The ever changing world of Social Media.
In this continually updated blog we’ll be rounding up the latest platform changes in social media.
We’ll be predominantly looking at the big 4 (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn) with occasional forays into other platforms.
Alex McCann, owner of Altrincham HQ, has guided thousands of businesses in social media strategy over the last 15 years. With a client list featuring BBC, Manchester City, Selfridges, and Costa Coffee, his Manchester-based company manages over 200 hours of campaigns monthly, adapting to social media shifts in real time.
A former journalist with blogs reaching over half a million readers, Alex also led a 15,000-capacity arts festival. With 700+ customer reviews, Altrincham HQ is ranked the UK’s top social media marketing service on Freeindex, working with businesses nationwide on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
More info on our Social Media Training and Social Media Management
TIKTOK NOW HAS MORE THAN 30 MILLION UK USERS
30 million users and there will still be business owners out there saying TikTok is just for kids
– More than 30 million people across the UK now use TikTok each month*, making the UK our largest user community in Europe
– There are now over 1.5 million British businesses on TikTok, with Oxford Economics research finding SMEs on TikTok contributing an additional £1.6 billion to the UK economy, whilst supporting 32,000 jobs
INSTAGRAM ROLLS OUT REARRANGED GRID FEATURE
Instagram will finally let you rearrange your grid
The feature is being rolled out, so you might not have it just yet.
Traditionally the feed has always been chronological order – but no more!
You can now:
📌 Rearrange posts to create the perfect aesthetic (although that feels like a throwback)
📌 Highlight your best content strategically
📌 Design your grid layout exactly how you want it
Will you use this feature?
And how often do you go on to a grid as opposed to scrolling on the feed?
LINKEDIN SHARES VIDEO POSTING BEST PRACTICE
Most of them are fairly obvious tips like use a microphone or film vertically for mobile.
But one that maybe people need to take a look at
LinkedIn says that B2B marketers need to think beyond talking-head interviews.
“How about sharing the sights and sounds of conference events you’re attending? Filming a short video guide to a hack that could save your audience time? Recording your views on the current issues in an off-the-cuff style?”
INSTAGRAM CONTENT MAY APPEAR ON GOOGLE
People have been getting this announcement on Instagram
“Your public photos and videos may soon appear in search engine results
From 10 July 2025, search engines will automatically be allowed to show all photos and videos on result pages.
This means that more people could discover content from your professional account outside of Instagram.”
Which means – is your content SEO friendly? Is it the sort of content people may search for?
INSTAGRAM INTRODUCES 3 BIG CHANGES TO INSTA DMS
– You can now send Instagram voicenotes up to 5 minutes long
– There’s a view transcription features on voicenotes
– You can follow everyone in the group chat
People either love or hate voicenotes and i’ve always been in love sending them and love receiving them camp – but always hard to recap a note or listen to a note in a busy pub or gig.
The transcription option really helps with that.
I’ll be sending more of the voicenotes now, but I won’t be hitting the 5 minute mark.
How about you?
Send me a voicenote to @altrinchamhq if you’ve read this post.
LINKEDIN MAKE A MAJOR CHANGE TO FREE USERS
A Major CHANGE for LinkedIn …
… and it’s a detrimental one!!!
It’s unsure at the moment if this is this a permanent change or a test … but LinkedIn appear to reduced the amount of “Profile Viewers” you can see.
Logging on today users have seen the message
“Viewers you can browse for free
Browse up to 3 viewers without Premium”
Traditionally the number has always been 5 viewers without premium.
Threads has an update which may help bloggers
We rarely post about Threads on here as it’s not even in the Top 5 used social media platforms, but for bloggers this could be useful.
2 major updates from Threads right now.
– The app will now allow users to add up to five links to their Threads bios.
– Threads posts with links will now be surfaced more often in the app’s recommendations.
Full info here
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-finally-embracing-links-150012499.html?src=rss
INSTAGRAM NOW ALLOWS YOU TO HIDE YOUR INSTAGRAM REEL COUNT
In a new update where Instagram is showing the public view count of photos to the account holder, they’ve also updated settings to hide the public reel view count.
