70% of teens in Australia still access social media despite bans

Although a new report found that about 4.7 million teen social media accounts were removed, deactivated or restricted, children still had access to the apps.

By Andrew Hutchinson • April 1, 2026

Meta avoids Motion Picture Association lawsuit over PG-13 ratings

Instagram had been using the proprietary ratings scales without permission and will now include a disclaimer saying it “didn’t work with the MPA.”

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 31, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from Social Media Today

A look at the recent top stories in social media and what they mean for marketers.

By Social Media Today staff

Meta highlights improvements to its ad serving program

The updated Adaptive Ranking Model will use less computing power to deliver more relevant ads and drive better return on ad spend.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 31, 2026

Instagram confirms live test of its new subscription package

The Instagram Plus offering will give creators new features and is now live testing in some regions.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 30, 2026

Meta’s next subscription package could boost Instagram performance

Additional features including spotlight and rewatch will allow paying users to get more out of their Instagram Stories, boosting app value for creators.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 29, 2026

Meta introduces new ad and discovery options at IAB NewFronts

Reels trending ads will be expanded and the Partnership Ads Hub will offer a redesigned layout and additional insights.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 26, 2026

Meta’s Oversight Board warns against expanded rollout of community notes

The board said a crowd-sourced approach, which replaced the company’s third-party fact checking in the U.S., may not be safe in other regions.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 26, 2026

Jury finds Meta and YouTube guilty of causing social media addiction

The plaintiff was awarded $6 million in damages following a California trial that focused on intentionally designed systems such as infinite scrolling.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 25, 2026

Meta updates its Threads Marketing API

New features include supported App Ads to facilitate ad buys and Reply Moderation Tooling to provide more posting options in third-party platforms.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 25, 2026

Meta adds more tools to help businesses drive in-app sales

The company announced a range of new in-app shopping updates at ShopTalk 2026.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 24, 2026

Instagram allows users to rearrange carousel posts

The much-requested feature will let creators edit the order of their images and videos after publishing.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 23, 2026

Instagram adds AI transition option for still image-based Stories

The platform’s new tool within the image gallery will allow users to generate moving displays that show up as videos.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 22, 2026

Human speech and presence help drive Reels engagement

Videos that include a person talking or that feature a highly visible person in the first three seconds have better retention, according to new data from Emplifi.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 22, 2026

Meta replaces moderation staff with AI, expands access to AI support bot

The company says that its AI systems are getting better at performing moderation tasks. 

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 19, 2026

Meta rolls out Manus AI assistance tools for marketers

Meta has added Manus, the AI agent platform it recently acquired, into several business elements.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 18, 2026

Instagram adds ability to pause Reels with a single tap

Rather than muting a Reel when you tap, it will now pause the playback.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 18, 2026

Meta switches up its ad transparency labels in-stream

The change will reduce the presence of Meta's ad disclosure labels.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 16, 2026

Meta switches to Comscore Markets data for auto ads

The change will provide more insight into local audiences and relative reach. 

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 16, 2026

Meta ends end-to-end encryption on Instagram

Privacy advocates have criticized the move, while some regulators will welcome increased transparency.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 15, 2026

Meta adds more measures to ensure original creators get credit

It's the latest step in Meta's efforts to develop strong relationships with original content creators, including by providing more recognition and opportunity.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 15, 2026

Instagram tests links in post captions for paying users

As part of the test, select Meta Verified subscribers can add up to 10 links to their Instagram post captions each month.  

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 15, 2026

Meta hikes ad prices in 6 countries

The company announced location-based increases ranging from 2% to 5% and said it would no longer be covering the cost of digital service taxes and other fees.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 10, 2026

Instagram, LinkedIn and Threads engagement declined in 2025

Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok rates increased slightly, while X post engagement grew significantly, according to a report from Buffer.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 8, 2026

Meta updates Edits app with more creation tools

The company’s development team added video effects and improved the Ideas tab while also bringing in new text elements.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 3, 2026

Meta tests shopping AI chatbot in US

The feature would allow users to request product recommendations, per Bloomberg, and is similar to functions being tested by Google and OpenAI.

By Andrew Hutchinson • March 3, 2026