Need-to-Know Social Media Updates: February 2026

January lasted forever didn’t it? So what have the major social media platforms been up to? Let’s dig into the social media updates for February.

ICYMI: January 2026 Social Media Updates

Facebook Updates

Ads on Threads

Meta are finally launching ads on Threads worldwide. There are an estimated 400 million active users per month on Threads so it is fast becoming a platform where your customers are spending time! When creating ads, consider the placement formats for Threads specifically and think about what type of content your audience is looking for. It’s highly likely that they’re consuming different looking content to Instagram and Facebook, so adapt your ad creative to match.

Ads on Threads now offers 4:5 aspect ratio, carousel format, and most recently the ability to run Advantage+ catalog and app ads on Threads.

Community Notes

Community notes are being published worldwide on Facebook mobile. This is a huge step in the right direction in combatting misinformation on Facebook, something that has become more and more prevalent. It allows users to add notes to posts that are moderated to ensure trustworthiness and validity of information.

It is something that was used to great success on Twitter before it became X, and turned into what it is today..

Facebook Live Boosting

Do you use Facebook Live to increase your reach and provide real time content to your audience? If so, Facebook have announced that you can now boost Facebook Live events. Live events can be a great tool to increase your viewership and get your content in front of people that haven’t seen it before, the ability to Boost now means that you can further expand that reach. Boosting is something that we recommend using sparingly but this is a useful feature in your arsenal for growing your user base.

Instagram Updates

Shareable Links in Reels

Instagram have dropped a super useful feature now where you can embed links to other profiles and Reels directly into your reels! In the past you may have had to tell your viewers to “follow the link in the comments” or “follow the link in Bio”, but now you can create stickers and buttons within the reel that will go directly to wherever you want to link someone. This was something previously reserved just for paid content, so make sure you’re using this feature going forward!

Algorithm Control 

Meta have now pushed the algorithm control feature worldwide:

This will give users more control over their reels experience in particular, so if you’re sick of seeing something that you took a fleeting interest in, or you want to see more cute dog videos.

This is a clear signal from Instagram to optimise your content so it gets categorised correctly. This means using keywords in the caption, text on screen, audio and making sure your Reels have a clear purpose. This will maximise your chances of getting seen by people who may be interested in your content. It is also a signal that social feeds continue to move towards discovery and DMs and Stories are where it’s at for community-building.

Mixed Media Stories

Probably the main area where you see updates from your friends and family is the Stories feature on Instagram. Well now you can upload mixed media stories, where you can combine video and photos. This is a cool feature that will just create a more vibrant space with different forms of media to keep you and your followers entertained.

Struggling to keep pace with the changes and what they mean for your social media strategy? We have capacity for new clients in 2026.

Chat to us about social media management.

TikTok Updates

TikTok are underwhelming when it comes to social media updates for February but here’s the best we can find:

Creator Insights 

TikTok has moved the Creator Search Insights button! It is now conveniently placed under Creation & Business Tools (we told you):

Collage Template

In addition, there is now an inbuilt collage template so you don’t need to use 3rd party apps now to build your own collages!

I think the TikTok developers had January off..

LinkedIn Updates

Describe The Job You Want

Whether this will improve the effectiveness of your ability to search for jobs, we are unsure. But LinkedIn have now changed the job search to “Describe the job you want”. It may be less boolean with the results that are returned if a job title isn’t an exact match to what you’re searching for. Certainly could be a good feature enhancement.

Final Takeaway

It appears that January was a quiet month for TikTok and LinkedIn on the software update front, but Facebook has taken definitive and quality strides forward from an algorithm control and information quality perspective. Demonstrating why they’re still top of the pile when it comes to social media platforms.