- This Week in Social Media (TWISM)
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- 🥱 Vertical video competition escalates (again)
🥱 Vertical video competition escalates (again)
🔥 Our top 36 Social Media Marketing stories this week
Joshua Parkinson
September 08, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
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Top News of the Week
Top Story
Instagram launches dedicated iPad app focused on Reels. The new iPad app puts Reels front and center, making it easier for users to watch and interact with short videos on bigger screens. Enhanced layouts let you view comments and chats while you scroll. Available for iPadOS 15.1+ users
TikTok should be watching its back now. 😏 ~TWISM
Sponsored - Pacaso’s investment opportunity.
How 433 Investors Unlocked 400X Return Potential
Institutional investors back startups to unlock outsized returns. Regular investors have to wait. But not anymore. Thanks to regulatory updates, some companies are doing things differently.
Take Revolut. In 2016, 433 regular people invested an average of $2,730. Today? They got a 400X buyout offer from the company, as Revolut’s valuation increased 89,900% in the same timeframe.
Founded by a former Zillow exec, Pacaso’s co-ownership tech reshapes the $1.3T vacation home market. They’ve earned $110M+ in gross profit to date, including 41% YoY growth in 2024 alone. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.
The same institutional investors behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay backed Pacaso. And you can join them. But not for long. Pacaso’s investment opportunity ends September 18.
Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.
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Instagram will expand voice translations to more languages. The feature for Reels will support top global languages like French, German, Portuguese, and several languages from India, making content more accessible.
Instagram adds Meta AI message summaries. Save time by letting Meta AI recap your DMs, so you never miss important info in long conversations.
Instagram lets you pin your own comments. Highlight important info or updates for your followers right at the top of your post's comment section.
Instagram limits message requests to last 30 days. Only recent DM requests now show by default, but you can tap to view older ones if needed.
Facebook & Meta
Facebook brings back pokes with upgrades. Now you can access Pokes from your Profile or Friends tab, track pokes, and dismiss them if they're not your style. Easter eggs included for extra nostalgia.
Facebook adds page anniversary celebrations. Your business Page will now get a special callout on its birthday. An easy post idea to boost engagement.
Meta shares new AI tips for holiday ad campaigns. Meta recommends using its AI-driven Advantage+ tools for smarter targeting, extending campaigns into January, omnichannel strategies with Conversions API, and partnering with Reels creators to boost conversions.
Meta adds a restricted words option for AI ad copy. Marketers can now block specific terms from appearing in AI-generated Facebook and Instagram ad text, giving you tighter control over brand voice when using Advantage+ campaigns.
Finally, AI that listens when you say "never use THAT word again." 😅 ~TWISM
Meta updates details on incremental attribution for ads. Track Facebook and Instagram ad conversions more accurately with new AI-powered attribution models that go beyond clicks and time windows.
Threads
Threads launches 10k character text expansion. You can now attach a text note of up to 10,000 characters to your Threads posts, perfect for sharing in-depth insights, stories, or blog-style content, plus links won't hurt your reach.
Will audiences actually read longer posts, though? 🤔 ~TWISM
Threads limits messages to three before approval. You can now send up to three Messages to someone before they accept your request, helping cut down on unwanted DMs.
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YouTube
YouTube taps creators for first-ever NFL game stream. YouTube is collaborating with popular creators to enhance fan engagement during the Chiefs vs. Chargers NFL game, marking the platform's first live NFL broadcast, with the goal of maximizing reach and interactivity.
This is the kind of creator-brand-sports crossover that marketers dream of! 🙌 ~TWISM
YouTube gets exclusive Sesame Street deal. Starting January 2026, YouTube will become the official digital home of Sesame Street, adding hundreds of full episodes to its platform, good news for anyone targeting kids' and family audiences.
YouTube reveals top video trends for Gen Z. Younger audiences love "creative maximalism"; dense, collaborative, story-driven videos that mix world-building, internet jokes, and audience participation.
