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How to Succeed on Social in 2026
Plus, all the social media news you need to know this week
Mackenzie Taylor
January 06, 2026
Weekly social roundup
We are back, baby!
Well, well, well! Welcome back and hello to 2026. I took a bit of a long break as, if I’m being honest, I was burnt out AF last year and stopped enjoying writing social media news towards the end.
I want this to be fun, enjoyable, and educational, and I have dusted myself off, and we go again this year.
But, man, oh man, have we missed some things in my absence, and that’s what I’m going to round up for you today. Plus, we’re going to look into the year ahead, and I will give my 2026 predictions, goals, and trends I’m seeing when it comes to social media (and how we can all survive!).
Could it finally happen?!
TikTok US is finally sold … maybe 👀
The biggest news to come out of the end of the year, me thinks? It’s been over five years since the initial whispers of TikTok being sold started, and now we are finally here – ByteDance has agreed to a deal with the US to keep the app alive (alongside two US investors, Oracle and Silver Lake) … or have they?
The deal is supposed to close on January 22 with a brand spanking new algorithm being rolled out (yes, it will be retrained so US users’ feeds are “free from outside manipulation”). Womp womp.
What this will look like is anyone’s guess at this point, but a lot of critics are pretty nervous that it doesn’t bode well for those inside the US.
However, with the US government saying that this is all a done deal, it seems the Chinese media have been saying something else. According to China Daily, it seems the Chinese government “hopes that relevant parties can reach a solution regarding TikTok that complies with Chinese laws and regulations and achieves a balance of interests.”
“Hopes” being the operative word here.
I guess we will find out soon! Will this be the year TikTok is sold? Or will we wait another five years?
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top Meta news from the week
Instagram hashtags are officially limited to five. And Adam Mosseri says hashtags don’t help your reach at all (RIP).
Autoscroll on Instagram has rolled out to more users, so you don’t have to scroll to the next Reel. Instagram will automatically do that for you.
Instagram carousel posts now loop. When you swipe to the last photo on the slide, it brings you back to the first photo.
IGTV is back … but in a TV app form.
Instagram is using Meta AI to generate SEO summaries and boost its ranking in search engines.
You can now reshare any public Story on Instagram. No more screenshotting!
Instagram is testing “Early Access Reels,” AKA: Giving followers of a creator the ability to view a Reel before those who don’t follow a creator. It’s to help create hype and create a need for someone to follow you. I’ll be curious if it works well, or if there will be a lot of following and unfollowing of users.
Instead of protecting people against AI in their feeds, Instagram is leaning hard on saying it’s inevitable (great), and all content will be reproducible by AI (amazing). It’s leaving many people wondering why in the world they should be on Instagram in the first place…
Facebook is testing charging users to share links with their audience. Yes, you read that right. Charging to post links.
If you chat with Meta AI, just know Meta is using your chat to tailor ads to you across its platforms.
Also, if you thought Meta was slowing down on the whole AI thing, think again. The company recently acquired another AI startup to integrate into its platforms.
Edits has added a whole new suite of features, including being able to select on an item inside a video and apply various effects to the item (blur, highlight, sparkle, etc). Plus, you can even add a tag to an item that moves with the item on the screen. HUGE.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top TikTok news from the week
TikTok has added a huge amount of accessibility features to make it easier for those with neurological, cognitive, and visual sensitivities to scroll the app.
TikTok launched TikTok Awards in America, despite the ban still being on the horizon.
Whoops-a-daisy. It looks like TikTok has been helping push fake AI-generated ads on its platform.
You can now share a feed with your friends on TikTok, much like the Blend feature on Instagram.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top YouTube news from the week
Voice replies have rolled out to all creators, giving creators another way to engage with their audience.
YouTube is copying both TikTok and Instagram with its newest still-image carousels on Shorts. You can add up to 10 images that people can scroll through, along with adding music to the background.
YouTube remains the top app for teens, quickly followed by TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top X news from the week
X now has a handy-dandy little watch history feature. You can (hopefully) find that post you were reading, and then the page refreshed, and it is now lost forever.
A list of people being “ratio-ed” has gone live on X. Being “ratio-ed” means your post gets more comments than likes, which means your post is one that people don’t really agree with. Yes, another level of public shaming has come to X.
Will anyone step in when it comes to Grok undressing people? Especially minors? Because this is really disturbing.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top other social media news from the week
After being blocked in Russia and losing thousands of users in Australia, it’s imperative that Snapchat refocuses this year, and all eyes are on its ad team.
Could this social media app fix everything social media has done to our brains over the years?
Yeah, so the Australia social media ban doesn’t seem to be going as well as they thought… weird!
And Reddit is taking it to the High Court to challenge the ban.
Ready to make it big?
How to Succeed on Social in 2026 🙂↕️
If your goal for 2026 is to get better at content creation, actually get people to stop scrolling, and grow your reach across social media, you might want to read these pieces by the experts themselves.
How to Create Scroll-stopping YouTube Thumbnails
Buffer has created an incredible step-by-step guide on creating thumbnails for YouTube that get people to click into your video. They spoke with top creators on YouTube to get tips, tricks, and advice on what makes a great thumbnail.
The Science of the Hook
Meta breaks down all the ways to craft the perfect hook for your Reel so people will watch and engage.
Getting Started with LinkedIn Video Ads
Video ads are everywhere on LinkedIn, and they are incredibly beneficial if you use them properly. LinkedIn created a useful guide on how to connect and engage users with video ads in 2026.
And that’s all, folks!
A good way to ease ourselves back into the new year. I hope you’re all okay. I hope you’re all recovering. I hope you’re not burnt out as much as I was at the end of last year. 😬
Trending songs and ideas will start again next week (so look out for that!), and let me know any feedback you have. I feel as if this will be the year of taking a step back from social media for many of us and going all in on blogs, long-form content, and touching grass.
Cheers to 2026!
Mackenzie
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