Let’s look at some August 2025 social media platform updates!

August was a month of high change across the social media landscape, particularly for the food, beverage, and hospitality industries. Across the major platforms, we saw a clear strategic shift toward more consolidated, AI-driven content ecosystems. These updates fundamentally redefine how brands should approach content creation and advertising.

Here is a breakdown of the key changes from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, and what they mean for your brand.

Facebook Updates

Meta has been pushing a major strategic shift towards an AI-centric, unified ecosystem. For food, beverage, and hospitality (F/B&H) brands, this means re-considering your entire digital strategy.

All Videos are Now Reels

Facebook has announced a significant strategic shift, consolidating all new video uploads into a single, unified format. This means the classic “Video” tab will be renamed to “Reels,” and all video content, regardless of length, will now be optimised for the Reels format, with live streams as the only exception. So make sure that all content is now shot vertically to be mobile friendly! 

The Crackdown on Unoriginal Content 

In a move to “protect and elevate creators”, Facebook has begun restricting the reach and monetisation of unoriginal content. This new policy targets accounts that repeatedly repost content from other platforms without adding substantial value. So if you’re going to repost, make sure that you add new and fresh commentary otherwise your content will be de-prioritised. 

AI-Powered Advantage+ Campaigns

Meta is continuing its automation push, fully rolling out and expanding its Advantage+ tools for leads and app promotion. The platform’s AI now automatically handles audience targeting and real-time budget allocation. This means that quality of your creatives are the most imperative element to ad success! 

Sunsetting of Shops and Checkout 

As of the end of August 2025, certain features related to shops will no longer be supported. Make sure your checkout process outside of the app is slick and optimised otherwise you could lose conversions. 

 

Instagram Updates

Instagram’s updates reflect a pivot towards a more socially-driven, community-oriented discovery experience. This is great news for food, beverage and hospitality businesses, which thrive on peer-to-peer recommendations.

The Ability to Link Reels

Instagram now gives you the ability to link Reels. This is a game-changer for related content or content series and makes it easier for your viewers to spend longer watching your content. You will be able to give the linked Reel a title to help encourage viewers to watch it. We maintain that original, series-based content will outperform trend-based content, so this is a great opportunity to give it a go. Food lends itself very well to series-based content – You could create a recipe series or a series exploring the behind the scenes of the dishes on your menu.

Reposts, Friends Map, and a New Reels Tab

Instagram has rolled out three major features designed to foster deeper social engagement. The “Friends” tab in Reels allows you to see the reels that your connections on Instagram have liked (for good or bad..). The Friends Map allows users to see where friends are and discover location-tagged content. This is a powerful reinforcement of word-of-mouth marketing. Finally the repost function now allows instant broadening of your reach! A user reposting a photo of your restaurant now seamlessly expands your brand’s reach to a new, highly-trusting audience: their friends.

Make sure you are encouraging user-generated content and location tagging more actively than ever before.

Deeper Analytics for Carousels and Reels

The platform now provides deeper analytics for carousels, posters can see which specific slide received the most likes, while for Reels, they can track the exact moment a user liked the video. This is a goldmine for creative strategy. You can A/B test photos of new menu items within a single carousel or pinpoint the exact second of a “behind the scenes” Reel that captured the most attention, enabling a highly data-driven approach to content production.

Instagram Content Now Visible on Google Search

Instagram has begun rolling out a major update that allows content to be visible on google search! This presents a major opportunity for organic visibility. A user searching for “best coffee shop in London” could now see a relevant Instagram post from a local café. To capitalise, businesses must begin to treat their Instagram content as they would a webpage and optimise it for search by using relevant keywords and location tags.

 

TikTok Updates

TikTok’s primary “updates” in August were not new platform features, but rather the continuation of its trend-driven culture and the maturation of its commerce capabilities. The core strategy for success remains unchanged: it is a platform of cultural participation, not feature adoption. Success hinges on a brand’s ability to be agile, creative, and responsive to the latest viral trends.

 

LinkedIn Updates

In contrast to the rapid evolution of Meta and TikTok, LinkedIn’s value in August was its stability. The platform had no major public-facing feature updates for marketers. With no major algorithm changes, the key to success on LinkedIn remains unchanged: focus on building long-term, high-value professional relationships and establishing brand authority. 

 

Final Takeaway

The August updates highlight a diverging social media landscape. For food, beverage and hospitality brands, the message is clear: prioritise authenticity and platform-native creative. 

Embrace Instagram’s community-driven discovery and leverage TikTok’s powerful trend and participation ethos. Meanwhile, rely on LinkedIn’s stability for building professional relationships and establishing brand authority. The future of social media is less about a one-size-fits-all approach and more about a nuanced strategy tailored to each platform’s unique value proposition.