The ever changing world of Social Media in 2026
In this continually updated blog we’ll be rounding up what’s new in social media 2026.
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 16 years. With a client list featuring BBC, Robinsons Brewery, Manchester City, National Trust, 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 900+ 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
WHAT’S NEW IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN SEPTEMBER 2026
Facebook limits pages to 2 link shares a month … unless they pay £400
Facebook has just dealt a huge blow to small businesses … in fact it will probably force some to close!!!
And I’m talking about everyone from tradesmen and hair and beauty businesses to music and arts venues and small not-for-profits.
You can now only share “two links a month” without paying Facebook close to £400 a month.
For most small businesses, that simply isn’t an option.
I’ve seen social media managers saying: “Stop treating your social media like it’s 2014. It’s 2026.”
And part of that is absolutely right.
You should be creating more content that lives on the platform. You should be encouraging discussion. You should probably be doing more video. And of course you should have an email list, website that drives traffic from google etc
But try telling that to the small business owner who posts a link to their website.
It might not generate hundreds or thousands of clicks.
It might generate five.
Or ten.
Or 25.
But those five, ten or 25 clicks could be the difference between getting enquiries that week and keeping the lights on.
What do you think? And how are you planning to deal with the changes?
PS. Some tips to deal with it on our instagram here https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdttEERM16Q/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&vrfl=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==&srtk=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
TikTok has a brand new teleprompter feature
TikTok has got a brand new teleprompter feature.
For someone like me, who’s been making videos for years and years, I tend to riff off the top of my head. So it’s quite strange to read from a teleprompter, like I’m doing right now.
I don’t always feel like it goes fast enough, even though you can speed it up and slow it down. But then, I do talk quite fast!
I think for first-time video users, people looking to break into video, or those creating content around highly technical subjects, a teleprompter could be really useful.
What do you think? Would you use a teleprompter for your videos, or do you prefer to just talk to the camera?
WHAT’S NEW IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN AUGUST 2026
LinkedIn’s AI Slop button is cutting AI slop by up to 40%
In an annoucement earlier this week Hari Srinivasan, Chief Product Officer at LinkedIn said
“Over a million people have now clicked ‘seems like AI slop,’ since we launched it two weeks ago…helping us better understand how our community experiences low-quality content. As a reminder, you can send this feedback in the three dot menu on any post & comment …
… overall members are now experiencing 40% less views on what we classify as AI slop from just a few weeks ago. Despite the progress, we know we have more to do to ensure LinkedIn remains a place where you can find real people & real perspectives… this all remains very top of mind.”
Instagram launches First Draft to help people produce reels quicker
This is Iphone only at the moment and rolling out to accounts as we speak. Announcing on social media for creators they say
“Introducing First draft, a new way to create a Reel within the Instagram app. Simply select your clips, and with one tap, it cuts the pauses and trims down your clips, so you have a starting point to build from in seconds. Everything First draft does is reversible, you can adjust or reorder anything before moving on. It handles the early video trimming so you can focus less on technical production, and get to the creative part sooner”
I’ve tried it on a clients account already and it does a good job.
Slight caveat in that we tend to film the content ready for the edit anyway so there wasn’t huge amounts for it to change.
But we’ve always been a fan of frictionless content on social media. Content that takes you less than 10 minutes from ideation to filming to editing to posting. A reel shouldn’t take you 45 minutes unless you have a glossy aesthetic and the team behind you to justify 45 minutes for each post.
LinkedIn introduces an Ai Slop button
Frustratingly I haven’t got the button myself, but it’s been widely reported from both LinkedIn trainers and regular users or LinkedIn.
Some reports suggest AI could account for as much as 41% of posts and therefore as users kick back against it the platform has had to.
Interestingly I don’t see a huge amount of AI posts on the platform which is maybe why the feature hasn’t rolled out to be me yet.
How often to you think you will be using it?
And will this curb your over reliance on AI?
AI labels to be compulsory on authentic-looking content under EU rules
Several outlets have reported on this, but this quote from the Guadian sums it up well
Under the rules, synthetic text, images, video and audio designed to look truthful must be visibly marked as AI-generated and contain a digital watermark to show the artificial origins of the content.
Texts on matters of public interest must also be labelled as AI-made if there is no human editorial oversight.
WHAT’S NEW IN SOCIAL MEDIA IN JULY 2026
Instagram will let users endlessly swap the audio on old posts
Choice isn’t always a good thing.
I know how long when it comes to TikTok and Instagram videos how long it takes to select the right music.
It takes almost as long as filming a video in advance.