The general feeling amongst the marketing community is that those who choose to hide their reel count will be doing so as they have low views on their content.
And i’d tend to agree. It will be the same people who hide their public like count on posts.
I’m proud of how many people see our Reels whether it be 3000 views or 112,000 views that we’ve had so far this month.
ENGAGEMENT RATES FOR EACH PLATFORM REVEALED BY BUFFER
Does this surprise you?
| 6.50% 📈 | |
| 5.07% | |
| TikTok | 4.86% |
| Threads | 4.51% |
| YouTube | 4.41% |
| 3.46% | |
| X (Twitter) | 2.31% |
| 1.16% |
Breakdown and analysis https://buffer.com/resources/average-engagement-rate/
INSTAGRAM BOSS SHARES TOP TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR PROFILE IN 2025
Number 1 is one of the biggest mistakes I see businesses make – over posting on stories and under posting on feed.
Feed beats Stories: “The average creator gets way more reach through the feed,” Mosseri said, pointing out that it’s still the go-to for getting noticed.
Algorithm tweaks are small & regular: Mosseri mentioned that any big drops in reach are probably down to changes in the world, rather than major shifts in the ranking system.
Hashtags aren’t a reach booster: “Hashtags don’t really increase your reach,” Mosseri confirmed. Time to rethink that hashtag strategy!
Engage actively: Engaging while you post could help boost visits to your profile – don’t just post and ghost!
Full info https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-chief-answers-creator-questions/744813/
LINKEDIN’S NEW BENCHMARKS HIGHLIGHT KEY TRENDS IN 2025 ENGAGEMENT – ACTION POINTS FOR BRANDS
Metricools latest report has highlighted key areas you need to be focusing on for LinkedIn company pages
Leverage video: With video views up 52% and impressions climbing 73%, it’s clear that LinkedIn is prioritising video. Start incorporating more video content into your strategy to capitalise on this trend.
Maximise polls: Poll posts have seen a staggering 206% growth in reach. If you’re not using polls yet, it’s time to start. Engaging your audience with polls can significantly boost your reach and interaction.
Focus on engagement: Post clicks are up 31% across company pages. To keep up, ensure your posts are engaging and encourage user interaction through compelling calls to action.
Grow your audience: Smaller pages with fewer than 1k followers are struggling. Focus on growing your follower base and post consistently to increase visibility. Larger pages are posting more frequently and seeing stronger growth, so scale up your content output if you’re aiming for growth.
Full report here https://metricool.com/linkedin-trends-study/
CHATGPT OVERTAKES TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM IN THE APP STORE
Not technically social media, but showing the growing interesting in AI.
You’ve probably seen the AI action dolls across social media.
You now know that ChatGPT does images.
There are useful prompts you can use to improve your marketing.
But there is one thing i’d say.
If you don’t have the marketing knowledge to start with you don’t know what good looks or sounds like – so even with advent of AI you need a marketer to make sense of real marketing strategy.
TIKTOK USERS SPEND TWICE AS MUCH TIME ON THE APP AS INSTAGRAM USERS SPEND ON INSTAGRAM
Yep it’s damn addictive.
108 minutes a day addictive
And i’d personally say you can trim that time down, but taking the 15 minutes intentional approach
You set a time for 15 minutes with the idea that you’re either going to
– Engage with others (ideal clients on the app
– Scroll for inspiration and to save favourites / like posts for your future posts
https://www.thewrap.com/tiktok-users-spend-twice-time-instagram/
LINKEDIN DRILLS DOWN ON VIDEO … BUT ADVISES AGAINST TIKTOK REPOSTS
We’ve always said that in an ideal world, you should post different content to different platforms.
But time limitation means business owners often post the same content across all social media platforms.
LinkedIn has re-iterrated why people come to LinkedIn.
