Welcome back to this week’s TEAM LEWIS Social Round-Up. TikTok is giving you a dial to turn down AI content while also handing out wellness badges for not doomscrolling all night. Researchers say short-form video really is frying our brains, Canva is taking a direct swing at CapCut, Instagram is quietly upgrading the Reels camera, Snapchat is warning Aussie teens about looming bans, and Emplifi has dropped the early playbook for 2026 social trends.
Let’s get into it 👇
Latest News
🤖 TikTok lets you dial down AI content in your feed
TikTok is testing a new control that lets users see more or less AI-generated content, after revealing it already hosts more than 1.3 billion AI-labelled videos. You will soon be able to tweak “AI-generated content” in the Manage Topics settings, alongside topics like fashion, beauty, and current affairs. TikTok will also watermark content made with its own AI tools or flagged under the C2PA standard. For marketers, this is another reminder that transparency and labelling actually matter, and that “AI slop” will increasingly get filtered out by both platforms and audiences. 👉 Read more
💤 TikTok rewards you for not doomscrolling
TikTok is rolling out a refreshed digital wellbeing hub with an affirmation journal, calming background sounds and breathing exercises, plus a new badge system that rewards users for staying within healthy screen time limits. Teens and adults can earn badges for using sleep tools, sticking to daily limits, checking their weekly time report and even inviting friends to do the same. It is a smart reputational move for TikTok and a signal that “time well spent” messaging will sit alongside reach, so brands should expect more nudges toward healthier use and consider how their content fits into that story. 👉 Read more
🧠 Study says TikTok and Reels really are “brain rot”
A massive meta-analysis from the American Psychological Association, covering more than 98,000 participants across 71 studies, has found heavy short-form video use is linked to reduced attention span, weaker impulse control, poorer sleep and higher anxiety. The researchers suggest that the endless stream of high-intensity clips desensitises people to slower, more effortful tasks like reading or deep work, while reinforcing instant-gratification loops. Rather than ditching Reels and TikTok, this is a good reminder to prioritise content that adds real value over empty watch-time, and to build formats that encourage reflection and depth, not just swipe-after-swipe hits. 👉 Read more
🎥 Canva’s Video 2.0 takes aim at CapCut
Canva’s new Video 2.0 update rebuilds its editor from a simple scene-based tool into a complete multi-track timeline with layered media, waveforms, beat sync and AI helpers like Magic Video and text-to-video. The move puts Canva much closer to CapCut’s territory, but with a key twist: it keeps everything within a single brand-safe ecosystem with stock, templates, and team collaboration baked in. For marketers and small teams, this nudges video production even more toward “one platform for everything”, which could simplify workflows and reduce the need to bounce between Canva for design and CapCut for edits. 👉 Read more
🎬 Instagram quietly upgrades the Reels camera
Instagram is rolling out a revamped Reels camera that supports up to 20 minutes of recording, more intuitive multi-clip editing, improved green screen, better countdown tools and a slider for the Touch-Up feature. Meta is pitching this as creative freedom and more room for storytelling, even though recommended Reels still sit under three minutes for maximum reach. For brands, the win is not “make 20-minute Reels” but making it easier for social teams and creators to capture, polish and publish vertical content on the fly without jumping into a third-party app. 👉 Read more
🚫 Snapchat starts warning Aussie teens about age bans
Snapchat has accepted it will need to comply with Australia’s upcoming social media age rules and is now informing under-16 users that their accounts will be locked from 10 December. Teens will be able to verify their age through bank-linked ConnectID, government ID or facial age estimation, and accounts can be reactivated for up to three years once users turn 16. For marketers, this is another big nudge that teen reach in Australia is about to shift, so it is worth watching how that audience fragments across messaging apps, gaming, and other “less obvious” platforms. 👉 Read more
📈 Key trends for social in 2026, according to Emplifi
Emplifi’s new State of Social Media Marketing 2026 report, based on 564 marketers, highlights where budgets and attention are heading next year, from AI-powered workflows to short-form video and influencer collabs. The topline: brands are doubling down on performance-led content, integrating AI into production and analysis, and treating social as a full-funnel channel rather than just for awareness. It is a handy sense-check for your 2026 plans and a good way to benchmark where your strategy sits against the broader market. 👉 Read more
🔧 Quick Tip of the Week
If your team already lives in Canva for decks and social tiles, test the new Video 2.0 timeline for simple Reels, Shorts, and TikToks so you can storyboard, design, and edit in one brand-safe workspace instead of juggling three different apps.
✨ Campaigns We Love ✨
🍋 San Pellegrino – Italian Time
Stanley Tucci and Diane Morgan turn “Italian time” into a laid-back comedy masterclass that sells sparkling water by selling the joy of slowing down. 👉 Watch and cringe
🍗 KFC x Stranger Things – Hawkins Fried Chicken
KFC UK rewrites its brand as “Hawkins Fried Chicken” and drops a high-energy, Stranger Things style film where crew battle the Upside Down just to deliver hot chicken. 👉 Finger Licking Fun
🗓️ Mark Your Calendars
Opportunities to celebrate this week
- Wednesday November 26 – Drinksgiving 🍻
- Thursday 27 November – Thanksgiving 🦃
- Friday 28 November – International Systems Engineer Day 🛠
- Saturday 29 November – International Jaguar Day 🐆
- Sunday 30 November – International Shift Worker Sunday🌙
- Monday 1 December – National Women Support Women Day 🙋♀️
- Tuesday 2 December – International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 🧑⚖️
And next…
- Wednesday 3 December – Let’s Hug Day 🤗
- Thursday 4 December – World Wildlife Conservation Day 🦁
- Friday 5 December – Bartender Appreciation Day 🍸
- Saturday 6 December – Crate Day 📦
- Sunday 7 December – National Slime Day 🧪
- Monday 8 December – Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day 🕰
- Tuesday 9 December – World Techno Day 🎧
- Wednesday 10 December – International Animal Rights Day 🐾
That’s a wrap for this week!
I am off to earn myself one of those “healthy screen time” badges.
If you want to chat about any of these stories, or sense-check your 2026 social plans, just give me a shout. See you next week, bye 👋
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