The idea that you can now change audio endlessly means that people will just keep changing old videos to the latest “trending audio”
But take not it’s not going to give you an algorithmic boost.
41% of LinkedIn posts “show signs of Ai Generation”
Is there AI-generated content on LinkedIn? Absolutely. Some reports suggest it could account for as much as 41% of posts.
But I don’t think AI slop is LinkedIn’s biggest problem.
For me, the bigger issue is the algorithm.
I’m regularly shown posts from people I don’t know while missing updates from people I’ve deliberately chosen to connect with. Then there are posts appearing three or even four weeks after they were published, by which point the conversation has long moved on.
As for AI content, my own feed doesn’t really reflect those reports. I suspect that’s because I’ve spent years being selective about who I connect with, and I’m not afraid to unfollow, hide or remove people whose content I don’t want to see.
We all have far more control over our LinkedIn feed than we sometimes realise.
What’s LinkedIn’s biggest problem in your eyes?
LinkedIn now lets you comment with GIFs
It’s not for me and I’m not even in the “LinkedIn isn’t Facebook” camp
Will you be using GIFs on LinkedIn?
Instagram now adds multiple captions for Carousels for posts
I’ll be honest – I’m not sure yet whether this is a good idea.
On one hand it shows the value of the written words, captions and copywriting.
On the other hand as social media managers is every instagram carousel now expected to be 1000 words long.
Any way here’s how to use it
1.create a carousel post
2.tap the caption area
3.toggle on “multiple captions”
4.write a unique caption for each slide
Keir Starmer announces UK Social Media ban for under 16s
This is too big a subject for our news round ups.
So please read this blog on 10 Questions That Need Asking About The Social Media Ban
Instagram rolls out “reorder your grid feature”
After talking about it for months Instagram is rolling out it’s “reorder your grid feature”.
Don’t worry if you don’t have it as yet – as only one account out of the seven we have access to has it.
Once it rolls out here is how you can rearrange your grid
Simply go to your profile, tap and hold any post on your grid, select “reorder grid” in the pop-up menu, long press, and drag your content to the desired position. Your changes are saved immediately and are visible to all profile visitors.
Twitter / X Releases one of it’s best features in years: React with Video
Twitter has always been a text first platform.
But that has changed.
Take a look at the “For You” page on Twitter and you’ll see that most of the posts are Images or Videos.
And the new “React with Video” feature leans heavily into that.
Nikita Bier, head of Product at X talks about the new feature here
“Commentary is one of the most important pillars of X.
And sometimes the best way to share your thoughts is with video.
Today we’re launching a whole new way to make them: React with Video Tap the repost button and start recording with green screen, split screen, or picture-in-picture.
Now available on iOS”
You can see my 1st react with video here: https://x.com/altrinchamhq/status/2062140293063881081?s=20
TikTok launches stories highlights in a move to copy Instagram
It’s normally Instagram copying every other platform, but TikTok is making a push for the stories market now.
The feature works exactly like Instagram stories in that you add your Stories to a highlights grid at the top of your profile so people can rewatch.
Like Instagram highlights, TikTok Highlights will work for things such as Restaurant Menus, Hair & Beauty price lists and Frequently asked questions amongst others.
How many views they get is debatable though.
Businesses are ignoring the higher spending Gen X’ers
Gen X leads spending yet feels ignored by brands
“Gen X consumers are undervalued by brands despite their sizable buying power and influence over household purchases.
Fewer than 7% of consumers ages 50 and older think that brand messaging is often authentically designed for their demographic”
So many businesses see marketing (especially social media) as something for the youngest person in the office.
If you’re a business owner
– Experience of marketing before the social media age is a massive win
– Treat a Social Media Marketers experience as an asset – in the same way people treat your experience in your industry as an asset
– Social Media isn’t just a young person’s game – if someone joined Linkedin or Facebook in the early days chances are they are aged over 40
– Read a marketers reviews as well as their follower count – a young person might have a follow account for various reasons other than marketing acumen.
I’m 48 and work in social media marketing
I’m proud of what I bring to the table.
I’m 100% a better marketer than I was in 2009 and that’s because of experience.
What are your thoughts on older marketers?
https://www.emarketer.com/content/gen-x-leads-spending-yet-feels-ignored-by-brands
Instagram brings the Teleprompter tool to it’s main app
Another game changing move for those people that do talking head videos.
Instagram have launched a teleprompter tool within Instagram after soft launching in the Edits app.
And it’s damn good. You need to work out your speed of talking but it looks more professional than doing side glances to your laptop screen.
My only grievance is you can’t seemingly use the green screen option at the same time.
Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri announced the update on his Instagram Channel.
Adam Mosseri of Instagram says
“We brought the teleprompter feature from Edits into the main Instagram camera. You can now add a script that scrolls while you record. Helpful if you want to stay on message without doing a ton of takes.”
The in-stream teleprompter option, which was added to Edits in June 2025, enables creators to upload their video script, which will then see it displayed in a rolling text display as they record, ensuring that the text is presented right below the front-facing camera on your device.
TikTok reports huge results for small businesses
On a recent event in the US, TikTok talked about the huge results for small businesses
- Searches for “small business” skyrocketed by 479% during Q1 2026.
- 89% of SMBs reported that their sales increased after promoting their business on TikTok.
Now TikTok is going to blow it’s own trumpet, but at the same time a lot of local businesses are sleeping on TikTok.
LinkedIn cracks down on AI posts and comments (and threatens lower reach for AI Posts)
LinkedIn is having a “do as I say, not as I do”
Despite throwing AI features liberally for premium users the platform has promised a crackdown on AI automation.
Laura Lorenzetti, VP and Executive Editor, LinkedIn Global Editorial posted a LinkedIn article that stated.
“technology systems built in partnership with our editorial team that have been trained to recognize signals of AI slop and learn over time by identifying content that adds perspective, context, or expertise and content that feels generic or repetitive, even if it appears polished on the surface. Beyond posts, this also will recognize and take action:
- Comments members create and post at scale using automation tools, with little or no human involvement
- Responses that simply restate the original post without sharing anything new
When content appears to be generated by AI and lacks clear perspective, it is less likely to be widely distributed beyond a person’s immediate network, which helps keep space for more thoughtful contributions.”
Whilst we’d all like to see this we’ve seen their stance against engagement pods still hasn’t been followed through with.
Meta launches paid subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp
We’re only going to mention these in passing as I don’t feel for the average business user of Meta the benefits will be felt.
Here’s for instance a look at what Instagram Plus gives yous
Instagram Plus Plan Features
- Story Rewatch Analytics: See the total number of people who have rewatched your Story (in aggregate).
- Unlimited Audience Lists: Create unlimited custom audience lists for Stories (beyond the standard Close Friends list).
- Story Spotlight: Spotlight a Story once per week to get additional views.
- Extended Story Duration: Extend a Story beyond the usual 24-hour limit.
- Private Story Preview: Preview your Story without appearing as a viewer.
- Searchable Story Viewers: Search through your Story viewer list to easily find who has watched it.
- Profile-Only Posting: Post directly to your profile and Highlights without it appearing in your followers’ feeds.
These features are designed to give subscribers more control, privacy, and visibility options for their Stories and content.
Facebook features are not dissimilar
The cost is $3.99 for Instagram and Facebook and $2.99 for Whatsapp.
Compared to many subscriptions it’s cheap – but the features don’t wow!
Meta Launches new app called Forum – which is Facebook Groups with enhanced features
If you’re based in Altrincham – you’ll know how powerful 56,000+ local in a group can be with our local Altrincham Facebook Group.
Facebook has really drilled down into Facebook Groups and this new App (Sadly not available for us in the UK) is signs they are further competing with Reddit.
Facebook Forum App – Key Features & Overview
- Dedicated Group Discussions App: A separate standalone app focused entirely on group conversations, combining all your Facebook groups into one streamlined experience.
- Deeper Community Engagement: Built specifically for meaningful discussions, real answers, and the communities you care about (as described by Meta).
- Simple Sign-In: Log in using your existing Facebook account – your groups will automatically appear in the app.
- Seamless Synchronization: Everything you post in Forum is visible in your groups on Facebook, and vice versa. Your groups continue to exist normally on Facebook.
- Discover Related Groups: Easily find and join new groups based on topics you’re already interested in.
- Real Conversations: See authentic discussions from real people instead of just trending content.
- Easy Continuation: Quickly jump back into conversations where you left off.
Forum essentially acts as a specialized space for more focused and organized group interactions while staying fully connected to Facebook.
Instagram will stop recommending accounts that don’t post original content
Trust me – this is the best news.
Creators deserve to get more exposure verses those that just copy, borrow or steal others content.
In a blog they posted
“Today, we’re updating how we reward original content. The same protections that we introduced to reels in 2024 will now apply to photos and carousels. This means that content aggregators who primarily re-upload others’ work in photos and carousel posts will no longer be eligible for recommendations across Instagram.”
In 16 years of running a social media business we’ve always found that our original content outperforms that of content businesses have sent us and 10 other organisations.
