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Meta is rolling out early access to Conversation Focus, an accessibility tool for its Ray Ban smart glasses giving users ‘perceptual superpowers’

Meta revealed how it improved Reel’s recommendations with in-feed surveys, to correctly predict your interests 70% of the time.

Meta closed three VR studios as part of its metaverse cuts

Meta plans to double Ray Ban Smart Glasses production, after seeing a huge surge in demand

Meta secured naming rights to UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, it will become the Meta Apex

Meta hired a former Trump advisor and powerhouse banker as its new president and vice chairman

Facebook has been spotted rolling out Community Notes beyond the US

Instagram is rolling out ‘Your Algorithm’ controls to all English-speaking users, letting you add and remove interests to shape recommendations directly

Creators say Instagram likes have fallen off a cliff. The algorithm now rewards shares, burying posts reliant on fan likes

Instagram Edits has added links, a weekly updated ideas feed, new video effects, and more

Instagram Edits is testing a new UI for the bottom menu bar

Instagram’s Threads badge now indicates when you have a new mention on Threads

Threads has begun displaying ‘Ghost Posts’ on profiles, similar to how Instagram shows Notes

Threads could soon allow you to create ghost posts from replies

Threads now lets you import followers from X

Threads now displays a message encouraging you to edit posts cross-posted from Instagram by adding a topic

Threads is more widely rolling out its Communities feature alongside some newly established communities

WhatsApp is testing emoji-based sticker suggestions

WhatsApp could be given ‘very large platform’ status in the EU following its latest user numbers

WhatsApp will allow rival chatbots again… but only in Italy and Brazil, as local regulators investigate whether Meta’s ban on AI rivals is anticompetitive

WhatsApp is working on the need to enter a username key when starting a chat for the first time

WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that displays clearer link previews to make links easier to read

WhatsApp is working on cover photos for personal profiles

X added a ‘Priority notifications’ tab and upgraded cashtags, as it (questionably) claims record engagement

X’s UK revenues have dropped nearly 60% in a year as content concerns spook advertisers

X has triggered an international flashpoint by swapping Iran’s emoji flag for the opposition-linked Lion-and-Sun

X’s global ads boss says 97 of X’s top 100 advertisers have resumed buying ads on the platform, some surpassing former budgets. Data from Sensor Tower suggests that’s an exaggeration

X is making changes to tackle AI slop and ‘reply spam’. It will no longer allow apps that reward users for posting on X, and is revoking access to its Enterprise API for apps that do.

Elon Musk claims X will open-source its entire ranking and ads algorithm by the weekend

X is suing 18 music publishers and an industry body, alleging illegal collusion to force industrywide licensing

TikTok dropped its latest TikTok NEXT report, exploring the platform’s marketing trends forecast for 2026. It predicts the end of passive consumption as users embrace discovery-driven, emotionally motivated engagement

TikTok Shop is launching a new Account Health Rating in the UK. Shops on TikTok get a 0–1,000 score based on fulfilment performance, policy breaches and listing quality

TikTok is rolling out new EU-wide age verification tech predicting accounts belonging to users under 13

TikTok's new ‘For You’ Calendar aims to spark weekly family check-ins

TikTok now encourages you to share a copied link with your friends

TikTok launched ‘Footy Corner’, a new hub for football fans in the UK on TikTok LIVE

YouTube now has a way for parents to block teens from watching Shorts

YouTube made UK ratings history by beating the BBC on audience reach

…and the BBC is set to produce original programmes that premiere on YouTube before its own iPlayer 🤯

YouTube is now the largest digital library of Sesame Street content

YouTube added interest targeting to Promote, helping creators reach specific communities fast

YouTube updated its ad-placement rules to allow full monetisation of non-graphic dramatisations involving acts it previously banned

YouTube TV has rolled out a Live Guide redesign on Android and iOS

YouTube is testing a bold red comment-submit icon, replacing the basic black-and-white arrow

LinkedIn comments are a new venue to spread malware - be careful out there

Reddit added a ‘Recent searches’ section for Reddit Answers on iOS

Bluesky can now show a ‘Live Now’ badge if you’re streaming on Twitch

Google is now prioritising YouTube and X over publishers in its Discover feed

Apple is taking on Adobe with a monthly subscription app bundle for Creators. It includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and later Freeform

Pinterest has predicted 2026’s hottest colour hues: Cool Blue, Jade, Plum Noir, Wasabi and Persimmon

Instagram is working on AI voice filters

Instagram now properly labels Reels that have the ‘Translate with Meta AI’ feature enabled.

Meta launched Spatial Lingo, an open-source language-learning app using mixed reality and AI

Meta launched new Meta Compute initiative to build AI infrastructure

Meta is paying up for ‘enterprise’ access to Wikipedia to assist its AI training

TikTok’s AI chatbot Tako showed up on my account in the UK for the first time yesterday

TikTok LIVE now generates AI summaries of the last 10 mins of your LIVE plus your past four streams

TikTok is rolling out its AI-generated post captions feature more widely

TikTok Shop has added new power tools for sellers like and AI fashion tool, auto-dubbing, and ‘list-with-AI’ listing creation

xAI is rolling out a new SuperGrok with a seven-day free trial that renews at $50/month

X added an option to generate a profile summary using Grok

The UK Prime Minister threatened to 'control' Grok if Elon Musk's X keeps creating sexual images

The UK ramped up pressure on Elon with a formal investigation

…but can X actually be banned under UK law and what are the other options?

