Social Media Industry News- October 2025

Team Ezer
Oct 3
3 min read

Social Media Platform News and Updates for OCTOBER 2025

The social media landscape continues to evolve rapidly, and September 2025 brought a wave of exciting updates across every major platform. From Meta Connect’s latest developer and product features to Instagram’s long-awaited iPad app and new performance metrics, brands and creators alike are gaining fresh tools to engage audiences. Facebook revives its nostalgic “poke” feature, while LinkedIn expands analytics and integrates with CapCut for seamless video publishing. Threads now supports long-form posts and direct messaging, TikTok reaches a landmark deal to continue U.S. operations, Snapchat launches paid storage plans, and YouTube expands Hype globally to spotlight smaller creators. These changes highlight a collective shift toward richer content experiences, deeper analytics, and more ways to connect with audiences in meaningful, measurable ways

Social media updates for Meta

Meta Connect 2025: The company's annual conference took place on September 17th and 18th, and was packed with developer, feature, and product updates worth being aware of. The replays are currently available, so check them out here!

Social media updates for Instagram

Instagram iPad App: You read that correctly! If you have an iPad, there is now a dedicated app just for you! This new app is designed specifically for the larger screen, offering optimized layouts for Reels, a dedicated Following tab, and improved multitasking for features like Direct Messages and notifications.
Skip Rate Metric Replaces View Rate: Key performance indicators for Reels now include retention charts and a "Skip Rate," which replaces the "View Rate" metric.
Picture-in-Picture mode: Beyond the data, users can watch Reels in a small corner of their screen while performing other tasks. (Think of Facebook Watch minimized, to allow for app scrolling. Instagram now has the same capability!)
Multi-part linking: For Content Creators, you now have Multi-part linking. Creators can now link a series of Reels together for tutorials or episodic content.
Links Directly in Posts in Beta: Instagram is testing a feature that allows users to add a link directly within a post, marking a significant change from the current "link in bio." This beta test is not available to all! So don't be alarmed if you're unable to find this feature.

Social media updates for Facebook

"Poke" feature returns: The classic "poke" feature is back, primarily to appeal to younger users.

Social media updates for LinkedIn

LinkedIn Adds New Metrics: As you review your data, you will now see 'saves' and 'sends' added to your metrics list.
CapCut now integrates with LinkedIn: Creating a video for LinkedIn? You can now export it right from CapCut to LinkedIn.

Social media updates for Threads

Long-form Posts: Users can now attach up to 10,000 characters of text to a post, allowing for more detailed content, such as article previews and newsletters.
Direct Messaging: Threads has included a Direct Messaging (DM) feature, launched globally in July 2025, which allows users to send one-on-one messages to their Instagram mutuals and followers via an envelope icon within the Threads app. This feature enables users to continue conversations privately and deepen connections, with additional functionalities, such as group chats and inbox filters, planned for future updates.

Social media updates for TikTok

TikTok Settles Privacy Concerns with the US with a Partnership Deal: An executive order was approved for the TikTok U.S. joint venture, allowing the video app to continue operating in the United States by mandating that ByteDance, its Chinese owner, divest its U.S. operations into a new, American-majority-owned company. This joint venture will be subject to strict data security and national security rules, with Oracle serving as the security provider and the U.S. government receiving information to ensure compliance.

Social media updates for Snapchat

Snapchat launches Memories Storage Plan: Snapchat is introducing a paid "Memories Storage Plan" for users with over 5GB of saved Snaps, available starting late September 2025, offering tiered plans with 100GB for $1.99/month, 250GB for Snapchat+ subscribers, and 5TB for Snapchat Platinum users

Social media updates for YouTube

YouTube's Hype launches globally: YouTube has officially rolled out “Hype” globally, giving small channels a new opportunity to be discovered. This follows its initial unveiling at the Made on YouTube event back in October 2024, during which Hype was one of several new YouTube features announced.