superfans in new group chats, closing the gap with Instagram Direct and Messenger.

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YouTube

YouTube tests threaded comments and custom AI music for Shorts. Threaded comment trees and smarter AI music creation are now live for select users, helping creators boost engagement.

YouTube reports Q2 ad revenue hits $9.8B. Short-form and long-form content now both drive big revenue. Plus, more TV viewers tune in as YouTube solidifies its streaming dominance.

YouTube is still the undisputed king of video. 😌 ~TWISM

TikTok

TikTok faces a U.S. ban if no deal is reached by September 17. If ByteDance can’t sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American company by the deadline, the app could go dark for 170 million users, upending influencer strategy and ad budgets overnight.

If TikTok gets banned, brace for mass migration and a total ad shake-up. Diversify while you still can! 😱 ~TWISM

TikTok launches Shop product subscriptions. Sellers can now offer recurring deliveries for beauty, wellness, food, and home products, mirroring Amazon’s model, but creators only earn on the first sale.

TikTok launches Messi-only MLS livestreams. Watch live MLS games with a dedicated Messi cam. Brands get fresh engagement opportunities as sports content explodes on TikTok.

TikTok tests secret replies sticker for Stories. Senders and brands can now invite DM-style feedback with private, exclusive replies.

TikTok adds a menu to fine-tune your feed. A new menu lets users and marketers further customize what content appears, essential for anyone managing or growing a niche audience.

LinkedIn pushes short-form video, influencer marketing for B2B. Video sharing is up 20x, 78% of B2B marketers use video, and influencer partners are now mainstream per LinkedIn's 2025 Benchmark.

LinkedIn Premium perks expand with Notion Plus trial. Premium subscribers get six months of Notion Plus (including AI), making team planning and content strategy easier for power users.

LinkedIn changes its algorithm for 2025. New algorithm boosts carousels, original advice, and time spent reading thoughtful comments; simple 'comment YES' threads won’t cut it.

LinkedIn leans hard into creators, TikTok-style feed. Expect more video, more influencer content, and an AI-powered ranking system prioritizing posts you engage with, not just connections.

B2B pros, start acting like content creators or risk getting lost in the noise! 😎 ~TWISM.

X/Twitter

X restricts ads to one emoji; the rest get penalized. Ads with more than one emoji earn lower quality, raising costs. Exceptions: Japan and Korea.

Sometimes rules are just…weird. 😂 ~TWISM

X launches Grok AI stock advice on Kalshi. Kalshi users now get real-time market tips from X’s Grok AI. Regulatory concerns are mounting over AI financial guidance.

X's AI features drive a 325% iOS revenue spike. Grok 4 launches and NSFW AI companions boost revenue and downloads, hinting at a future beyond ads for X.

X adds four quick action buttons in the app. New shortcuts for search, posts, messaging, and Ask Grok streamline busy creator workflows.

X faces huge fines for age-check failures in Ireland. Irish regulators warn X must ramp up parental controls and age checks, or risk €500,000 penalties.

Et cetera

Reddit is now the top ad platform for Fortune 500 brands. Major marketers shift spend to Reddit post-IPO, attracted by ad revenue growth and strong trust levels that outperform X.

Snapchat rolls out Home Safe alerts. Users send one-tap alerts to friends on Snap Map when they arrive home safely—ideal for safety-focused campaigns with Gen Z.

Netflix doubles down on podcast, creator ad formats. Netflix aims to rival YouTube and Spotify by hiring for a video podcast push and expanding its Ads Suite, now at 94M users.

Mastodon tests in-app donations for core users. Donation prompts appear for long-term users; more platforms may follow as they hunt for new funding streams.

Google search tests more AI-organized results. "Web Guide" sorts search results using Gemini AI, reducing clicks to websites; marketers should expect less social traffic from Google.

Reddit steals the show for big brands, but authenticity is non-negotiable. 🧐 ~TWISM

That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading. Now…

Go BIG or go home!

~ Josh from “This Week in Social Media”

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