“Members come to LinkedIn to invest in themselves – to learn, network and be inspired. Craft videos that pair authentic storytelling with business influence to make the most out of this environment.“
So no TikTok Reposts and advise for the following
Keep video ads between 15-30 seconds for top-of-funnel awareness campaigns. Deeper engagement formats can run longer, but ideally under 2 minutes
Adopt square or vertical formats (1:1 or 9:16 aspect ratios). These are mobile-friendly and tend to perform better on LinkedIn
Add captions and/or subtitles to maximize accessibility
Ensure text overlays are concise and reinforce the key message of your video
Use eye-catching thumbnails
LINKEDIN DRILLS DOWN ON THE IMPORTANCE OF AI
LinkedIn is heavily drilling down on AI right now, so it has a vested interested in pushing figures like these.
84% of sellers say that AI saves them at least 30 mins doing routine sales tasks.
74% of salespeople agree that AI represents the future of B2B sales
73% believe that teams that don’t embrace AI will fall behind.
65% of sellers believe that by using AI, they are more likely to exceed their sales quotas
But you can’t deny that AI plays a huge part in all fields.
If you’d like to share how you’re using AI In Sales please send an email to alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
LinkedIn Rolls Out Comment Impression Counts
I tell every single person – you’re missing out on LinkedIn if you don’t spend time commenting on your networks post
After reading this blog – jump over here and comment on our most recent post here https://www.linkedin.com/in/amccann/
I’ve not got access to this yet, but some users are now able to see impression counts on their comments beneath LinkedIn posts.
I’m in mixed minds if this a good thing or not.
Powerful motivation if you see your comment has got 100’s or 1000’s of views (and this is possible)
Demoralising to some if you see your comment has got 4 views.
To myself commenting isn’t about the views or impressions – it’s about the 121 relationship building that those comments get.
Youtube’s Advertising influence on Children
“75% of kids ask their parents to buy something after seeing it in an ad on YouTube”
Damn high
And I’m showing my age here. But I remember crying and shouting a lot until I got my very 1st computer, The Vic20.
Advertising is powerful and kids are spending more time online.
2 stats here
- YouTube is the most popular platform for kids, with Shorts usage increasing 32% year-over-year.
– YouTube’s viewership share was more than twice as large as broadcast TV’s
Instagram explains how longer posts perform in the algorithm
Adam Mosseri, you know the guy mention 20 million times in this blog, explains
“We don’t want to penalize longer videos, which is why we look at not only the percentage of a video that was watched, but also the number of seconds. If you watched 10 seconds of a minute long video, that is just as many seconds as if it was 10 seconds of a 10 second video, so you won’t be penalized.“
A big caveat here.
Your loose connections or 1st time visitors aren’t as invested in you as much as they are by well known creators. So respect their time and realise most people probably won’t watch a 60 second or 3 minute video of someone they’ve seen for the 1st time. In our experience shorter videos routinely outperform longer videos – and by long we mean closer to the 1 minute mark.
Facebook Introduces 30 Day Limit To Facebook Live Replays
Massive change for any businesses going live on Facebook on a regular basis.
Yes – those businesses doing things like “talking to camera” lives or interviews with other business owners.
Meta is rolling out a significant update in how Facebook handles Live videos, which will impact how user-generated content is managed on the platform.
From this week onward, freshly aired live broadcasts on Facebook pages or profiles can now be replayed, downloaded, or shared for a limited period of 30 days. This marks a departure from the previous policy of indefinite storage.
Got some older live videos? Live videos currently older than 30 days will be removed from Facebook. Before your archival live videos are deleted, you will be notified by email and in the app, and from then you’ll have 90 days to download or transfer your content.
Business owners will still be able to clip parts of the videos to share as permanent reels within that 30 day period.
The update at the moment seems to apply just to Facebook rather than Instagram.
Instagram introduces 4 main Direct Message Features
To keep up with other platforms Instagram has introduced 4 new features
– Scheduled DM’s – you can now schedule a DM up to 29 days in advance by long holding the send button
– Message translations for up to 99 countries (useful for international business
– Share music directly in the apps DM (more personal than business)
– Pin up to 3 messages in your chats
Instagram Tests Dislike Button
Is it something to be concerned about for most business owners?
