Social Media Updates

LinkedIn announced creator tools on 15 October: a US-only In-Stream Ads test that pays invited creators for pre-roll video ads, paid Advice Sessions for US Business Premium members, a global creator dashboard, and a network-feed test that includes India. LinkedIn has not disclosed revenue shares.

At Made on YouTube on 23 September, YouTube announced a conversational AI editing partner for Shorts, improved feedback in YouTube Studio, tools to help creators get noticed by brands and pitch partnerships, wider likeness detection, live auto-dubbing, live showdowns, Shorts series on TV and custom homepage feeds.

Meta has launched Meta One, a subscription across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta AI. Business and creator plans start at $14.99 a month and include verification, more Business Agent replies on WhatsApp, and, at higher tiers, links in organic posts, story scheduling and team access. Plans are available globally, and pricing varies by region.

Instagram has launched First Draft for Reels. After you select several video clips, it picks the strongest moments, cuts pauses, trims clips and arranges them into a draft Reel in one tap. All changes can be reversed, and First Draft is available from the Reels gallery and the Instagram camera.

Meta AI has new tools for small businesses. It can connect to Meta ad accounts, Facebook and Instagram analytics and Google Workspace to audit campaigns, flag tired creatives, suggest budget changes, benchmark against similar brands and produce reports as slides, documents or spreadsheets. It is free to start, and heavier use will need Meta One.

LinkedIn has added AI-powered recommended clips and chapters to its event tools. After a live event, the system suggests standout moments such as announcements, key insights and memorable quotes for hosts to trim and share as short videos, and splits long recordings into chapters. The feature is available to all users globally.

YouTube will double Partner Program entry requirements for new channels from 1 February 2027, to 8,000 watch hours or 20 million Shorts views in 90 days. Existing partners are unaffected. A new Shorts ad format gives creators 45% of revenue when advertisers target five or fewer channels.

WhatsApp has announced Business Usernames, allowing companies to claim unique handles like @YourBusiness. The feature helps customers connect without seeing a business phone number and introduces Business-Scoped User IDs (BSUID) and Phone Number Request buttons for Cloud API integrations.

Meta has introduced a new AI-powered creator assistant on Facebook that delivers personalized recommendations, content ideas, audience insights, and posting suggestions based on each creator's performance and goals.

TechCrunch covers a wave of India-built AI social media management platforms that draft, schedule and analyse content in regional languages — letting SMBs run multi-platform calendars without a full social team.

Instagram's Creators blog confirms carousels are now the highest-reach format for small business accounts, overtaking single Reels for non-celebrity profiles thanks to longer dwell time and re-surfacing.

Meta has added creator-led placements to Advantage+ Shopping and Lead campaigns, letting advertisers run AI-optimised ads inside Reels created by partnered creators — early tests show 18–24% lower CPL.

YouTube's official blog announced that all eligible SMB channels can now tag products directly inside Shorts, opening a low-friction shoppable layer for India-based D2C brands without affiliate setup.

LinkedIn Marketing's blog details an upgrade to Thought Leader Ads that uses AI to suggest top-performing employee posts to boost, helping B2B brands turn organic leadership content into paid pipeline.