Music has become synonymous with the social media experience. It drives trends, fuels engagement, and adds personality to short-form video content, which makes up the bulk of today’s feeds. Whether you are scrolling TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts, chances are the video you are watching is paired with a song. In fact, 85% of videos on TikTok, 84% of videos on YouTube, 58% on Instagram, and 49% on Facebook contain at least 10 seconds of music.

Instagram has crossed 3 billion monthly active users, joining Facebook and WhatsApp at this major milestone. For all the talk about it “dying,” the platform remains deeply embedded in culture and continues to grow.

Instagram will soon launch a new Shareable Insights feature for its video editing app, Edits.

At Meta Connect, Meta announced several new smart glasses and metaverse technologies. Along with a second generation of its flagship Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and the Oakley Meta Vanguard designed for athletes, it revealed the Meta Ray-Ban Display, a new category of smart glasses featuring an in-lens display.

Google is updating the Discover feed in its Search app. In the coming weeks, users will see more creator-driven content, including Instagram posts, X posts, YouTube Shorts, as well as traditional articles and stories. Google says more platforms will be added, with my predictions being TikTok, LinkedIn, and Substack content as next.

The creator marketing industry is set to hit $500 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs. The sheer amount of money flowing into the space reflects the impact creators are having on businesses today and their growing influence on purchase decisions across every demographic.

Instagram has officially launched a native iPad app, which has long an afterthought for the platform.

Instagram announced a new school experience for US college students. After verifying their student email through UNiDAYS, students can add a school banner to their profile and access a directory of confirmed classmates, organized by graduation year.

Instagram's Send a Preview feature has been spotted again. It allows creators to share a preview of a Reel with friends before posting, which also generates a draft of the Reel. Unlike a published post, previews can't be commented on or reshared.

Instagram launched a new feature that gives creators and brands the ability to link multiple Reels

Meta expanded access to Meta AI translations, giving creators the ability to automatically dub and lip-sync their Facebook and Instagram Reels in another language using their own voice and tone.

Instagram had a busy week, announcing multiple product updates ranging from new insights to new ways for users to share and discover content.