Probably not.
This is geared at larger accounts and celebrities.
99.9% of business owners are kind and so are the comments that are posted from followers.
And as you know you can delete comments on Instagram posts.
But here the latest update from Adam Mosseri on the change
“Some of you may have seen that we’re testing a new button next to comments on Instagram – this gives people a private way to signal that they don’t feel good about that particular comment. I want to be clear: this is a test, there is no dislike count, nor will anyone know if you tap the button. Eventually, we may integrate this signal into comments ranking to move disliked comments lower down. Our hope is that this might help make comments more friendly on Instagram,” Mosseri said.
Instagram and youtube see an increase in content following temporary tiktok ban
According to figures from influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy’s exclusive tool, Companion, Instagram experienced a 16% increase in creator content the week following the ban, based on the number of posts creators published on the platform. Similarly, YouTube witnessed a 14% rise in content creation over the same timeframe.
Instagram Adds WhatsApp Connection Sticker for Stories
It might be a generational thing – but personally I only use Whatsapp for Personal Friends and Social Media Management Clients.
Anyone else in the business process is best dealt with on email.
But for the generation that lives on Whatsapp there’s a new story sticker to take the conversation from stories to Whatsapp.
The interconnected world of Meta.
LINKEDIN UPDATES ON RECORD LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT
Here are 3 #linkedin updates you should be aware of …
- We continue to see record engagement, with more than one billion members coming to the platform to connect, sell services, get hired, and share knowledge.
- More professionals than ever are engaging in high-value conversations on LinkedIn, with comments up 37 percent year-over-year.
- We also continue to invest in video as a powerful way for our members and customers to tell their stories and reach their audiences. Short-form video continues to grow on the platform, with video creation all-up growing at twice the rate of other post formats.
The 1st one it says all the time, but concentrate on the last 2
Instagram Tests Option to Rearrange Profile Grid Displays
Instagram has had the pinned 3 post option for a number of years.
They’re useful for evergreen content.
But what is you want to go the next step. You soon will be able to and totally re-order your entire grid.
Straight from IG chief Adam Mosseri:
“In order to maintain creator control we’re building a tool so you can re-order your entire grid and make it whatever you want.”
Caveat: Most people will consume your content in the feed rather than on your profile.
Instagram boss says ‘Hashtags don’t work’ for getting reach, likes, follows
A video has surfaces of Instagram Adam Mosseri stating exactly this.
And we’ve told this to clients a number of times.
In the old days they might make 30% different to the reach of your post. In 2025 it’s closer to 5-10% or less difference.
THREADS INTRODUCES SCHEDULING
We normally talk about the big 4, but this is helpful for those dabbling with Threads
Threads Rolls Out Post Scheduling to App Users
As explained by Threads
“Tap the three-dot menu on the composer, then tap Schedule. Choose a date and time, then tap Schedule again. Posts you’ve scheduled will appear in your drafts folder, where you can edit or delete them as needed.”
It’s one update that will make moving away from Twitter easier.
Although we’ve found you can only schedule 25 updates at any one time.
INSTAGRAM IS SET TO LAUNCH EDITS – IT’S OWN VERSION OF CAPCUT
In the weekend that TikTok got banned and unbanned in less than 24 hours.
Instagram announced so many new updates including this one.
Sounding very like Bytedance’s (TikTok) Capcut, the one advance of this is it’s going to be free
Adam Mosseri says
“Edits is more than a video editing app, it’s a full suite of creative tools. There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another to keep track of any early ideas you might have, a much higher quality camera which I used to record this video, all the editing tools you’d expect, the ability to share drafts with friends and other creators, and, if you decide to share your videos on Instagram, powerful insights on how those videos do.”
