5 Social Media Shifts Your Team Needs to Know This Week

Instagram Eyes Long-Form Content on Connected TV

Instagram VP of Product Tessa Lyons told audiences at Scalable Summit that short-form videos may not be enough to succeed on television screens. The platform is exploring longer content formats specifically designed for connected TV viewing, acknowledging that what works on a phone during a commute does not work on a couch at 8pm.

What it means for your team

If Instagram moves seriously into CTV, the creative you are making for Reels will need a cousin built for lean-back viewing. That means different pacing, different hooks, and likely different talent or format choices. Your vertical 9:16 quick-cut Reel is not going to convert on a 55-inch screen with someone holding a remote instead of their thumb on the glass.

What to do this week

Start an audit of your highest-performing Reels and ask which concepts could work as 3-5 minute episodes. If the answer is none, that is useful information about where your content strategy has gaps.

LinkedIn Uses AI to Improve Feed Relevance

LinkedIn rolled out AI-powered generative recommendations that assess user actions across the entire platform, not just what you engage with in the feed. The system looks at profile visits, job searches, connection requests, and messaging behavior to predict what content will actually be relevant to you, rather than relying solely on in-feed engagement signals like likes and comments.

What it means for your team

LinkedIn is finally catching up to how people actually use the platform. Most professionals lurk, research, and take action outside the feed. If your content strategy has been chasing comments and reshares, you have been optimizing for the wrong signal. Content that drives profile visits, follows, or DMs may now get distribution even without traditional engagement metrics.

What to do this week

Look at your LinkedIn analytics and identify posts that drove profile views or follower growth but did not get heavy engagement. Those are the formats and topics the new algorithm will likely favor. Do more of that.

Threads Adds New Posting Options and Animated Stickers

Threads will now automatically separate longer text blocks into multiple connected posts, removing the friction of manually threading thoughts. The platform is also testing animated mini stickers in a limited release, continuing its push to make the app feel less like a Twitter clone and more like a native Meta environment.

What it means for your team

Threads is trying to court people who want to write longer takes without the effort of manually chunking them into digestible pieces. If your team has been treating Threads as a secondary distribution channel for quick hits, this changes the value proposition. You can now post deeper commentary, analysis, or storytelling without worrying about formatting.

What to do this week

Try posting one piece of longer-form commentary this week and let Threads auto-thread it. See if the format gets you different engagement or followers than your typical short posts. If it works, you have a new content type to test.

TikTok Users Are Motivated by Affiliate Links

TikTok's director of beauty, wellness, and personal care told Glossy that affiliate links are driving significant purchasing behavior on the platform. The company is leaning into commerce features because users are already treating TikTok as a shopping discovery engine, and creators are monetizing that behavior with affiliate partnerships.

What it means for your team

If you are creating content on TikTok and not testing affiliate links, you are leaving money on the table. More importantly, TikTok is explicitly rewarding commerce-friendly content in the algorithm because it keeps users on the platform and drives revenue. Even if you are not selling a product directly, understanding how affiliate content works will help you understand what gets distributed.

What to do this week

Identify three products or tools your audience already asks about and sign up for their affiliate programs. Test linking them in your next relevant video and track click-through and conversion. Even small numbers will tell you if this is worth building into your strategy.

YouTube Tests Updated Feed Navigation

YouTube is testing a new mobile interface that moves the Home and Subscription tabs from the bottom navigation bar to the top of the screen. The change is designed to make it easier to switch between discovery and intentional viewing, and it signals YouTube is rethinking how people move through the app on mobile.

What it means for your team

Navigation changes sound minor but they reshape user behavior. If YouTube moves core tabs to the top, users will spend more time in each feed before switching contexts. That likely means longer session times in Home or Subscriptions, which favors content that can hold attention for multiple videos in a row, not just one viral hit.

What to do this week

Check your YouTube analytics for session starts versus total watch time. If your videos are starting sessions but not keeping viewers on the platform, the new navigation will hurt you. Focus on end screens and playlists that keep people watching your content.

The Plan for This Week

The platforms are trying to grow up. Instagram wants to own your living room, LinkedIn wants to know what you actually care about instead of what you pretend to care about, and Threads wants to let you think out loud without fighting the interface.

For your team, that means the rules are shifting again. Stop optimizing for last year's algorithm. Start testing longer formats, deeper takes, and content that works in contexts beyond the feed.

This is not about doing more — it is about doing different.