YouTube's AI enhancements for Shorts spark creator backlash. Creators say YouTube's machine learning "upscaling" changes their videos' look without consent and want an opt-out option.
TikTok
TikTok rolls out new support tools for Shop creators. Features like a 30-day Creator Pilot Program, compliance quizzes, and a Video Pre-Check Tool help sellers avoid violations and improve listings.
TikTok keeps trying to make it easier for creators! 😉 ~TWISM
TikTok rolls out 'remove background noise' for live streams. You can now filter out unwanted noise for clearer audio during your TikTok Lives.
TikTok adds AI-powered text-to-image feature. Type your text in a Text post, and TikTok turns it into an image with backgrounds, emojis, and more. Share directly to Stories or as a photo/carousel post.
TikTok names 12 finalists for live music contest. Artists will compete live on September 26 to become TikTok's first-ever Next Up: LIVE Music champion, in partnership with iHeartRadio.
TikTok tries Instagram-style trial videos. Test out new videos that won't show up on your profile, unless users discover them in their feed and tap through. Great for experimenting without crowding your grid.
LinkedIn expands company and recruiter verification. Businesses with Premium Company Pages can now get verified, and recruiters must validate their workplace before listing job titles. Helps stop scammers and builds more trust in job search and networking.
LinkedIn's finally making fake recruiters work a little harder. Love to see it! 😎 ~TWISM
LinkedIn rolls out AI hiring assistant globally. Now recruiters everywhere can use LinkedIn's AI to shortlist candidates, schedule interviews, and sync info with their hiring systems.
LinkedIn adds CapCut integration for video creators. Now you can edit videos in CapCut and publish them straight to LinkedIn, complete with captions and a "Made with CapCut" badge on mobile.
X/Twitter
X adds an image-to-video tool powered by Grok. Now you can instantly turn images into videos right from the post creation sheet. No extra tools needed.
This could help boost engagement for quick posts. 😏 ~TWISM
X shares holiday ad tips and a new hub. Access X's marketing hub for holiday ad strategies, best practices, and webinars. Their advice: keep ads short, authentic, urgent, and mobile-friendly. Plus, avoid hashtags and overloaded visuals.
X brings chats and DMs into one place. Now you'll manage all private messages on X from a single inbox, making it easier to stay on top of conversations with followers and friends.
xAI adds a new companions tab for Grok. Quickly access all available Grok AI chat personalities in one spot.
xAI adds text-to-speech for Grok on iOS. Now you can listen to Grok's responses during your usual chat sessions, making hands-free interaction easier.
Et cetera
Roblox launches TikTok-style video feed and AI creator tools. Roblox Moments lets users 13+ clip, edit, and share 30-second gameplay videos. New AI features include real-time voice translation and APIs for creating interactive elements or adding voice narration.
Roblox is clearly aiming to be more than just a game; it's taking on TikTok, YouTube, and even the AI craze, all at once. 💥 ~TWISM
Netflix to stream Canelo vs. Crawford boxing mega-fight free. This September, the world's biggest boxing event will stream live on Netflix for all subscribers, with social media buzzing over exclusive training clips, behind-the-scenes content, and a promo blitz that's hitting every platform.
HubSpot debuts AI playbook as old funnels fade. HubSpot's new AI-driven framework aims to help marketers adapt as content traffic drops and traditional funnels lose power.
Snapchat debuts AI-powered Imagine Lens. Platinum and Lens+ subscribers can now create custom Snaps by typing prompts and sharing them straight to Stories or friends.
Pinterest expands teen switch-off prompts to the UK. Teens in the UK will now get in-app alerts nudging them to log off during school hours, after a successful test in North America.
Telegram adds music in profiles and more. New features include Music in Profile, Sticker Mini App, Gift Backgrounds, Checklists, Suggest Posts in Channels, and Gifts V2.0, expanding creative and engagement tools for community managers.
WhatsApp tests quizzes in broadcast channels. Engage your channel followers with interactive quizzes to boost participation and get quick audience feedback.
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Now…
Go BIG or go home!
~ Josh from “This Week in Social Media”
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