3 Ways to Help Adjust to New Features in Social Platforms
We’ve all been there. You open up Instagram and the layout is different…again.
You can’t find your tools and when you do, they are buried deep into some Meta page you’ve never seen before.
What’s worse than that? Figuring out a brand new feature.
As marketing professionals, we are often the people our clients come to when they can’t figure out how to use new features. But the reality of it is, sometimes it's hard to keep up when new features are coming out every other day.
Here are three things you can do to stay on top of new features without crashing out:
Determine if the new feature is worth your/your clients time
Not every new feature is worth your time and energy. A lot of times people think they need to participate in every new feature or trend so that they don’t miss out. I challenge you to really think about this strategically.
Let's take Instagram’s “Instants,” for example. According to Instagram, Instants is a real-time disappearing photo and short video sharing feature launched in May 2026. It lets users capture unedited, candid moments of their day for Close Friends or mutual followers.
Sounds like another disappearing photo app we’ve all heard of 🤔From a brand standpoint, it doesn’t really make sense to participate in any sort of single-view disappearing photo feature.
At the same time, Instagram also launched another new feature: multiple captions for carousel posts. It’s still too early to tell if this feature will be effective, but in theory this could be very useful for users in e-commerce spaces.
Have a burner account to test things out
Something that can be useful for all social media marketers is having a “burner” account to test out new features.
Since it has little to no audience, you can experiment freely — trying out new tools without any risk to client engagement or performance metrics. It's especially useful if you're a hands-on learner. There's no substitute for actually using a feature to understand it!
Once you've practiced with a new feature yourself, you can give clients real, informed advice on whether it's worth adopting.
Lean on communities of practice for support
Marketers, you don't have to navigate this ever-changing feature landscape alone. Sometimes the best move is simply leaning on each other.
Being part of a community of practice (an online forum, a local professional group, or even just a trusted colleague) gives you a place to figure out new features together. This is especially valuable when platforms slow-roll a rollout, since someone in your network may already have access and insight you don't.
Some communities to get you started:
At the end of the day, staying current is a lot easier as a team sport than a solo one.
New features aren't going anywhere, and honestly, neither is that slightly panicked feeling when your app looks different overnight. But you don't have to master everything the moment it drops. Slow down, ask whether a feature actually fits your brand or your clients' goals, test it out where the stakes are low, and don't be afraid to ask around before you dive in. The marketers who thrive aren't the ones who never get caught off guard, they're the ones who've built a process for figuring it out. So next time Instagram rearranges itself for the hundredth time, take a breath. You've got this.
Bri Garr-Bland
ACCOUNT COORDINATOR