You can “pre-order” on the Appstore here
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/edits-an-instagram-app/id6738967378
INSTAGRAM NOW ALLOWS 3 MINUTES REELS
Adam Mosseri from Instagram just announced this yesterday with the TikTok Ban
“You can now upload reels up to three minutes long. We’ve historically only allowed reels up to 90 seconds given our focus on short-form video, but we’ve heard the feedback that this is just too short for those who want to share longer stories. “
You’ll know that longer isn’t always better – in fact the longer the video for Reels often means lower reach due to the retention rate of longer videos.
Our advice – keep Reels as short as possible whilst still adding value.
TIKTOK FACES A BAN FROM THIS SUNDAY
The US Supreme Court has affirmed a law that could see TikTok banned in the US unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells the platform by this Sunday.
TikTok contested the law, claiming it could infringe upon free speech rights for its reported 170 million US users. However, the court unanimously dismissed this argument. Now, TikTok must swiftly secure a buyer for its US operations or risk being pulled from app stores and web hosting services.
So what does this mean for TikTok and business?
– If you have all your eggs in the TikTok basket then it could prove a huge blow to your business
– Don’t ditch TikTok just yet – 170 million users in the US is huge but TikTok is still in the big 4
– Creativity is at the heart of TikTok – a large amount of the interesting posts on other apps come from TikTok so the impact will be felt on the likes on Instagram
– But for our UK audience – if less US creators are in the feed will this mean we start seeing more UK creators in the feed.
INSTAGRAM BRINGS BACK A REELS VERSION OF THE ACTIVITY TAB
Adam Mosseri at Instagram announced this news yesterday
“Bringing your friends to the Reels tab. We want Instagram to not only be a place where you consume entertaining content, but one where you connect over that content with friends. Now, when you go to the Reels tab, you’ll see a dedicated feed of reels your friends have liked or added a note to in the top right and start a conversation with them right there. We’re rolling this out in a handful of countries to start, more to come soon.”
INSTAGRAM USHERS A NEW RECTANGULAR GRID
The change is due to content overwhelmingly being vertical these days
Instagram is updating its profile grids to feature rectangular content instead of squares, announced Instagram chief Adam Mosseri in an Instagram Story on Friday.
“I know many of you have a fondness for squares. Square photos are part of Instagram’s legacy. However, nowadays, most uploads, including photos and videos, are vertical in orientation,” Mosseri explained. He noted that it’s disappointing to overly crop these uploads.”
FACEBOOK ENTERS THE POST-TRUTH WORLD
Widely seen as a move to appease Trump Meta will get rid of factcheckers, “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship” and recommend more political content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads, founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
IMHO we’ve been living more and more in a post truth world since the pandemic.
You’ve probably seen random conspiracy theories shared by Facebook for the last 5 years.
But will this move make it a Twitter style hell-hole and should you leave.
Firstly. Don’t leave. How many people left Twitter for the paradise of Threads / Bluesky only to discover they went political.
Secondly. Facebook to a certain extent is a more closed network. You can choose your friends on there and you can block quite easily on the Meta platforms. You have a lot more choice in your feed than Twitter / X.
LINKEDIN LAUNCHES NEW AI RECRUITMENT TOOL FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
Andrew Chimka, Director of Product Management at LinkedIn, has announced this on LinkedIn
AI agent for small businesses—an AI-assistant to help you find qualified candidates even faster.
The AI-assistant helps you start hiring by putting together a personalized hiring plan, including drafting your job post, searching and finding people to invite to apply, and even identifying your most qualified applicants for you to review. In other words, the AI-assistant helps with the most time-consuming parts of hiring, so that you can focus on growing your business.
Full details here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrewchimka_if-youre-a-small-business-youre-likely-activity-7285297376368418817–ZzX?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
—————————————————————————————
NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Looking for authentic ways to grow your social media
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can chat about whether online or Face 2 Face is better for you
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
We offer Social Media Training on
* LinkedIn
* Instagram
* Facebook
* Twitter
* TikTok
* Blogging
We can do this
* 121
* Corporate Workshops
* Group Workshops
* Face to Face or Via Zoom / Skype
Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
