What comes next: Social platform edition - September
- OneFifty Consultancy
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
The latest developments from all the social platforms, in one place, to help you identify what comes next in social
This month, a new logo for Instagram was the biggest update that flooded social feeds. However, under the surface there’s been some significant changes to measurement across both Google and YouTube, which are far more significant for brands than a vanity update.
LinkedIn also continues to flip flop between clamping down on AI slop, and using AI for content generation. Their stance navigates the relationship between the two, with this month implementing updates on opposite sides of the same coin.
YouTube makes two big announcements: it is changing the way video performance is measured and increasing its Partner Program’s eligibility requirements
• From August 24th, the platform is changing how it counts views. Previously, a video had to be watched for at least 30 seconds to count as a view; now a view is counted from when the video is clicked. Inevitably, clicks on videos followed by immediate skips will now be counted. The current view count measurement will still remain in place for engaged views, which will become the primary metric for monetisation. For brands, this means a shift in mindset around view volumes, and view count will need to be taken into account along with other important criteria such as watch-time and comments
• YouTube announced that it is increasing its requirements to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) in February 2027. Instead of the current requirement of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours, creators will need the same amount of subscribers and 8,000 watch hours. This rule will not affect creators already accepted into the program, and applies mostly to creators with no immediate brands
LinkedIn takes on the clipping economy, expanding its AI-powered features, launching a tool that chooses significant clips from livestreams for reposting
• First AI-powered ad copy and now AI-powered event highlights, LinkedIn has really been honing in its approach to AI. LinkedIn has introduced a feature that allows brands to easily create clips and chapters from live event video recordings, highlighting the best parts to re-purpose. This follows a rise in the number of live events being posted on the platform. For brands using LinkedIn Live, this poses a real opportunity to generate high volumes of social clips efficiently following their broadcasts, making post-event distribution significantly easier, provided the tool lives up to the promise…
• On the other side of this approach, LinkedIn has introduced an option for users to report any post that ‘seems like AI slop’. Clearly the platform is trying to navigate the intricacies of using AI for business. Brands should use it to streamline their editing processes and avoid relying on it to generate creative assets. Brands will need to check that their posts do not run the risk of being flagged as AI-generated content by users
Meta - Amongst the headlines regarding the court settlement in the US with various States regarding child safety, we’ve picked out their relatively quiet month for product development as Meta expands its Meta AI app to Mac users and prioritises ad placement on Messenger feed and reels only, not Stories
• Meta announced on August 19th that Mac users now have access to the Meta AI app. For brands that use Meta, this will be helpful to have an all-in-one application for asking Meta AI questions about their business, based on the information Meta has about their account engagement and ad performance. If given access, Meta can view a Mac window and respond with tailored advice.
• From August 27th, Meta permanently shut down Messenger Stories for ad placements, meaning brand ads will show only on the Messenger feed and reels. A Messenger Story ad placement appears when users are swiping through their followings’ stories. This will have little impact on brands, unless they’re running high volumes of ads through Messenger
Google lowers requirements for brands to have a search profile, helping brands to have a centralised measurement and better understanding of brand discovery
• Building on its recent enhancements of Search Console, Google has lowered the requirements for a brand to have a Search Profile. Previously, a brand needed 100,000 followers on platforms like YouTube, Instagram or X; now they only require 35,000
• The Search Console helps brands track how their social profiles are showing up in search, and the reduction of barriers to entry shows Google making it a more accessible feature for all brands. Optimising your social content to surface for AI and traditional search is only going to become more important
X announced video overlays, catching up to other social media platforms slowly
• X has introduced video overlays, bringing it up to speed with the editing features of other social media apps. While X is still not considered a video-first app, it marks the shift towards catching up to the video-led platforms that currently dominate. Could we see an X video feed sometime soon?
Instagram – New logo, new you? Not quite…
• Last (and probably least), Chief Adam Mosseri shared Instagram’s new logo for a ”sharper and more modern” look, while still retaining the “simplicity and craft that’s always made it Instagram”. Instagram has also updated its fonts, icons and formats. This does not have any impact, although there has been some reactive content on it with brands reimagining their own identity in Instagram’s new style
• A more meaningful update comes in the form of First Draft, allowing brands to trim their clips with one single tap to form an Instagram Reel. It’s brand new, and rolling out as you read this, so we’ve not had a chance to put it to the test yet. If it’s anything like TikTok’s autocut feature (which it seems to be a carbon copy of) the uses for brands will be limited, as the marginal gains to efficiency won’t be outweighed by the loss of control
TikTok provides brands the opportunity to test different ideas for video ads
• ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has released its latest video generation model, Dreamina Seedance 2.5, which allows brands to create different versions of video content for TikTok. At first glance this appears helpful for brands when streamlining their content generation processes, however it’s one to tread cautiously. Just like LinkedIn, TikTok is expanding its AI features while maintaining transparency on AI content with users. Using AI to automate ideation and content generation processes should be paired with human oversight to ensure positive engagement on the platform
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