Social Media Updates: September 2025

By Brittany Siminitz | September 15, 2025

Meta Expands Reels and Threads Ad Options

Meta is allowing more brands to use Reels trending ads and introducing additional formats for Threads ads, as well as new qualifiers to help guide its AI-powered ad targeting.

“Reels trending ads use AI to curate the most trending and culturally relevant Reels inventory, delivering advertisers access to highly engaging, brand-safe video content that puts their brand where culture happens,” Meta said in its announcement of the enhancements. “Available lineups include all overall trending content or specific categories like animals & pets, beauty & fashion, cars, sports, with more to come next year.”

For Threads, Meta is rolling out carousel ads and offering more image formats. In addition, it announced it would extend Threads advertising to businesses that don’t have a Threads account, using their Facebook or Instagram posts as the basis for a campaign.

Suggesting there is promotional interest in the app, Meta said that three out of four Threads users now follow at least one business.

Facebook Brings Back the Poke

Remember the days of Facebook poking? Gen Z doesn’t—so Meta is bringing it back.

This isn’t the first time Meta has attempted to resurrect the poke feature; it tried in 2017, and again last year, but apparently no one was interested.

So why now? Does it hold any opportunity for businesses? (Is it weird to be poked by a business?) A Social Media Today reporter hit the nail on the head with his sentiment: “It just feels like a tone-deaf, corporate attempt to ‘make fetch happen,’ which once again reflects Meta’s broader lack of trend nous and user interest.”

Stay tuned for whether or not Meta is able to make poking happen.

Facebook to Get Rid of Community Chats

While it revives the poke, Meta is 86ing the community chats feature on Facebook.

Which makes sense, as users seem to prefer keeping their chatter to pages they’re members of rather than private messaging, which is a separate app. If your business or association has a private chat, take note that the feature will be “going away” soon, though Facebook has yet to announce an official date.

(Photo: Getty Images Plus/pressureUA)