October 2025 Social Media Platform Updates
Thursday 6th November 2025
by Beth Perrin
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With Q4 now in full swing, it’s time for us to look back at some of the top new social media features that were released by our favourite platforms throughout October. As always, plenty of fresh updates have arrived over the past month that will improve your online experience whether you’re an individual user or a brand marketer - read on to find out which ones might apply to you this winter.
Threads Communities
After testing the option with selected users over the past few weeks, Threads has officially announced a full launch of its new topic-based communities, which will provide another way for users to find relevant discussions and people who share their interests in the app.
Meta describes Communities as “public, casual spaces where you can exchange unique perspectives and join conversations about topics like basketball, TV and more”, and to personalise them further, each community has its own custom emoji that appears when you press ‘Like’ on a post (for example, a stack of books in the book community, and a ball in the basketball community), giving “a distinct sense of belonging to interactions between members”.
You can discover Communities by searching for them by name, or by tapping a ‘Community’ tag on a post in your feed. A three-dots icon on a topic tag indicates that it has a dedicated Community, and to join one, simply tap ‘Join’ in the top right.
X Premium Business
X has renamed its paid business package from ‘Verified Organisations’ to ‘Premium Business’, and has updated it to include three different price tiers of membership that are suitable for a wide variety of subscribers, from small businesses and startups to global corporations.
• Basic (£160/month)
This tier gives you the essentials you need to establish your business on X.
• Full access (£950/month)
This tier allows you to scale your business effortlessly with a suite of growth tools, the highest level of customer support, and early access to new features.
• Enterprise (custom amount)
The top tier grants your business access to custom solutions, advanced tools, a dedicated support team, and maximum access for your unique goals.
Instagram Edits Updates
Instagram announced a range of updates for its separate video editing app ‘Edits’, giving Reels creators lots of new ways to style and share their content.
• Shareable insights
You can now share your Reels performance metrics with others in a handy PDF report that the app will create for you.
• New sound effects
Over 250 new sound effects are available to use in your videos.
• Jennie custom font
A new custom font inspired by K-pop star Jennie has been added that you can apply to any text elements in your videos.
• Text presets
A range of text presets have been added that combine fonts, colours, animations and effects.
• Custom colours
You can now save custom colours by hexcode, making it easier to apply your brand colours consistently throughout your videos.
More Languages for AI Reels Translations
In our August platform updates blog post, we outlined Meta’s new AI-powered auto-translations for Reels on both Facebook and Instagram, which make it easier for users to watch Reels from creators around the world without language barriers. Initially, only English and Spanish translations were available, but now Hindi and Portuguese have been added, with even more languages coming soon too.
The translated audio uses the sound and tone of your own voice so it feels authentically you, and the lip syncing feature matches your mouth’s movements to the translated audio, so it looks like you’re really speaking the language in the Reel.
Threads Group Chats
Midway through the month, Threads introduced group chats, which will enable users to set up their own dedicated messaging groups within the app. Group chats can include up to 50 people, and new members can only be added by someone that they follow. Only chat admins can remove members, and users will have a 15-minute window to edit any messages they send into the chat.
AI Content Controls on Pinterest
Many users agree that the influx of AI content on Pinterest has become overwhelming and has negatively impacted their in-app experience, so the platform has decided to roll out some new options that will give users more control over the AI-generated Pins they see in-stream.
Matt Madrigal, Pinterest’s Chief Technology Officer, explained: “With our new GenAI controls, we’re empowering people to personalise their Pinterest experience more than ever - striking the right balance between human creativity and AI innovation, and ensuring every feed truly reflects what inspires them most.”
To manage these preferences, head to your settings and choose ‘refine your recommendations’. From here, you can adjust the toggles to see fewer AI-generated images in each supported category (art, beauty, home décor and more).
Edits and Collages on Facebook
Facebook has introduced a new feature that aims to make reminiscing and sharing your favourite moments easier and more fun. The opt-in tool uses AI to suggest the best photos and videos from your camera roll (“those memorable moments that get lost among screenshots, receipts, and random snaps”), and then creates eye-catching collages and edits with them, making it simple to share unique, personal content on both Facebook and Messenger. Sharing recommendations currently appear in Stories and the main Feed, and you can find more ready-to-share content in the Memories section.