Our hope now is that they extend this to serial reposters of others content in stories.
LinkedIn posts up by 14% yoy as users hit 1.3 billion
More people posting = more noise to stand out from.
Many people on LinkedIn are complaining about this challenge of being seen on the platform.
One of LinkedIn’s Best (or Creepiest) features Faces A Legal Challenge
The Profile Viewers Features tells you the last 3 people who have viewed your profile on free mode whereas paid users get to see the last 90 days
I like the feature because LinkedIn is like a networking events … it’s not a dating app or a social media platform in the traditional sense.
Yet some people worry their ex partner, ex boss or the person they met once has viewed your profile.
As reported in Computer World
“A LinkedIn feature that allows paid subscribers to view a list of visitors to their profile should be made available to all EU users free of charge to comply with the region’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a legal complaint launched by the None of Your Business (NOYB) digital rights group has claimed.
Filed this week in an Austrian court, the group’s argument is that LinkedIn’s ‘Who’s Viewed Your Profile’ feature contravenes the GDPR Article 15, which covers a subject’s right of access to their own data.”
I’d love to see the last 90 days viewers – how about you?
THE REALITY: Instagram Users Lose Thousands Of Followers Overnight
Don’t worry if you lost a few Instagram followers this week.
This is what happened
It’s just a semi regular purge of bots and inactive followers
I lost 50 followers yesterday and another 40 or so today.
The important thing to remember is although it might hurt your ego no with the numbers dropping, these accounts were never real, were never going to buy from your business and this new number gives you a more accurate measure of followers.
LinkedIn expands AI-powered conversational search
LinkedIn’s search just got smarter
LinkedIn has upgraded its search tool using AI, making it easier to find people, businesses and posts on the platform.
Previously only available to Premium (paid) members, this improvement is now free for everyone.
Instead of typing in exact keywords, you can now describe what you’re looking for in plain English — for example, “marketing managers in Manchester who work in retail” — and LinkedIn will understand what you mean and show you relevant results.
In short, finding the right people and content on LinkedIn should now be much quicker and easier.
It doesn’t work for everything though as I just tried the search “show me all the people in Altrincham that have been in business for less than a year”
Instagram expands Your Algorithm tool to Explore
I’ve always found the “Explore” tab a little hit and miss.
Because I work in marketing all it shows me is marketing content (and a little bit of food and music)
The same system that was introduced to the reels tab has rolled out to the explore tab – simply click the 3 lines on the top right of your explore tab and edit your algorithm
Instagram Now Lets Your Edit Comments On Posts
Kind of feels like a big change … as so many comment edits will be typos with quick fingers on phones
You can edit comments within 15 minutes after posting.
Instagram Now Lets Your Share Your Notes With All Your Followers
Notes are something I’ve slept on. I rarely use them. I rarely read them.
I’m intrigued as to your experience.
Particularly because instagram now lets your share your notes with all your followers. (although I don’t have the option yet)
Traditionally this has been friends (where you both follow each other) and close friends (the select list of close friends – remember Wagatha Christie)
Confirmed: Posting Your Feed Posts into stories won’t increase reach
Adam Mosseri of Instagram posted in his weekly Q&A sessions
“You can definitely share your own post to your Stories, or re-share your own post, but it’s not going to meaningfully change your reach overall, because Feed generally gets more reach than Stories anyway, and you can’t really re-post your own thing because it was already posted, so it won’t really change the eligibility”
TikTok comment icon says “Add 1st” when there are no comments on a video
A psychological design shift to encourage comments and engagement on the platform.
I say this often – but comments make a difference.
We recently had a TikTok video that had just 1000 views.
2 months later a couple of people commented on the posts and it suddenly snowballed and went semi-viral with hundreds of likes, reposts and comments coming in over 48 hours
The video has now been viewed 6000 times.
If you see the 1st comment icon on a post – be kind, you could totally change the trajectory of that video and user!
SMALL BUSINESSES SEE SOCIAL MEDIA AS THEIR CLEAREST PATH TO GROWTH IN 2026
New data from Constant Contact suggests social media is the top priority for small businesses this year — 68% of owners surveyed say organic posting and paid ads will deliver the most value in 2026, ahead of every other marketing channel.
The full survey results are …
– Social media (organic posting and paid ads): 68% expected to drive the most value/business in 2026.
– Email marketing: 41%
– In-person events: 29%
– Traditional advertising: 26%
Would we drop In-person event as they’re so low.
Hell no – in person events mixed with social media is a powerhouse for marketing.
