September has arrived, and with it comes a very specific energy on social media. Kids are back at school, the last of the summer holiday photos are still trickling into feeds, and every platform in existence is already talking about Christmas.
AI keeps working its way further into how content gets made and discovered, TikTok has handed the keys to Mickey Mouse, and the platforms are lining up to tell brands the same thing: get your holiday campaigns moving now, or spend December playing catch-up.
Missed last month’s roundup? Catch up on the August 2026 social media updates here.
LinkedIn wants you optimised for AI, not just for people
LinkedIn published a new playbook this month on how to get content cited by AI chatbots, built around a framework it’s calling “The Credibility Stack.”
The guide walks through how to build a foundational presence on LinkedIn and then extend it through staff profiles and relevant creators, with long-form articles outperforming feed posts when it comes to attracting AI citations.
Disney hands its IP to TikTok creators
Image: The Walt Disney Company
In one of the bigger platform deals of the year, Disney and TikTok announced a “first-of-its-kind” global partnership that lets creators use licensed clips, scenes and characters from across Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and FX in their own short-form videos.
The content won’t just live on TikTok, it will also appear in Verts, Disney+’s new vertical video hub, giving creator content a route onto one of the world’s biggest streaming platforms.
For a company that spent a reported $1 billion on a Sora integration with OpenAI before quietly ending that deal in March, this is a notable shift back towards working with human creators rather than generative tools. It’s also a sign that major IP holders are starting to see fan-made content less as a threat to manage and more as a distribution channel worth investing in.
TikTok gives creators a newsletter of their own
Image: Social Media Today
TikTok has launched The Creator’s Cut, a new Substack newsletter written by creators for creators, with a specific focus on making the most out of TikTok Live.
TikTok Live doesn't need an AI-generated introduction
Not every AI feature is worth the hype, and TikTok’s new AI-generated intro tool for Live broadcasts is a good example.
The tool lets hosts tap a button to generate a summary of themselves and their broadcast to share with viewers. It’s a nice idea in theory, but it raises an obvious question: how accurate is a description that a host didn’t actually write?
Snapchat opens the door to AI agents
Snapchat launched its Ads Model Context Protocol server this month, allowing advertisers to plan and refine Snapchat campaigns directly through third-party AI tools including Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini.
Organisation admins will need to authorise each AI agent individually and set its level of access, and at launch all approved connections are read-only. Write access is expected in a future release, which would allow AI agents to actually create and adjust campaigns rather than just analyse them.
Snapchat gives advertisers a clearer view of ad performance
Snapchat also expanded its Unified Attribution approach to all advertisers globally, including users of AppsFlyer and Adjust.
The update combines Snapchat’s own platform metrics with data from a brand’s chosen mobile measurement partner into a single view, giving advertisers a clearer picture of how Snap Ads are actually performing against real business outcomes like installs, onboarding and purchases.
Given how relevant Snapchat remains to younger audiences, better measurement here matters. Advertisers who’ve struggled to prove Snapchat’s contribution to the wider funnel now have another tool to make that case with real data, rather than guesswork.
Pinterest says your Christmas campaign should already be live
Image: Pinterest
Pinterest has shared its holiday planning advice for brands, and the message is the same one it gave last year: start earlier than feels comfortable.
According to Pinterest, festive activity on the platform spikes as early as September as users begin planning gift lists, menus and seasonal traditions. The platform’s five-step advice covers setting up product catalogues and KPIs, using its AI-powered Performance+ campaigns (which Pinterest says have driven a 28% improvement in ROAS during testing for SMB advertisers using ROAS bidding), testing early through moments like back-to-school and Halloween, launching between September and November, and extending campaigns into the post-Christmas period, when 55% of weekly users are still buying.
Pinterest obviously has a vested interest in brands spending more with it for longer. That doesn’t make the underlying logic wrong. A longer runway gives you more time to test, learn and refine before the real Q4 pressure hits, and that’s worth having regardless of which platform you’re running it on.
Meta lays out the four phases of the holiday shopper journey
Meta has published a series of guides breaking the holiday shopping journey into four phases: discovery from October to early November, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deal phase, the gifting phase throughout December, and a fresh start phase running into the new year.
Meta says 86% of global holiday shoppers use social media for inspiration, with 58% of Gen Z discovering gifts through Reels and Stories, and 64% of people who discover products on Instagram going on to make a purchase. The company’s advice is to switch on Advantage+ placements as early as possible, giving its AI system time to learn audience response before Black Friday hits.
The core message across Meta’s holiday guidance and Pinterest’s is essentially the same. Shoppers are already out there browsing, and a longer learning period gives your campaigns a real head start once the serious spending season begins.
Meta wants full control of your ad placements
Not every update this month is about giving marketers more control. Meta is preparing to remove the Placements option from ad sets, taking away advertisers’ ability to exclude specific apps or placements from their campaigns.
Currently, if a brand doesn’t want its ads showing up in Facebook search results or between Reels, it can opt out. Once this change lands, Meta’s automated system will decide where each ad performs best across its apps, full stop.
This is another step towards Meta’s stated long-term vision of fully automated advertising, where a business connects a bank account and a URL and lets Meta’s AI handle creative, targeting and placement from there.
Instagram makes editing Reels even easier
Instagram launched First Draft, a new tool that automatically builds a Reel from a selection of existing clips by trimming pauses and pulling out the best parts of each one.
Everything First Draft generates is reversible, so creators can adjust, reorder or scrap anything before publishing. Instagram says the goal is to remove the early, technical part of editing so creators can get to the creative decisions faster.
With Reels now accounting for roughly 50% of all time spent on Instagram, tools that lower the barrier to posting consistently are worth paying attention to. First Draft won’t replace a properly edited Reel, but as a starting point for creators without the time or skill for manual editing, it could meaningfully increase output.
Instagram wants you to know when you're talking to AI
Instagram is renaming its “AI creator” label to “AI generated profile,” with a clearer description explaining that the account may feature AI-generated characters. Profiles that feature an AI-generated person without using the label correctly will now see their reach limited.
For brands, this is a reminder that trust is still the currency that matters most on social media. Whatever AI tools you’re using behind the scenes, being upfront about it with your audience will only become more important from here.
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About the author
Niamh Conneely | Junior Account Manager
With experience across beauty, lifestyle, and tech, working with both B2B and B2C brands, Niamh is passionate about all things social and loves turning strategy into engaging campaigns.
