The month of October closes with its most popular holiday, but brands and creators have plenty of other key dates to keep them busy before donning their costumes and putting out their bowls of Halloween candy.

Hispanic Heritage Month continues through Oct. 15, and October is also Global Diversity Awareness Month. Digging deeper, there are days to highlight coffee, teachers, and tacos.

Social Media Holidays to Mark on Your Calendar

• Oct. 1: First day of Global Diversity Awareness Month   
• Oct. 1: International Coffee Day   
• Oct. 2: International Day of Non-Violence   
• Oct. 5: World Teachers Day   
• Oct. 6: National Taco Day   
• Oct. 10: World Mental Health Day    
• Oct. 12: Indigenous Peoples’ Day   
• Oct. 19: International Day Against Breast Cancer 
• Oct. 31: Halloween

Social Media Platform Updates

YouTube

Announcements Made at Made on YouTube

Several new features and updates were revealed at the annual Made on YouTube event.

YouTube Studio added Ask Studio feedback, which enables creators to tap new insights and research destinations for feedback and advice on elements including pacing, structure, and storytelling.

Dynamic thumbnails are coming to Ask Studio, letting creators A/B test up to three video cuts. The feature also runs in the background to help refresh thumbnails for existing videos.

Gemini, parent company Google’s artificial intelligence assistant, was integrated into a conversational editing assistant for short-form video option YouTube Shorts and the YouTube Create application. It can be used to generate suggested prompts and personalized suggestions on matters such as reordering frames and syncing music to the beat.

YouTube began testing opt-in AI-powered comment moderation, which learns the creator’s moderation style over time and adapts its actions.

The platform will integrate speaking voice detection with facial detection later this year to help avoid impersonation and deepfakes, and likeness detection will be extended to the mobile app.

For YouTube Live, the Watch With feature was extended to all eligible long-form videos across the platform, enabling viewers to tap React Live and join the conversation.

Go Live Together lets creators pair up to co-host live videos, and early next year, this will be extended so that creators can browse and choose others who are currently streaming or view a potential match queue.

Once a co-hosted livestream is launched, interactive format Live Showdown features head-to-head matchups where viewers send chats, gifts, and Super Chats to creators in order to boost their score.

A pilot of live auto-dubbing will kick off early next year, automatically translating speech in live videos in real-time.

On the viewer side, Custom Feeds enable the creation of dedicated tabs for specific moods, routines, or interests. This feature is coming soon to web, mobile, and TV in the U.S.

Those shopping on the platform can now tap Ask YouTube for information such as reviews and recommendations on the products they are viewing.

YouTube Shorts creators can now structure their content into seasons and episodes for Shorts Series on YouTube on TV.

YouTube on TV viewers can now join the conversation via voice inputs, commenting directly via their televisions without having to access the platform via other devices.

Finally, recommended posts from the Shorts feed will also be added to YouTube on TV in the coming months.

Other YouTube News

• YouTube’s latest Culture & Trends Report, In Search of Mainstream, in partnership with NRG, examines the evolution of mainstream culture, calling it “more personalized and less synchronous.” 

TikTok

More Prominent Comments

TikTok introduced several updates to its comments capabilities.

Voice Comments enable viewers to tap the microphone icon in the comment box and record a message of up to 60 seconds, which other users can tap to listen to.

Comment Polls enable creators to seek feedback from their audiences by tapping the poll icon in the comment box and choosing up to five options to be voted on, as well as the duration of the poll.

Photo Carousel Comments allow the addition of up to nine photos in a single comment.

And Live Photo Comments let users upload live photos directly from their camera roll.

The Summer That Got Away

TikTok published its annual Songs of the Summer 2026 list. Highlights include:

• Global and U.S. song of the summer: “The One That Got Away,” Katy Perry.
• Outstanding contribution to the summer: Zara Larsson.
• Misheard track of the summer: “Du Bist Gut Genug,” KITSCHKRIEG featuring Blumengarten and Shirin David.
• Boy band of the summer: CORTIS.
• Emerging artist of the summer: Slayyyter.

