The Instagram Stories - Social Media News

After many years of not treating the iPad like a device that needed a good Instagram experience, the team is finally rolling out an iPad app, with a different experience - the Reels tab will be featured, and you watch videos while commenting and responding to messages. If you feel left out because you don't have an iPad, I explain how to use Instagram on other devices. Additionally we have some TikTok updates including new tools to help creators get on the TikTok shop, and the YouTube team shares an update on Communities.

Links:

Instagram: Instagram for iPad, designed for bigger screens (Instagram)

Instagram: A New Ranking Framework for Better Notification Quality on Instagram (FB.com Blog)

TikTok: Creator tips: Your TikTok Shop toolkit (TikTok)

TikTok: TikTok Deadline will keep getting extended, says Trump (FastCompany)

YouTube: This Week at YouTube: Gift Effects, Gift Goals Experiment, and Direct Links for Communities! (YouTube)

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Today on the show, Instagram gets filters for Story Replies, Unread messages, Unanswered messages, messages from Followers, and messages from Verified users. Additionally, the Instagram @creators account shares a strategy for using AI to write scripts with viral hooks, TikTok adds voice messages in the inbox, and Cyndi Zaweski stops by to share storytelling strategies.

Links:

Instagram: @Creators account shares DM Inbox Updates (Instagram)

Instagram: Using Meta AI to write scripts with viral hooks (Instagram)

TikTok: TikTok now lets users send voice notes and images in DMs (TechCrunch)

Interview with Cyndi Zaweski:

Crafting Your Brand's Story with Cyndi Zaweski of StoryCraft with Cyndi

Video Interview: (YouTube)

Audio Interview: (Apple Podcasts) (Spotify) (Others)

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Instagram has launched a new video series to explain how to get the most of out Edits, the Head of Instagram explains how to tell if someone has unfollowed you, and the YouTube Creator Insider team updates us on the YouTube Create app.

Links:

Edits: Video Series (Instagram)

Instagram: How to tell if someone unfollowed you (Instagram)

YouTube: YouTube Create Templates, Hype and AI Summaries (YouTube)

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Today the Head of Instagram explains connected Reels, which is a new feature that's badly needed. He also explains trial reels, how to stop certain people from seeing your reposts, how long to wait in between posts, and what to do if you want to post a Reel longer than 3 minutes.

Links:

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Today I interview Bella Rose Mortel, a social media strategist and creative copywriter known for building authentic, high-impact digital brands. Currently at beehiiv, she leads content + strategy across LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram and other platforms, blending strategy with storytelling to drive growth and engagement. With a background at Workweek and Morning Brew, plus her own Gen Z–focused newsletter The Personality Hire, she’s passionate about making B2B content feel human, relevant, and genuinely fun.

In this interview, we discuss the critical importance for creators to "own their audience" through an email newsletter, as social media platforms can be unreliable due to algorithm changes or potential bans. Bella Rose highlights beehive's key differentiators from competitors like Substack, including its 0% cut on paid subscription revenue (only Stripe fees apply), a built-in ad network that offers sponsorship opportunities with no minimum subscriber count (even for those with as few as 100 subscribers), and a new fully integrated website builder. The discussion also covers beehiiv's tools designed to make content creation easier, such as AI writing assistance and various newsletter and website templates, emphasizing its role as an all-in-one platform to simplify growing and monetizing a content business. Bella Rose also shares insights from her dual perspective as a newsletter creator and social media strategist, explaining how newsletters foster a deeper connection with an intentional audience compared to the passive scrolling on social media, and offering practical advice on managing multiple social platforms.

Find Bella Rose:

LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bellarosemortel/⁠

Newsletter: The Personality Hire - ⁠https://bella-roses-newsletter.beehiiv.com/t/lifestyle⁠

Find beehiiv:

Web: ⁠https://www.beehiiv.com/⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/beehiiv/⁠

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Meta launches the ability to automatically have your Instagram and Facebook Reels translated and dubbed from English to Spanish (and vice versa!) but the AI will ensure your mouth matches the words. Also the Head of Instagram answers a question about how long Reels should be, the Buffer team shares some strategy and a new feature, the YouTube team is working on Effects for Shorts, and I do Wednesday Waffle.

Links:

Instagram: Reels from English to Spanish and Spanish to English using AI (Instagram)

Instagram: How Long Should a Reel Be? Adam Mosseri Explains (Instagram)

Buffer: How Often Should You Post on Instagram? (Instagram)

Buffer: New Feature - Bulk Upload from CSV (Instagram)

YouTube: Effect Maker, Improved Comment Moderation in Studio, and More (YouTube)

Wednesday Waffle:

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (Book) (Audiobook)

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Today we review the Head of Instagram's answers to questions like "Will bonuses for Reels be back?" and "Does putting no caption In a Reel affect it's reach?" and "If I quickly skip someone's Story, can they still see I saw it?", plus some Instagram feature suggestions.

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How often should you post on Instagram? I pit the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, against the actual data. The Buffer team has done a masterful job of pulling all the data together into one place. There are also Edits app updates to talk about, plus AI news - turns out Meta's AI is doing some really bad things, and Chat-GPT has been updated but the old model is still available.
 

Links:

Instagram: How Often To Post (Instagram)

Buffer: How Often to Post on Instagram (Buffer)

Edits: Updates to the app include safe zones to help guide you with adding text to your reels (Threads)

AI News:

Podcast: AI News You Should Know About (Listen)

Meta’s flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York - He Never Made It Home (Reuters)

ChatGPT Model Switching - (TechCrunch)

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The Head of Instagram gives the latest on the reposts feature - how it works and where reposts appear. Additionally he explains how location sharing on Instagram works, and gives some updates on the Edits app. After the break we talk about how Instagram removes bots and fake followers, plus a feature suggestion for carousels.

Show Links:
 

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