• Melissa Harvey
• 18 August 2025
• 6 min

Social in Six 97

1. Instagram has rolled out three new updates including reposts

The story: 

• After reports surfaced about the update back in May, Instagram has officially launched reposts for public Reels and feed posts. They appear on users’ profiles in a new tab, and credit the original creator, with reposts and any comments showing up as a purple icon on the Reel.  

• A Friends view has rolled out within the Reels tab, which highlights public Reels that people you follow have liked, commented on, reposted, or created.  

• Instagram’s also launched an opt-in Friend Map, which, similar to Snap Map, lets users share their location and view friends’ recent activity and content posted from specific locations.  

So what? 

Reposts introduces a measurable metric that could replace some dark social metrics like Reels sharing through DMs and external platforms like WhatsApp, making it easier for brands and creators to track impact. With strong potential for news and pop culture sharing, it rewards early adopters as platforms often prioritise new tools. For creators, it drives visibility and social proof. For brands, it fuels UGC, builds community through curated reshares, and boosts engagement by signalling activity to algorithms.

2. Ofcom says YouTube is now the second most-watched platform in the UK 

The story: 

• YouTube has officially overtaken ITV to become the second most-watched media service in the UK behind the BBC, according to Ofcom’s Annual Media Nations Report 2025. 

• A fifth of 16-34 year olds say YouTube is their go-to channel when turning on a TV, and among viewers aged 55+, YouTube CTV watch time nearly doubled, increasing from six minutes per day in January 2023 to 11 minutes by December 2024. 

• The report comes soon after TV ratings agency Barb announced 200 of the most-watched YouTube channels will now be part of its regular audience reporting. 

So what?  

PSA: YouTube is no longer just a channel for posting makeup tutorials or nostalgic memes. It’s evolved into a mainstream TV rival, competing with traditional broadcasters while offering brands and creators unique opportunities. This data tells us that consumers are craving content that’s akin to TV: long-form, episodic, story-led content they can really engage with. Something to bear in mind for your creator marketing strategy on YouTube.

3. Influencer marketers say TikTok affiliate programmes and community events will boom in 2025 

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The story: 

• AdAge asked influencer marketing executives and industry insiders for their predictions on the future of creator marketing for the rest of 2025; among them, a rising demand for sponsored IRL community events like book clubs, dinner parties and sports clubs. 

• Also in the list of predictions: large-scale cultural event activations like festivals and sports competitions becoming key to strategies; and a return to long-form content and episodic content series on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. 

• Experts also predict creators will be more heavily invested in brand campaigns and strategies from the outset, as opposed to just one piece of the puzzle.  

• Finally, affiliate programs like that of TikTok Shop are expected to see an uptick across both micro and high-profile creators, to tap into their knack for driving sales.  

So what?  

This marks a pivotal moment for brands and creators, as it’s a time to focus on building strong communities offline, not just online. Events create valuable opportunities for connection and relationship building, while also producing high-quality UGC that brands can repurpose across their social channels. Creator-only events and community-focused events are different activations, but each have their place: creator-only events are designed to strengthen relationships with influencers and explore routes like ambassadorship, utilising the creator’s influence and self-built community. Community events, on the other hand, go a step further – they can actively drive sales, deepen brand-consumer connections, and make customers feel part of something bigger. 

4. Meta has shared new tips for optimising ads with AI  

The story: 

• Meta recommends opting into all placements across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and Audience Network, so its Advantage+ AI can allocate budget according to what will perform best. 

• Meta says diverse creative is best, and recommends combining Advantage+ creative and placements to ensure the creative is in the right place. You should also consider using placement asset customisation to tailor your creative for different placements. 

• If you want to restrict where your ads appear by excluding different placements or platforms, you can do so at the account level- but Meta cautions that doing so may reduce the effectiveness of its AI-driven Advantage+ system. 

So what? 

It’s worth testing and integrating Advantage+ into your paid social strategies to give you the best chance of getting top ad placements. Approach this on a campaign-by-campaign basis, depending on your KPIs and overall goals, and balance AI recommendations with real performance data from your own previous campaigns.

5. YouTube is testing a copycat of Instagram’s collab posts  

The story: 

• YouTube is testing a new feature that allows creators to tag collaborators in a video, much like Instagram collab posts. 

• For example, the video’s author will show as “MrBeast and 3 more”, which, when tapped, will reveal the names of all the video’s collaborators. All collaborators’ channel profile pictures will be shown within the thumbnail display.  

• The feature means that the video will be recommended across all collaborators’ audiences, not just the original creator. It’s being tested with a select pool of creators, with plans to expand soon.

So what?

If you’re a creator, you should always be making use of new features across all platforms. They can be a powerful way to increase exposure, strengthen relationships with other creators, and build a connected community across overlapping audiences. This also opens interesting opportunities for brand ambassadorships and sponsorships on YouTube. Being able to directly tag a creator in a video offers brands a more authentic way to reach that creator’s audience – far beyond the standard “AD” segment. It adds credibility and feels more organic, which is exactly what many brands are looking for. 

6. TikTok is testing a new ad tool that lets you track website activity without a pixel 

The story:

• TikTok is tinkering with an Engaged Session feature that enables advertisers to retarget users who spend at least 10 seconds on a website after clicking their TikTok ad—no tracking pixel required. 

• This new tool aligns engagement metrics like Total Engaged Sessions and Cost per Engaged Session with third-party analytics such as Google and Adobe Analytics. 

• If the feature makes it to launch, Engaged Session would sit under TikTok’s “Traffic” objective, while all TikTok ad placements will be able to use it. 

So what? 

This is a valuable tool for brands looking to attract high-quality website visits from shoppers who are genuinely interested, rather than just clicks, minimising wasted spend in the process. Since this feature won’t require a tracking pixel, it also helps to overcome some of the common challenges with pixel setup and privacy restrictions. Definitely one to test alongside your existing campaign objectives to see if it delivers that all-important ROI.