Social Media Updates to Know in 2026 (Updated Monthly)

Part of your job as social media manager is to stay on top of platform and industry updates so you can make changes to your strategy accordingly. But there are a million different resources telling you a million different things.

So we’ve put together this (always up-to-date) roundup of every social media update you need to know this year. Click through the table of contents below to find the timeframe you need or CTRL+F to find the platforms you’re covering.

January 2026

Pinterest announces new CTV show “Bring My Pinterest to Life”

The visual search engine announced a new series on Roku TV that will feature well-known creators partnering with Pinterest users to bring their Pinterest boards to life.

Check out the trailer below to see exactly what to expect from this fun new venture:

Reddit launches AI-powered ad campaigns

Reddit announces brand new Max Campaigns that are automated, AI-powered Reddit ads that brands can use to help target their audiences without much lift from their teams.

IGTV 2.0

Anyone else remember IGTV? Instagram’s venture into long-form, horizontal video content? It didn’t go great for them, and the platform has since learned its lesson—short-form video is the way to go.

That’s why it’s relaunching a new version of IGTV, but for Reels. With this new streaming tool, Instagram users can add IGTV to their TVs and start broadcasting Reels from the big screen.

Reddit is the top-cited source across AI platforms

HubSpot’s recent report discovered that Reddit is the top-cited source across AI platforms—by a lot. It’s cited around 40% of the time, with Wikipedia coming in second at 26%.

The report also dives into Reddit marketing tips for brands so they can take advantage of these citations. After all, there was a 44% jump in conversations with B2B decision makers in Q4 of 2024 over Q4 of 2023.

Reddit is turning into the place to be for businesses, especially SaaS companies.

The 2026 Pinterest Palette™

Whether you’re looking for a rebrand or a new color palette to use in your marketing content this year, Pinterest has you covered with the 2026 Pinterest Palette™.

The platform has discovered the five shades that it thinks will define this year based on photos people are uploading and interacting with:

• Cool Blue
• Jade
• Plum Noir
• Wasabi
• Persimmon

Instagram announces more Edits updates

Instagram announced a few more updates to its Edits app:

• Add links to another Instagram account or public Reel directly to your Reels within the Edits app, and they’ll be clickable when you import it into IG
• Get weekly ideas based on the Reels you’ve shared to help you come up with even more content
• Get access to even more video effects like bounce, fisheye, and blackout
• Add multiple audio or video takes to your storyboards and choose from your favorite as you compile your final video

TikTok will remain available in the US

TikTok has finally made a deal that will keep TikTok available in the US. The new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was established to keep US user data secure in accordance with the government standards.

We’ll have to see how this new deal goes, especially considering that TikTok USA was down for more than 24 hours shortly after this deal was made.

Threads now has more daily active users than X/Twitter

If you’re not using Threads, it may be time for your brand to create a presence on the platform. Especially now that reports are showing daily active usage has now surpassed X/Twitter usage.

Plan your Pinterest ad campaigns with the Media Planner

Pinterest is making it even easier to plan out your ad campaigns with the launch of their new Media Planner. Users can now explore audience segments, budget options, and campaign scenarios to find the perfect options for their ads.

Meta adds even more languages to its AI translations

Meta has been launching AI translations for Reels since August 2025, and the platform just announced even more languages. The platform started with English and Spanish before adding Portuguese and Hindi in October. 

This month, the platform is adding even more languages with the capability expanding across Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Kannada.

February 2026

X/Twitter added images to in-post polls

Make your polls even more engaging on X/Twitter by adding images alongside each option. This example below shows exactly what this could look like:

Threads ads are rolling out to everyone globally

We’ve talked about how quickly Threads is growing (literally one of our updates last week mentioned new numbers showing Threads having a higher daily user count than X/Twitter), so it’s no surprise the platform is launching ads globally.

Annoying to the average user? Maybe. But exciting for businesses looking to capitalize on this platform’s eager user base? Absolutely.

Instagram Instants

Instagram is rolling out “Instants,” a Snapchat/BeReal feature that lets users take photos in the moment to share with friends. Users that have it can find this feature tucked into the bottom-right corner of their DMs window.

YouTube auto-captions videos on mute

YouTube is working on adding more accessibility features, with its latest release automatically turning on captions for videos when viewers watch them on mute. This makes the platform’s video content available for viewers even when they’re in an area where they can’t watch with volume.

Bluesky drafts

Bluesky finally launched Drafts, so now you have yet another platform to let your content ideas live that will never see the light of day.

Snapchat+ hit 25 million subscribers

Snapchat+ is the messaging app’s paid subscription service that gets users access to features first and other premium add-ons. The platform just announced that this premium subscription service just hit 25 million subscribers, helping them reach $1 billion in annual revenue from this subscription alone.