INSTAGRAM ALLOWS USERS TO REARRANGE CAROUSEL POSTS
Instagram has finally rolled out one of its most requested updates.
You can now rearrange photos and videos within a carousel post after it’s already been published. A simple long press and drag is all it takes.
The one big catch: you still can’t add new media after posting, so if you want to expand the carousel, you’ll need to start fresh.
It’s a small change, but a meaningful one for creators who’ve long been frustrated by the lack of flexibility. More importantly, it opens up new ways to test and experiment with how content is displayed … which matters more than you might think.
Carousels are already one of the best-performing formats on Instagram. Adam Mosseri flagged back in 2024 that they drive stronger engagement and reach, and Buffer’s research from early 2025 backed that up … finding carousels earn around 12% more engagement per post on average. If you’re not already factoring them into your content strategy, now’s a good time to start.
SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOW THE TOP SOURCE FOR BREAKING NEWS, NEW SPROUT SOCIAL RESEARCH FINDS
Social media is now the most common channel for people to discover breaking news, ahead of TV, podcasts and news apps.
● 49% of people said social media, compared to 45% for TV and 32% for digital news apps
And IMHO it’s not just breaking news.
It’s local news on Facebook, It’s business news on LinkedIn.
For businesses owners they should be focused on amplifying positive news and stories from their organisation.
INSTAGRAM WORKS ON OFFLINE REELS STREAMING WITH AUTOMATIC DOWNLOADS
Ok – I don’t think this helps the case from platforms that social media isn’t addictive
But seeing people scroll through social media on planes from content they’ve already scrolled does add to the fact people want to consume content (and a lot of that is reels)
Tech Times reports
“users may choose to turn on the automatic downloads of Reels content, especially when there is no available internet connection or cellular data.
Users may also set the number of Reels to be automatically downloaded by the app, which ranges from 10, 30, or 50 videos to save offline.
Next, users may view the downloaded Reels on their devices, but it remains unconfirmed if they get the option to manage these videos, like deleting a few at a time.”
Full details here: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/315509/20260327/instagram-works-offline-reels-streaming-automatic-downloads-according-new-leak.htm
META IS TESTING CLICKABLE LINKS IN INSTAGRAM CAPTION
You’re going to see a lot of this on Social Media in the coming week.
But big notice – it’s going to be a paid option and it’s not cheap.
Meta is testing clickable links in Instagram captions for verified subscribers.
Quoting from Engadget
“If Meta begins implementing the feature widely, it could drastically change how creators are able to interact with their followers (although a 10-link per month limit would likely still require “link in bio” solutions).”
And I mentioned before it isn’t cheap
Meta Verified for creators starts at $14.99 a month, with the most expensive plans costing $499.99 a month.
Full details here https://www.engadget.com/social-media/meta-is-testing-clickable-links-in-instagram-captions-for-verified-subscribers-184555406.html
INSTAGRAM IS TESTING COMMENT EDITING
Instagram seems to be rolling out the ability to edit comments for a portion of users, based on multiple recent reports on Reddit, X, and Threads.
Users are seeing an “Edit” option appear directly below their comments alongside the existing ‘Reply’ and ‘Share on Threads’ buttons. Once a comment is edited, it shows an “Edited” label, so other users can tell it was changed after posting.
I’m all for this.
Name one thing that increases when you up the amount of social media posts & comments you do!
Typos.
More Output = More Typos
Every single time.
I do more typos than the average person. Because I post and comment more than the average person.
The BBC, Sky News, Manchester Evening News do 100x more typos than I do.
Shakespeare, JK Rowling and Oscar Wilde will have done more typos than I do.
And it’s all down to volume of content production.
More details on the comment editing here https://piunikaweb.com/2026/03/13/instagram-testing-comment-editing-feature/
ENGAGEMENT DOWN ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN 2025
This report has just been released in March
And it’s not just you.
Engagement is down
Buffer analysed 52M+ social media posts and Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads engagement declined in 2025. Whilst X, Facebook and Pinterest saw rises
The breakdown is as follows
Instagram (-26%)
Threads (-18%)
LinkedIn (-5%)
TikTok – virtually the same.
X (+44%)
Facebook (+11%)
Pinterest (+23%)
There’s definitely a feeling of social media fatigue with many social media users being on platform for 10-20 years in most cases apart from TikTok and Threads.
Advice: Look at the analytics each month – analyse your Top 3 posts and why they worked and do the same for Bottom 3 and why they didn’t work. Continual improvement.
More info: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-linkedin-and-threads-engagement-declined-in-2025/814141/
NEED HELP WITH SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING FOR YOUR BUSINESS
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Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
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