The Bigger Picture The Small Business Package Marketing Loop Let's Begin Menu Home
The Bigger Picture The Small Business Package
The Bigger Picture The Small Business Package
Social Media Updates January 2026 11 January 2026 Social Media Menu Services
The Bigger Picture The Small Business Package Marketing Loop Let's Begin Menu Home
The Bigger Picture The Small Business Package
The Bigger Picture The Small Business Package
Social Media Updates January 2026 11 January 2026 Written by Ellie Roberts Social Media January has already brought a wave of important changes across social platforms. From Instagram changing how hashtags work, to TikTok doubling down on local discovery and Facebook introducing group nicknames, here’s a complete breakdown of the most important social media updates in January, and what they mean for brands, creators, and marketers.
1: Facebook Update: Nicknames for Group Participation Facebook is introducing a more flexible way to engage in Groups, allowing users to participate using a nickname. This feature is designed to give members more control over their privacy while maintaining an active presence in their favourite communities.
If the feature is enabled by group admins, you can now customise a nickname to post, comment, and react within the group.
Privacy First: Using a nickname hides your main profile name and photo from the general group membership. Admin Transparency: While other members see your nickname, your real identity remains visible to group admins, moderators, and Facebook’s internal systems to ensure safety and accountability.
Getting Started: Facebook may suggest a nickname if you haven’t used one before, but you’re free to update it to something that fits your personality, provided it hasn’t already been taken by another member.
Source: HERE 2: Instagram Update: Hashtags are Now Capped at 5 The era of the “hashtag” is officially coming to an end. Instagram has announced a new universal limit on hashtag use, restricting users to just five tags per post. This move follows a year of testing and reflects a broader shift in how content is discovered on the platform.
Instagram has been vocal about the fact that hashtags aren’t the discovery powerhouse they used to be. Instead, the platform’s sophisticated AI algorithms now do the heavy lifting, categorising content and serving it to relevant users based on their specific interests.
With only five slots available, choosing highly specific, relevant keywords is more important than ever. Source: HERE 3: Instagram Update: Using AI Summaries For Google Search This week, 404 Media published a report that explained how Instagram is using AI-generated summaries of posts in order to increase it