These Are The Social Media Platform Updates To Expect As We Head Into 2025

Vertical grids, new community hubs, and an entire national ban on TikTok. A lot happened in 2024… 

Except this didn’t happen in 2024. These are, in fact, the social media platform updates to come out of just the first few weeks of 2025. 

2024 was the year that saw platforms make numerous changes to their features, policies, and monetisation options, reshaping how businesses, creators, and users engage with socials. To say marketers have their hands full this year, would be an understatement.

But before the panic sets in, let’s familiarise ourselves with the recent social media platform updates to best equip your new year strategies and refine pre-existing ones. And for those of you facing a looming TikTok ban, you may want to listen closely, as they just might be the key to your new approach to socials.

2025 SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM UPDATES

Instagram

Vertical grids

It was only right that we started by addressing the elephant in the room. Instagram’s switch to a vertical grid. An eye-sore for some, yet a breath of fresh air for others.

Whatever your stance, the facts are as follows.

Instagram has swapped its beloved square grid out for vertical tiles, in a bid to keep up with the fact that “the vast majority of what is being uploaded to the platform today, is vertical”, says Mosseri, who also acknowledges that he knows it’s a pain, but it’s a “transitional pain”.

Rolled out to users pretty sharpish, this is just one of the social media platform updates Instagram is investing in to position itself as a better alternative to TikTok. Perfect timing, given that US TikTokers are seeking exactly that as the impending ban looms. But we’ll get onto that later.

Unfortunately yes, this does mean the complex grid displays set up to create a larger image spanning several squares, will now look like they were crafted by a 7 year-old, but Mosseri ensures us that his team are working on solutions, albeit makeshift ones.

Some users are refusing to budge, voicing that “not everything has to look like TikTok”. But despite people’s upset, Mosseri did warn us in August 2022 that this update would be coming. 

It’s also worth noting that with the grid change is coming the relocation of Highlights. 

Edits

Not only is Instagram trying to replicate TikTok, but also CapCut, with its latest app announcement, Edits, available in app stores Feb 2025.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of CapCut’s temporary removal from major app stores as part of the TikTok ban, which has left creators scrambling for alternatives. Given this, the timing is no coincidence.

Edits isn’t just another video editing app. It’s positioning itself as a comprehensive creative toolkit for mobile video creators. Creators can expect features such as a higher-quality camera, a dedicated inspiration tab, draft sharing capabilities for collaboration, and detailed insights for videos shared on the platform.

The real question is, will Edits successfully fill a CapCut-shaped hole in creators’ toolkits?

Watch this space.

Threads

Threads is having quite the field day with the rollout of numerous social media platform updates during the first few weeks of 2025.

Firstly, users will be able to create custom display names, which can be changed once a week or twice within a 14-day span. This is great for event promotion, holidays, or other major milestones. 

In another creator-first attempt to ensure user retention, Threads is rolling out post scheduling. It’s worth noting that Threads users have actually had the ability to schedule posts through planners and third-party apps for quite some time, but being able edit scheduled posts in-app is a lot more efficient.

Finally, Threads is starting to step away from replicating the features of other apps by moving into its own realms in regards to posting functionality. The platform is testing out a new way to display spoilers in posts, leading to one of the more exciting social media platform updates on our list. The ‘Mark Spoiler’ option will black out highlighted text, which could eventually be beneficial for sports discussion, TV show discourse, and movie spoilers etc.

Similarly, Threads’ new template creation option will facilitate more creative posts and posting trends. Integrated within the composer options, templates already uploaded to the app will be available to select, and users will also be able to create new templates to share. This could make it easier for creators/brands to tap into trending formats, text-based visuals, and other creative display options.

X

X and its team are leaning into entertainment. That’s right, Elon Musk wants his users to view more fun and informative content, stating that “our goal is to maximise unregretted user-seconds”. To do this, the platform is changing its algorithm to promote more ‘entertaining/informative’ content, though it’s not yet clear when this will be implemented. 

In other news, X is greatly contributing to this year’s social media platform updates with a new, dedicated video tab integrated into the function bar at the bottom., though this has only rolled out to US users for the time being.

Given that video views in the app have increased 40% year-over-year, it makes sense for this feature to be announced. That, and because X has begun referring to itself as a “video-first” platform. Hopefully, X’s video push will help to drive more time spent, and more opportunity for video ads.

X’s standing in the AI race also shows no signs of slowing. If you’re a regular X user, you’ll be aware that Grok exists.That’s because Musk is very keen to get more people using its “anti-woke” chatbot and, in turn, is promoting Groke everywhere. Now, Grok is available to help you create images, conduct trend research, and explain posts, among other things. Whichever side of the bot posting fence you stand on, it may soon be your only option.

YouTube

If anyone has been working hard to bring the most game-changing social media platform updates, it’s YouTube.

The social media platform updates kick off with its brand new Community Hub., which replaces the traditional Community tab, creating a centralised space for audience interaction. It enables continuous discussions, user-initiated topics, and improved moderation tools, fostering deeper engagement and audience insights.

YouTube also appears to be giving X a run for its money in the AI race with Dream Screen. Powered by its proprietary tool, DeepMindsEvo, this is the platform’s first foray into regulated AI content generation, making this yet another one of the most exciting social media platform updates to grace this list. Key features of the new tool include background creation, short clips, and object addition. Sure there are a few limitations, like the 6 second clip restriction, but overall this is a step in the right direction for content creation over on YouTube.

The automatic content generation doesn’t stop there, either. YouTube’s Inspiration Tools is a powerful system designed to generate content ideas by analysing trends, audience interests, and successful videos within your niche.

What better way to stay ahead of the curve than with YouTube’s actionable insights and suggestions?

Including key capabilities such as generating optimised titles, designing engaging thumbnails, and outlining basic structures for video scripts, Inspiration Tools will help creators save a bunch of time on length research all while optimising content and improving visual appeal.

TikTok

Last, but certainly not least, TikTok has had quite the release of social media platform updates all while battling a looming ban in the US.

X and YouTube aren’t the only ones offering up social media platform updates for AI-driven purposes. TikTok has offered up a host of AI features to enhance the user experience in-app. AI features, like the “AI Group Shot” tool and “AI Self” option, are fun and relevant, making AI a helpful addition, rather than a random gimmick. 

@tiktokfeatures

2025 is around the corner! Join the year-end celebration with varieties of fun Group Shot templates!

♬ original sound – TikTok Features – TikTok Features

Unlike Meta, whose AI-driven features often miss the mark by creating surreal, unrelatable content, TikTok’s AI aligns with trends and real-world experiences, making it more engaging. While Meta copies successful features from competitors, TikTok’s innovation is rooted in user-centred design and community trends. This focus has helped TikTok edge out rivals, offering tools like AI caption suggestions to boost content visibility.

TikTok is also testing a couple of new features for search which include thumbnails showing in search suggestions and an “others searched for” section which presents in a column-like display within search results.

As far as the US TikTok ban is concerned, Trump has signed an executive order granting a 75-day extension, “to permit my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok”. For now the best course of action for worried creators/marketers is to prioritise an omnichannel strategy that stretches multiple platforms and hits your target audience on each. For more on this, keep an eye out for a very special TikTok ban report which is coming to Socially Powerful, soon!

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