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 January 2026.
TikTok Shares 2026 Trend Predictions for Marketers
TikTok has released its annual “TikTok Next” trend prediction report to help marketers better understand evolving user behavior and plan more effective strategies on the platform. The report centers on what TikTok calls the “Irreplaceable Instinct,” a shift toward content driven by curiosity, conviction and care, which TikTok believes will fuel engagement in 2026.
Within this framework, TikTok outlines three key trend categories expected to shape user interaction and brand performance:
- Reali-TEA: Brands will see stronger results by prioritizing authentic, real-life experiences over overly curated or polished content.
- Curiosity Detours: Leaning into niche interests and micro-trends will create greater opportunities for brands to connect with highly engaged, like-minded audiences.
- Emotional ROI: Consumers will increasingly expect brands to clearly communicate the value and emotional payoff of their products or services.
For each trend, TikTok provides supporting context, including related hashtags, brand examples and case studies, along with guidance on how marketers can activate these insights. Although the trends are forward-looking predictions rather than strict rules, they’re informed by TikTok’s internal data and analysis, offering a useful roadmap for brands planning their TikTok strategies for 2026.
Meta Outlines How It’s Improved Reels Recommendations
Meta has shared a new overview of how it’s improving Reels recommendations by using in-feed user surveys to better understand what content people actually enjoy. These prompts, shown between Reels, ask users how they felt about the video they just watched. Meta says it has deployed these surveys at scale and is using the responses—adjusted to account for sampling and nonresponse bias—to build a more accurate picture of user preferences beyond traditional engagement signals.
Rather than relying solely on metrics like likes, shares and watch time, Meta is now incorporating direct, real-time feedback into its recommendation models. According to the company, this shift has significantly improved accuracy: Before the surveys, Reels recommendations aligned with true user interests about 48% of the time, but that figure has now risen to more than 70%. Meta says this hybrid approach—combining survey data with machine learning—is helping create more personalized and engaging Reels experiences, while acknowledging there’s still room to improve personalization, reduce bias and increase content diversity.
The approach itself isn’t entirely new—platforms like Pinterest have used similar feedback mechanisms— but the pace of improvement is notable. Still, Meta continues to trail TikTok, whose “For You” feed remains the gold standard for engagement. One key advantage for TikTok appears to be stronger entity recognition within videos, giving its algorithm deeper contextual understanding and more signals to match content with individual user interests.
Instagram Tests Displaying ‘Friends’ Instead of ‘Following’
Instagram is experimenting with a change to how user profiles display social connections by replacing the traditional “Following” count with a “Friends” count that reflects only users who mutually follow one another.
According to reports, this test is being run on a limited scale as Instagram looks to emphasize more meaningful, reciprocal connections rather than the broader list of accounts someone follows. Meta confirmed the experiment and said it aims to show more content from genuine connections as the platform’s use shifts toward private messaging and tighter communities.
The shift also introduces a new dynamic around public metrics: Instead of the classic follower-to-following ratio many brands and creators monitor as a sign of influence, Instagram may soon surface how many followers are truly mutual connections, potentially making “friends” a more telling indicator of real engagement and community.
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