Meta retiring Messenger website

Meta had tried making Messenger happen, but simply didn’t have the adoption on its Messenger-specific website it was hoping for. So it will be retired as of April 2026, and users can go back to (or continue) messaging through the Facebook website.

The separate Messenger app, however, will continue to function as normal.

Snapchat introduces creator subscriptions

Even more Snapchat news this week! The platform is introducing creator subscriptions as a way to help creators monetize their presence.

Creators with a large Snapchat following can now offer subscriptions that give their biggest fans exclusive content, priority replies, and an ad-free experience within the creator’s content.

Creators will be able to set their own pricing based on Snapchat’s in-app recommendations. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes for well-loved Snapchat influencers!

TikTok announces local feed in the US

Discover posts in your area (or get found by potential local customers) with TikTok’s new local feed. Simply tap the Local tab in the top bar to access local content.

March 2026

Revamp your Instagram grid

Instagram launched the ability to change the thumbnail images in your grid post publication. Now you can revamp your grid’s entire look and feel in minutes by going through and adjusting the focal point of each of your images.

49% of consumers use TikTok as a search engine

Nearly half of all consumers say they head to TikTok to search for information. This is broken down into 12% of Boomers (not surprisingly), 40% of Gen Xers, 55% of Millennials, and 65% of Gen Zers.

So if you’re hoping to reach younger generations, having a presence on TikTok and regularly creating content around your brand, product/service, and industry can help you get found by people using the search feature.

Users can now disclose paid partnerships on X/Twitter

Another update for usability/transparency on X/Twitter comes in the form of paid partnership disclosures. Users can now tag their post as a paid promotion or partnership to ensure followers are aware that they’re making money off their content.

Instagram users can now pause a Reel by tapping on it

Listen, we’re not asking for much from Instagram. But pausing a Reel by tapping on it has absolutely been one of those things, and now it’s here! Head of IG Adam Mosseri announced that after years of having to hold down your screen to pause a video, the tap feature is now available. (Though it looks like it’s still rolling out as one of my accounts still has to hold.)

Bluesky’s CEO steps down

Bluesky has just announced that its CEO since 2019 Jay Graber is stepping back to pave the way for a new leader that has proven results in growing the platform. Graber recognizes that he’s a builder, and now the decentralized social network is looking for more ways to grow its already established user base.

LinkedIn made some updates to its algorithm

LinkedIn announced some changes to its algorithm. Some of the changes include:

• The model is paying attention to the content you interact with to better personalize your feed
• When industry news starts gaining traction, it should be in your feed within minutes, helping you stay on top of major updates
• The algorithm will treat the content you interact with as a sequence, rather than random events, so it will see if you’re niching down your interests
• Posts in your feed will reflect where your professional interests are heading, rather than what’s relevant to you now

LinkedIn adds another in-app puzzle game

This is a fun update for all of you LinkedIn gamers (like me! 🤓)—there’s a brand new in-app puzzle game! This one is called “Patches,” and it’s a fun and quick Tetris-like game, perfect for adding to your morning routine.

Instagram users can also now reorder carousel posts

Another big update from Mosseri. You can now reorder carousel posts after they’ve been posted, rather than having to repost any that were uploaded out of order. Big. HUGE.

No more last minute LinkedIn Lives

LinkedIn Live is getting a little stricter with its guidelines. Users won’t be able to go live last minute—instead, starting in June, they can only use LinkedIn Live for pre-planned livestreams.

April 2026

Promote your affiliate products on Instagram

Adam Mosseri made another announcement sharing that users can now include affiliate links inside their Instagram posts, making it even easier to earn affiliate income on the platform. Fantastic news for affiliate marketers everywhere.

Like YouTube comments in bulk

YouTube announced several new updates, including the ability to “heart” comments in bulk, a huge time saver for YouTube channels that get tons of engagement. But commenters also bring up a good point—will bulk “heart”-ing devalue this form of recognition in the comments section?

Instagram is building a “Stories” tab

The people love Stories, we know this already, and Instagram is showing how much they know this with an all-new Stories tab. Threads user @alex193a leaked the in-progress Stories tab that we might be able to see soon.

You can now edit Instagram comments

Made a typo in your comment? Now you don’t have to either delete and retype or comment or simply live with it as it gnaws at you every time someone likes or responds to your comment.

Now, you can make edits to your comments! Big news for those of us whose fingers have a mind of their own.

Stay tuned for more social media updates

Keep tabs on what’s happening in the world of social with this regularly updated roundup of major platform releases, new features, and more.

And stay on top of your social media strategy with the help of Vista Social. Start your free 14-day trial today.