Welcome to The Sauce weekly roundup, your quick catch-up on everything we published this week. From LinkedIn's crackdown on AI-generated posts to Instagram's surprise move into long-form video, here are the stories social media marketers need to know, plus highlights from SocialDay in New York.
Platform updates
LinkedIn will cut the reach of AI-generated posts
LinkedIn now screens every post distributed beyond your immediate connections, using classifiers trained on over one million member reports. Generic content loses reach, not visibility, so originality now matters more than ever for B2B brands and creators. Read the full story.
LinkedIn launches a free digital business card
The new digital business card, with wallet integration, is free for all members, while the returning private notes feature sits behind Premium Business or All-in-One. Read the full story.
Instagram tests 90-minute videos
After four years of pushing Reels, Instagram is testing horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes in a format called Features, with no ad revenue share for creators at launch. Read the full story.
YouTube's AI music tool goes global
YouTube's AI music replacement tool now reaches most countries, solving copyright claims, but the generated tracks carry a YouTube-only licence that limits repurposing on other platforms. Read the full story.
Snapchat's subscribers outpace its ads business
Snap's subscription revenue jumped 84% while advertising grew just 4%, as Snapchat+ passes 30 million paid subscribers. Read the full story.
Bluesky moves moderation into the app
A new beta inbox centralises moderation notices and appeals inside Bluesky, giving brands running accounts at scale one less email inbox to manage. Read the full story.
Substack turns curation into infrastructure
Substack's new lists feature gives curators traffic attribution for every creator they recommend, and readers can now save and follow themed lists. Read the full story.
Discord cuts its video player code by 94%
Discord merged four separate video players into one shared foundation, shipping new features without disruption, and the story shows the hidden infrastructure costs behind the platforms marketers rely on. Read the full story.
Opinion
Why social media software brands need to give customers something to feel
Katie Lamond asks how brands whose products live inside a screen can make people feel connected to them. Read Katie's piece.
SocialDay in New York
Social Media Marketing Awards USA 2026: all the winners
Cocktails, an awards celebration, family-style dinner and a quiz from Lickd. See the people, teams, campaigns and tools recognised in New York. See the winners.
Meet the speakers, experts and sponsors
Catch up on who joined us at SocialDay NYC's Social Media Marketing Forum at SPIN Flatiron. Meet the line-up.
See you next week
That's your week on The Sauce. Join The Sauce for webinars, resources and the latest platform news every week.