The UK brought forward a nudification app ban to this week. But Grok isn’t covered as it’s not built solely for that purpose 🙄

The UK seemed to relax slightly amid reports X was addressing Grok deepfakes and offered a “qualified welcome” of the supposed block on generating the images. The Ofcom investigation continues.

… but the US State Department has threatened the UK over probe into Elon Musk’s X

Ashley St. Clair, mother of one of Musk’s sons, has filed a lawsuit claiming Grok generated sexualised deepfakes of her, including as a minor.

The US Senate has passed the Defiance Act for a second time to address Grok deepfakes, letting victims sue deepfake creators and hosting platforms

US senators have urged Apple and Google to remove X and Grok from app stores over sexual deepfakes

California is investigating xAI over the sexualised images

…even US Vice President JD Vance is concerned about X’s images

Fix Grok or else, the EU’s tech chief told X. The bloc wasn’t satisfied by the restrictions X added this week. A UK-style ban on nudification apps could follow

Indonesia and Malaysia became the first countries to block X’s Grok over deepfakes

Australian politicians are condemning X and Grok, so why won’t they leave the platform?

….and despite all this, the Pentagon is embracing Grok as Defense/War Secretary Pete Hegseth tries to be as “anti-woke” as possible.

This ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ meme creator is too much fun.

Why “becoming Chinese” is taking over social media

"The internet is a wild west, social media in particular. We don’t think children should be on there.”

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– UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch ramps up pressure for an Australia-style teen social ban

“If X cannot control Grok, we will — because if you profit from harm and abuse, you lose the right to self-regulate”

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– UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was increasingly talking tough on Elon’s negligence as the Grok controversy dragged on

“They want any excuse for censorship”

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– Elon Musk dismisses UK government talk of blocking X

The new UK Home Office TikTok account ‘turning migration raids into clickbait’

And across the Atlantic: ‘It’s a war’: Inside ICE’s media machine

… Also: Inside the White House shitposting machine

Grok is being used to mock and strip women in hijabs and saris

TikTok Shop is surfacing Nazi-coded search suggestions from innocuous jewellery queries

Remember that viral Tea app? The controversial ‘dating safety’ platform is back

Advertisers avoiding X are being routed there anyway through Google’s programmatic ecosystem

Roblox’s AI age verification is misclassifying children as adults and adults as kids

Tinder is recruiting a Director, Social Media [Los Angeles, CA, USA]

The UK’s Department for Work and Pensions needs a Senior Social Media Marketing Manager [London, UK]

Forbes is looking for a Social Video Producer & Editor [Remote, USA]

Instagram tip: Creating or editing videos in other editing apps like CapCut or InShot won’t affect their reach on Instagram unless they have watermarks from the app you used

An ‘authentic’ guide to what’s in and out for creators in 2026

7 digital marketing trends to watch for in 2026

Pinterest’s 2026 Planning Guide outlines all major cultural, personal, and global moments to target.

X published revamped ad guidance to reclaim brands fleeing nonstop platform meltdowns.

CLOSING LOOPHOLES: Meta alone blocked 544,052 accounts in the first days of Australia’s under-16s social media ban

CLOSE ENOUGH?: Meta says Instagram's new Reels algorithm predicts your interests with 71.5% accuracy

ORGANISED PUSH: More than 100,000 people have urged MPs to ban social media for under-16s in the UK

BEEB BEATER: YouTube beat the BBC in Barb’s monthly 3-min views reach measurement for first time

SO SOCIAL: Social media still dominates marketers' priority lists

ANTISOCIAL MEDIA: How social media has become less social

TIKTOK SHOPPING: Millennial TikTok users are the platform's most active shoppers

Reform UK MPs have been called on to donate income from X to charity amid the Grok row. [The Guardian]

One of the UK’s biggest teaching unions has demanded a statutory under-16 social-media ban. [The Guardian]

UK health secretary Wes Streeting has asked US teen social ban advocate Jonathan Haidt to brief officials as the UK seriously considers a teen social media ban. [The Guardian]

…but some Labour MPs predict an under-16s ban will be viewed as yet another politically embarrassing U-turn for the government. [Sky News]

Meta has shaken up its review system with 'stronger rewards for top performers'. [Business Insider $$$]

Meta has struck deals with three nuclear start-ups to help meet its AI power demands. [Financial Times $$$]

Media Matters will stop posting on X as new terms take effect. They say ay Musk tailored the change to weaken their lawsuit over X’s ad-placement and moderation failures. [The Bulwark]

Dubai is deepening its $40.8 million creator-attraction strategy through a new Amazon partnership. [TubeFilter]

Pinterest is positioning itself to marketers as a hub for Gen Z’s attention. [Social Media Today]

Alix Earle has launched a YouTube interview series ‘Get Real With Me’. [Variety]

Instagram is adding an icon to label Broadcast Channels, making them easier to identify in your inbox. [@theahmedghanem]

Instagram is working on the ability to log in via a QR code on tablets. [@alex193a]

How two YouTubers became the creator industry’s secret weapon

Washington’s new lobbyists: Paid online influencers with few rules

Australia banned social media for under 16s a month ago — here’s how it’s going

When I got invited by The White House to cover Former US President Barack Obama speaking at SXSW in Austin, Texas