- Talk Social To Me
- Posts
- Your top social media news from the week
Your top social media news from the week
A lot but also not so much at all
Mackenzie Taylor
October 21, 2025
Weekly social roundup
What a day. What a week.
Did we all survive the great internet outage of 2025? It sort of felt like a snow day, but also stressful AF as I told myself all weekend that I was going to get so. much. work. done. And then AWS said, “LOL no.”
How dare they?
It does feel a bit frightening how much of the internet uses one server, so maybe we should, like, spread out what servers we use in the future? So this doesn’t happen again?
Annnnnnyway, let’s not deep that too much, and actually dive into what you’re all here for: Social media news.
It’s been a somewhat underwhelming week, and that’s pretty A-OKAY in my book.
Let’s get into it.
Your Boss Will Think You’re an Ecom Genius
Optimizing for growth? Go-to-Millions is Ari Murray’s ecommerce newsletter packed with proven tactics, creative that converts, and real operator insights—from product strategy to paid media. No mushy strategy. Just what’s working. Subscribe free for weekly ideas that drive revenue.
Will you accept this ring?
Instagram announced its first Rings winners 💍
Maybe I am missing something here and why this is a thing people consider cool, but Instagram has released its first “Rings” to content creators.
What are Rings? It’s similar to YouTube plaques, but instead of plaques, where creators hit certain milestones with several followers, Rings are only given to 25 creators at a time.
And a panel of judges picks and chooses who receives one.
Okay, I guess I kind of see how it’s cool to those receiving one now that I am typing this out.
The judges this year included Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, fashion designer Marc Jacobs, film director Spike Lee, and more. They created a shortlist of their favorite creators, and it was put to a vote.
And the winners didn’t all get their start on Instagram, which I think kind of ruins this whole thing just a bit. Shouldn’t they go to content creators who built their followers on Instagram because of their content on Instagram? And not because they were famous outside of the space?
I digress… the winners have been announced, and they will each get their very own ring (a real one!), and a digital ring on their profile.
And that’s it. That’s the full thing. Do I sound like a hater? Probably. But sometimes that’s just who I am in my heart.
What do you think about the Rings?
Advertise in Talk Social To Me
Get your brand out there!
Would you like to advertise in Talk Social To Me and get your brand in front of 70K marketers, small business owners, and social media managers?
Get in touch for rates and placements!
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top Meta news from the week
It’s finally back! Facebook brought back local job listings on the platform.
Want to try Meta Verified, but don’t want to pay a large amount monthly? Meta is offering select users Verified for $1/month.
Meta has told its workers they must use AI across every part of their workflow. Eek.
Starting in 2026, parents will have more control over their teens’ Instagram accounts.
The new Instagram layout is here … and I hate it.
Instagram wants users to share more Reels and keeps prompting people to turn their Stories into Reels. NO!
Watch History for Reels is officially a feature on Instagram! Finally!
You’ll soon be able to add 45 seconds of a song to Stories, not just 15.
Reverse! Reverse! Edits’ new feature allows you to reverse clips up to 30 seconds.
Group chats have landed on Threads and are slowly rolling out globally.
You’re now able to re-order your photos and videos on Threads before you post!
Disappearing statuses could be coming to a WhatsApp near you.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top TikTok news from the week
@jonahmanzano on Threads
TikTok has launched a new feature for LIVE. LIVE talent is a status program for live music creators. You can access music campaigns, exclusive gifts from viewers, a profile badge, and more.
Should we be worried about the TikTok algorithm when TikTok finally gets sold in the US? Experts say yes.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top YouTube news from the week
YouTube launched a brand new timeline editor for Shorts to make short-form creation so much easier.
Extra, extra! Read all about it!
Top other social media news from the week
Snapchat is going all in on its AR glasses with new shopping features, creator monetization, and more.
Pinterest is finally giving people the ability to filter out AI from their feeds.
California has passed new AI and social media laws, including AI chatbots needing to disclose their AI and tell minors to take breaks from social media.
X’s Grok now lets users create images from a variety of templates.
ChatGPT is going to allow users to DM other users on the platform, another step towards making it a social media app.
X is testing out a new in-app browser when you click on a link inside a post.
X launched its new “Handles Marketplace,” where you can purchase dormant usernames.
The kids aren’t alright. Those who use social media score lower on reading and memory tests.
Creator of the week
@carmscrolls
@carmscrolls The next phase of social media will look a lot different. Are we ready for it 😬?? #marketing #socialmediamanager #algorithm #socialmediaco... See more
I absolutely adore listening to Carmscrolls talk about social media, tech, algorithms, and the future of all those topics.
I find her videos incredibly insightful, sometimes doomsday-y, but a lot of the time, genuinely interesting, which makes me want to research even more.
Trend of the week
The betrayal list
@behindsocials my betrayal list, SMM edition ✨ #creativeagencylondon #socialmediaagencylondon #contentcreation #fyp
If you haven’t seen this one going around, you might be living under a rock. Essentially, you create a list of things that you feel are betrayals (i.e., anything that has done you dirty). And this can be focused on any type of niche in any type of industry. All set to a Kanye West song.
Some of my favorite betrayal lists include:
The place you live
Food edition
Trend edition (this one is the best imho)
BookTok edition
It’s such an easy trend to hop on, and it will help you easily get some more views.
A curated list of fun things to read
My favorite read of the week
I read this last week, and it’s something I really haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Because it does seem as if “going viral,” like REALLY going viral, how we did back in the day when it would be a cultural moment, is dead.
We’re all siloed in our own spaces, and going viral, a la “white and gold or black and blue dress,” just doesn’t happen anymore. And the main cause for the death of viral moments?
TikTok.
It seems like the exact opposite would be true, but this piece really digs deep into why big viral moments don’t happen like they used to because of the algorithm TikTok created.
And that’s all, folks!
Hope you loved it!
Thanks, forever and always, for your support, and I’ll talk to you next week!
Mackenzie
Reply