Welcome to the latest edition of Social Commotion, Motion’s roundup of social media updates and news. Check out our top social media updates from April 2025.
Meta Shares How Brands Can Connect with Gen Z
Gen Z is now the largest population on Earth, and in the U.S., the average 25-year-old has an annual household income more than 50% higher than baby boomers at the same age. So, not only do Gen Z represent the next generation of consumers, but they also represent significant spending dollars.
To help marketers understand how to connect, leverage culture and drive commerce with this key demographic, Meta partnered with BAMM Global to explore the social media habits and motivations of 18- to 24-year-olds in Brazil, Germany, Japan, the UK and the U.S. via a mix of qualitative and quantitative research.
Here are our key takeaways from the report that brands should pay attention to.
Design content for shares and human connection.
Sharing content with friends and family is becoming just as important as traditional communication. 67% of Gen Z Facebook and Instagram users have shared video content in those apps with family and friends as a direct way to convey their mood, feelings and perceptions. This underlines why Instagram now considers shares/sends as a much bigger factor in its algorithmic ranking.
As this connection evolves, brands should embrace eye contact and human presence in creative to deliver the intimacy this generation expects in content.
Design short-form video for personal relevance, not mass appeal.
63% of Gen Z say they actively curate their Instagram and/or Facebook feeds to be exposed to relevant content, feel more in control and ensure their time is spent more purposefully.
Brand content must adapt—visually, contextually and creatively—to meet them where they are. That means building campaigns that flex across placements (Reels, Stories, Feed), using varied messaging, and tapping into a range of creator voices.
Repeat exposure builds trust.
67% of Gen Z want to find out more about a product or brand if they have seen content or ads several times on Meta. Brands should plan for intentional repetition for connection across multiple touchpoints, including incorporating Reels for product launches.
You can read the full report on Gen Z here.
Best-Performing LinkedIn Posts for 2025
LinkedIn has gained momentum over the past year as a key platform for brands, especially amid the uncertainty surrounding Twitter/X, which has disrupted the professional social media space. With this shift, LinkedIn has reported a rise in user engagement, particularly with video content. To help businesses better understand what’s working on the platform, Social Insider conducted a comprehensive analysis of one million LinkedIn posts from 9,000 company pages, offering fresh insights into performance benchmarks, top content formats and follower trends.
The findings highlight that carousel posts and document attachments drive the highest engagement among company pages, followed closely by videos. Interestingly, while LinkedIn has previously stated that video content generates 1.4 times more engagement than other formats, that data includes both personal and company pages, whereas Social Insider’s study focuses solely on the latter. These results align with a similar study by Metricool, further reinforcing that carousels and videos are strong content types.
Additionally, though carousel posts receive the most likes, polls generate the highest number of impressions, suggesting that different formats may serve different strategic goals.
Social Insider’s data also shows that smaller company pages are experiencing strong follower growth, and image and link posts remain the most used formats. This could be influenced by LinkedIn’s recent change to link previews, which now show smaller images for organic posts, leading some brands to opt for standalone image posts with links in the comments to maintain visual impact. Although there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, these insights provide valuable guidance for optimizing LinkedIn strategies.
Social Insider’s full report offers a detailed breakdown of these trends.
Reels Tips and Tricks, Straight from Meta
With Reels continuing to drive high levels of engagement across Meta’s platforms, incorporating them into your marketing strategy is a smart move to boost visibility and brand awareness on Facebook and Instagram. As this content format grows in popularity, learning how to effectively create and use Reels can give you a competitive edge and help you better connect with your audience.
To support this, Meta is hosting a info session later this month to help marketers and creators make the most of Reels. The webinar will feature insights from Meta product leaders and content experts like Product Marketing Manager Thore Ladicke, who plays a key role in Reels and creator marketing, to offer advanced strategies, technical tips and trend updates. Attendees will also hear from industry professionals who will share their own approaches to using Reels in successful campaigns, offering practical case studies and creative insights.
Topics on the agenda include “Deconstructing Reels: Creative Elements that Matter for Performance,” “What Good Looks Like: Case Studies from Leading Reels Advertisers,” and “Reels as Part of Creative Diversification.” Given that Reels now generate over 200 billion views daily and make up a major portion of Instagram feed content through AI-driven recommendations, this event could offer valuable takeaways for anyone looking to stay ahead in digital marketing, straight from Meta itself.
Stay up to date on the latest in social media with Social Commotion, The Motion Agency’s monthly roundup of social media updates, or contact us today to help your brand navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media.