Other TikTok News

• TikTok announced a multiyear partnership renewal with the National Football League.
• TikTok USDS Joint Venture expanded its partnerships with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Tech Coalition and introduced new safety measures for younger users.
• Finally, the platform debuted an in-app experience marking the release of Bass Persuades, the new album from Miley Cyrus.

Instagram

Gridlock

Instagram rolled out a new feature enabling users to add tagged posts to their profile grid.

This can be done via the direct message notification received when a user is tagged in a post, directly from the post, or through the Tagged tab, and these posts can be removed from the profile grid at any time.

On the creator side, the platform said this new feature is useful in that creators can showcase posts they were tagged in without having to repost them or use the Invite Collaborators option.

Other Instagram News

• Instagram added several tools for podcast creators and listeners on stand-alone app Threads.
• The platform released a comprehensive guide for using stand-alone app Edits to edit iPhone videos.

Meta

Paying for the One?

Meta announced Meta One, a new subscription service across its family of apps that brings with it more features and more AI options.

The company said more than 50 features are included for Facebook, Instagram, Meta AI, and WhatsApp, with Edits, Meta’s AI glasses, and more surfaces to be added down the line.

Core and Premium plans join the previously available Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus, and WhatsApp Plus, and plans are available for creators and businesses.

The options currently available are:

• Facebook Plus, $3.99 per month, with features such as custom app icons and super hearts.
• Instagram Plus, $3.99 per month, aimed at letting users connect more deeply with friends and customize their experience on the platform.
• WhatsApp Plus, $2.99 per month, offers exclusive themes and icons, special effects stickers, and the option of pinning more chats.
• Core, $7.99 per month, includes all of Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus, and WhatsApp Plus, as well as features like restyling Stories on Instagram, more frequent use of voice effects and creative tools, and ways to generate more images and videos with Meta Ai.
• Premium, $19.99 per month, includes the entire Core offering, as well as more ways to create via Meta AI and across the company’s family of apps.

And for businesses and creators:

• Essential, $14.99 per month, includes more access to Meta Business Agents on WhatsApp, a verified badge, a verified channel on the WhatsApp Business app, and impersonation protection.
• Advanced, starting at $49.99 per month, adds professional-grade tools such as scheduling stories up to 30 days in advance, links in organic posts and Reels, exportable analytics, and deeper audience insights.
• Expert, starting at $149 per month, and Max, starting at $499 per month, offer Meta’s highest levels of feature access and Meta Business Agent capacity.

Meta Creator Marketing Hub

Meta used the first-ever IAB Global Creator Week to announce the global launch of Meta Creator Marketing Hub.

The destination for creators added new features, including:

• Live video ads on Instagram.
• One-click creation, moving from a creator partnership to a drafted Partnership Ad without switching tools.
• Smarter content recommendations that recommend ad objectives.
• Ad-readiness editing features that remove common ad blockers such as copyrighted music or stickers so that content is ready to go as a Partnership Ad.
• New discovery filters that help brands and agencies surface creators and content featuring their products.
• An updated Creator Marketplace API (application-programming interface), along with new APIs enabling brands and agencies to manage creator campaigns via the tools they already use.
• Allowing businesses to connect with creators through Meta AI or whatever AI tools they already use via the Meta Ads MCP Connector.
• Instagram Live Video Ads will be extended to all brands and agencies worldwide.
• Content-level permissions and permission expiration dates.

Am I Here to A-Muse You?

Muse is the new personal AI agent from Meta, running on Muse Secure VM, a dedicated secure computer with its own browser, and learning from the user’s actions across Meta’s family of apps.

Meta said users have full control of Muse and the access it is granted.

The company explained in a blog post, “Anyone can use it out of the box, no technical experience required. It can handle tasks like sending an email or booking travel, and it can take on big audacious goals. Once a person shares a goal with Muse, it helps them develop a personalized plan and coordinate their time and resources, then advances the work on its own. It can open a browser, fill out forms, and negotiate on their behalf.”

Muse can also process payments via Link Built by Stripe, with Shop Pay to be added soon.

It is rolling out in the U.S. on iOS, Android, and muse.ai, and coming soon to Meta’s AI glasses.