X Handle Marketplace
If you’ve always wanted to change your X username to something that suits you or your brand better, but have found that your desired handle is already taken by an inactive account, you now have a chance to purchase the perfect username thanks to the recent launch of the X Handle Marketplace.
Dormant usernames will be divided into ‘Rare’ and ‘Priority’ categories, with ‘Priority’ handles being available free of charge in some instances (as long as you’re a Premium+ or Premium Business subscriber), while the more highly requested ‘Rare’ handles (costing at least $2,500!) will only be available via a system called ‘Rare Handle Drops’.
This process will involve users having to register their interest in their chosen name, after which X will judge the applications and choose a winner, based on various factors relating to activity and presence on the platform.
Edit Instagram Stories with Meta AI
Instagram has added a new editing function to the Story creation process, which uses Meta AI to help you add your own flair to your posts. Simply type your prompt into the ‘Restyle’ box to describe what you want, and the AI will apply your desired edits to your Story photo.
• Remove unwanted items
You can now remove unwanted elements from the background of your photos, such as people or buildings.
• ‘Add’ and ‘change’ tools
Change your hair colour, add a crown to your head, change your outfit or apply a sunset background to your photo.
• Preset effects
There are many presets available that will automatically transform the style, background and outfits in your photos.
Instagram Reels Watch History
Instagram is rolling out a new ‘Watch history’ feature, which will make it easier to go back and revisit videos you’ve previously watched in the app but didn’t Like or Save at the time. Simply go to your profile, then tap on ‘Settings’, followed by ‘Activity’. Here you’ll find the new ‘Watch history’ option, where you’ll see thumbnails of all the Reels you’ve watched over the last 30 days.
Threads Ghost Posts
Threads has introduced ‘ghost posts’, which are posts that automatically disappear after 24 hours, giving users a way to share unfiltered thoughts and fresh takes “without the pressure of permanence or polish”. Replies to ghost posts are sent to your messaging inbox instead of the public comments section, and only you can see who liked and replied. To create a ghost post, simply toggle on the ghost icon in the post composer - and it’s worth noting that you can only include text and emojis, not photos or videos.
AI-Powered Tools for TikTok Creators
At the recent TikTok Creator Summit, TikTok unveiled some new AI-powered tools to help creators “elevate their creativity and bring their vision to life”.
• Smart split
Available globally on TikTok Studio Web, Smart Split automatically clips, reframes, captions, and transcribes longer content into multiple short videos ready for TikTok (for example, cutting a ‘day in the life’ vlog or a podcast episode down into multiple clips).
• AI outline
This will help creators tap into trending formats and interests by generating video titles, hashtags, hooks and outlines, based on content that’s currently popular on the platform.
TikTok also announced a revenue share update that will make it possible for creators to receive up to 90% of the profit payouts. Currently, after fees, creators receive 70% of their revenue share - but now, those who meet certain requirements (10K followers, 100K views in the last month, and 3+ subscription-only videos posted in the last month) can unlock an extra 20% monthly reward on top of that, for a total of up to 90% of the revenue.
WhatsApp Passkey Protection for Chat Backups
WhatsApp ended the month by announcing that it’s rolling out a new passkey feature which will allow users to use their fingerprint, face ID or screen lock code to end-to-end encrypt their chat backups, meaning they’ll no longer have to memorise a password or a 64-digit encryption key. This ensures that all WhatsApp chat backups can be kept safe, accessible and 100% private with just a tap or a glance.
To get started, simply go to your WhatsApp settings and select ‘Chats’, followed by ‘Chat backup’, then ‘End-to-end encrypted backup’ to see your options.
Summary
We’d love to know if you’ve tried any of these updates yet, and which ones have benefited you or your brand. Find us on X @3sixfivepro to share which new features you’re planning to use as we approach the holiday season, and tell us which social media tools you’re currently enjoying when it comes to creating content or interacting with your audience.
