Features & insight
Features and insight
Expert analysis, reporting and long reads on the platforms, people and strategies shaping social media.
Snapchat's Now Playing turns Snap Map into a friend-driven music discovery engine
Launched on 27 July with Spotify integration, the feature lets 450 million monthly Snap Map users discover music through what friends are listening to right now, not what an algorithm thinks they want.
X's mutuals algorithm update reveals the cost of optimising for virality over community
The platform finally prioritised replies from people you actually follow. That it took this long to fix a basic community function shows how deeply social media's engagement-first design has compromised what these platforms were for.
EU says Instagram and Facebook's infinite scroll breaks the law
Brussels found Meta in preliminary breach of the DSA over addictive design, demanding the company disable autoplay and infinite scroll by default or face fines reaching $12 billion. For social media marketers, the ruling targets the exact mechanics their ad revenue depends on.
YouTube's $11 billion quarter shows why advertisers are choosing creators over cable
Alphabet's Q2 results reveal YouTube ad revenue climbed 13% to $11.06 billion, propelled by 1.7 billion World Cup viewers and a structural shift that now positions the platform as traditional media's direct competitor for living room advertising spend.
Reddit's split testing rollout hands all advertisers controlled A/B tests at user level
The feature, launched in early July 2026, closes a long-standing measurement gap for performance marketers on the platform and signals Reddit's serious push to compete with Meta and TikTok on lower-funnel advertising.
Hashtags are now labelling violations: FTC treats social media as packaging in Made in USA crackdown
Warning letters sent in July made explicit what many brands missed: a single hashtag claiming domestic origin can now carry the same $53,080 penalty as false product labelling, turning every Instagram post into a compliance surface.
X doubled its creator pool for 2026, but the average creator has earned just $300 since 2023
The platform declared 2026 the year of the creator and more than doubled its revenue pool. But the lifetime total paid out since launch works out to roughly $300 per creator, and the underlying economics make it nearly impossible for most to earn a living from X alone.
Patreon's Quips Feature Marks Philosophical U-Turn From Anti-Algorithm Platform to Social Competitor
The membership platform has rolled out Twitter-style public posts after years of its CEO attacking algorithmic feeds. The shift reflects competitive pressure as Substack, Beehiiv, and OnlyFans erode Patreon's once-distinct positioning.
Meta signs EU AI transparency code as August compliance deadline looms
Meta has confirmed it will sign the EU's Code of Practice on transparency of AI-generated content ahead of the 2 August enforcement deadline. The move aligns the company's existing labelling work with the strict marking requirements now facing every social platform operating in Europe.