Connect 2026

Meta made several announcements at its Connect 2026 event, including:

• The introduction of Meta VR Glasses.
• A new lineup of AI glasses, including audio glasses, that will total more than 100 styles by year-end across Meta, Oakley, and Ray-Ban.
• The addition of Muse to AI glasses.
• Muse connectors with American Eagle Outfitters, Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fanatics, Gap, Michael Kors, Sephora, Ulta, Walmart, and Wayfair for shopping, and with PayPal and Shop Pay for payments.
• The introduction of new device Muse Charm.

Pinterest

Visual Search Ads

Pinterest introduced Visual Search Ads, which give advertisers access to premium real estate on the platform: search results and Pin closeups.

The company said Visual Search Ads support lower-funnel objectives and are compatible with AI-powered performance advertising suite Pinterest Performance+.

The platform also revealed that a Priority Products option was added to Pinterest Performance+, giving advertisers more control over products that they want to prioritize in key moments.

Self-serve A/B testing lets advertisers more easily test campaign strategies, validate impact, and optimize their efforts.

Advertisers running app install campaigns can now tap purpose-built objective App Promotion.

Pinterest said Pinterest Intelligence—its combination of first-party signals, visual understanding, and purpose-built AI—is being integrated more directly into the customer experience.

Finally, the platform’s new Restyle feature, launching in beta in the U.S. and Canada, lets people use a photo to reimagine a space, test ideas, and compare options.

Other Pinterest News

• The platform built a new AI layer with Nvidia to support products that rely on images and language, including visual search, content understanding, and safety.
• The Pinterest Men’s Trend Report 2026 was released.

Snapchat

Commerce Power Pack

Snapchat is helping advertisers prepare for the holiday shopping season with its introduction of the Commerce Power Pack.

The focus is on converting product discovery into action, and optimizing for what is most important to advertisers.

Dynamic Product Ads—which use AI-powered recommendation models to help advertisers show the right products to the users most likely to convert—were extended to Sponsored Snaps, which brings catalog product ads directly into its most used surface, chat.

Value Optimization lets brands optimize for return on ad spend and focus on purchases that drive more value, and it can be used in tandem with Unified Attribution.

On the web, Third-Party Web Optimization combines first-party and third-party signals to optimize toward third-party purchase outcomes.

Finally, Omnichannel Optimization helps capture purchases across the web and the Snapchat app within a single campaign, and it is currently in alpha-testing.

Say Hi to SPECS

Snap debuted SPECS, its new augmented reality glasses.

Experiences for SPECS were built with partners including the National Basketball Association/Women’s National Basketball Association, ALO Wellness Club, PGA Professionals, HBO Max, YouTube, and Spotify.

An integration with Tripadvisor brings information about nearby restaurants, landmarks, and experiences, as well as recommendations, reviews, and currency conversions.

And another integration, with the Shopify Catalog, lets users browse products in 3D and complete transactions on the seller’s website.

In the Flesh

New feature suite Snapchat Plans was released with the goal of facilitating meet-ups in real life.

Users can:

• Send and receive invites from mutual friends.
• Track key details such as time, date, and attendees.
• Keep plans in one place.
• And, coming soon, create events directly within a chat.

Snapchat Plans are private and invite-only.

Other Snapchat News

• Co-Founder and CEO Evan Spiegel shared his thoughts as Snapchat turned 15.
• Snapchat teamed up with HBO Max on AR lenses, chat wallpapers, Bitmoji fashion, an app icon, and in-person AR experiences backing new original series Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Finally, the company shared research on the rise of short dramas, with Ipsos; and how to reach voters, with Alter Agents.

X

X Money in the Bank

All creator payouts in the U.S. for Original Content Awards and Subscriptions are now being processed via X Money.

Creators will have access to the payouts as soon as they are sent, and the company will issue 1099-NEC tax forms.

Outside of the U.S., creators will continue to be paid via Stripe.

Open Influence’s team stays on top of the latest trends and is here to help you maximize your creator campaigns.

Open Influence is a leading global creator marketing agency dedicated to creating engaging campaigns. 

Reach out to us today.