Happy Wednesday, social pros!

This week brings major shifts in how we share content and consume social media. Meta has officially changed the game for link sharing on Facebook, while TikTok gets another reprieve from its potential U.S. ban as negotiations continue.

And as always, I’ve got the latest platform updates to keep you ahead of the curve!

So let’s get into it!

Social media managers across the globe had their weekend plans disrupted when eagle-eyed users started sharing screenshots of something unexpected in their Facebook Professional Dashboard. The message was simple but game-changing: "Consider adding links in the first comment rather than the post to improve reach."

This wasn't just another community hack or marketer's theory. This was Meta—officially, directly, and unmistakably—telling page managers to stop putting links in their Facebook posts.

It began innocuously enough. User @cmcalgary shared a screenshot on Threads showing Facebook's recommendation to move links to comments. Within hours, similar screenshots were popping up across social media circles, each showing the same official advice from Meta's Professional Dashboard.

For years, social media professionals had whispered about this strategy in Facebook groups and marketing forums. High-performing publishers like major news outlets had been quietly implementing it, watching their reach improve while keeping the "why" close to their chest. Now, Meta had made it official.

The writing has been on the wall for some time. Meta's latest "Widely Viewed Content Report" reveals a stark reality: 97.3% of all post views on Facebook in the U.S. go to updates that don't include external links. Think about that for a moment—in a platform designed to connect and share information, less than 3% of viewed content actually links outside the platform.

This isn't accidental. Meta's algorithm has been systematically deprioritizing posts with external links because, quite simply, every outbound link represents a user potentially leaving Facebook's ecosystem. In the attention economy, platform retention is everything.

Smart content creators have been playing this game for months, if not years. Their strategy was elegant in its simplicity: create engaging visual content for the main post, then add the link in the first comment and pin it to the top of the thread.

The results speak for themselves. Meta's internal teams observed measurable increases in reach, impressions, and click-through rates for pages adopting this format. It's a win-win scenario—the algorithm treats the main post favorably because it focuses on native content, while users can still easily access external links when genuinely interested.

Some publishers have even developed a clever workaround: they attach the URL to generate Facebook's link preview, then delete the actual URL text from the post. Technically, there's no link in the caption, but the preview remains, giving them the best of both worlds.

But here's where things get complicated. Comments aren't automatically visible on mobile devices, and mobile generates up to 98% of social referral traffic. This means most users scrolling through their feeds won't see that carefully placed link unless they actively expand the comments section.

It's a sobering reminder that even official best practices come with trade-offs. Social media managers now face a choice: optimize for algorithm reach or maximize link visibility. The answer isn't straightforward.

Jordan Liu, a digital strategist at SocialVision Media, captures the moment perfectly: "Meta's move is a calculated step to balance user experience with creator utility. By guiding pages to place links in comments, they're addressing both the platform's algorithmic needs and the marketer's desire for visibility. It's a win-win—if you understand how to execute it well."

The key phrase is "if you understand how to execute it well." This isn't just about moving links; it's about fundamentally rethinking content strategy.

Successful implementation means creating posts that provide value independently of any external link. Your image, video, or text needs to engage users enough that they want to explore further. The link becomes supplementary, not essential.

Here's a practical hurdle many are discovering: Meta Business Suite doesn't yet support this workflow for scheduled posts. Social media managers who rely on scheduling tools will need to manually add and pin comments after posts go live—at least for now.

This limitation suggests we're in the early stages of this transition. Meta may eventually integrate comment-based link placement into their scheduling tools, but for now, it requires additional manual work.

The implications extend beyond simple link placement. This shift signals Meta's broader push toward keeping users within their ecosystem while still serving content creators and businesses.

Consider these strategic adjustments:

Content Creation: Your posts now need to work harder as standalone pieces. Visual elements become more critical, and your copy needs to provide immediate value without requiring users to click away.

Engagement Focus: Pay closer attention to comments, shares to direct messages, and other on-platform engagement signals. These metrics are becoming more valuable as algorithm ranking factors.

Performance Measurement: You'll need to track both post engagement and comment interactions separately. The traditional metrics of link clicks from post captions are becoming obsolete.

This development represents more than a tactical shift—it's a glimpse into the future of social media marketing. As platforms continue optimizing for user retention, external link sharing will likely become increasingly challenging across all major social networks.

The brands and creators who adapt quickly to these changes, who learn to create compelling native content while strategically guiding interested users to external resources, will maintain their competitive advantage.

The weekend screenshot that started this conversation wasn't just a recommendation—it was a roadmap for the future of social media content strategy. The question isn't whether to adapt to these changes, but how quickly you can implement them before your competitors catch on.

Have you started testing the link-in-comments strategy? The data suggests the time for experimentation is now, before this approach becomes standard practice across the industry.

As current deadline expires Thursday, President signals confidence China will eventually approve deal

TikTok users can breathe easy for another three months. President Trump announced Tuesday that he will sign an executive order this week extending the TikTok ban deadline by 90 days—marking the third delay since he took office in January.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the extension will give the administration time to "ensure this deal is closed so that the American people can continue to use TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure."

The move comes as the current extension expires Thursday, keeping alive an app that briefly went dark in January before Trump intervened after taking office.

The central challenge remains getting Beijing's approval for any deal that would separate TikTok from its China-based parent company ByteDance. After Trump announced sweeping tariffs, ByteDance told the White House that China would no longer approve the deal until issues over trade and tariffs were resolved.

Trump acknowledged this hurdle in May, telling reporters "we'll probably have to get China's approval" and noting "China's never easy." However, he expressed optimism Tuesday, saying "I think President Xi will ultimately approve it."

Despite recent U.S.-China trade talks in London that reached a "framework deal" to ease tensions, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified that TikTok "was not discussed at the meetings" and that he has "no visibility into TikTok."

Some Republican lawmakers are losing patience with the repeated delays. Sen. Josh Hawley told reporters "The courts have been really clear on this. I think we ought to enforce the law."

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley expressed similar frustration: "I just want finality. I'd like to have the president say how much more talk are we going to put up with? I want some certainty and just [to] know that Congress isn't being played when we make a decision [for it] to be sold."

The tension reflects the awkward position of a president who campaigned against the ban now repeatedly delaying a law passed with bipartisan support and upheld by the Supreme Court.

The president's relationship with TikTok has come full circle. After unsuccessfully trying to ban the app during his first term, Trump now touts his popularity on the platform. "I was No. 1 on TikTok in its history. Can you believe that?" Trump claimed recently. "So I guess I like TikTok."

This personal connection appears to be driving his efforts to find a solution that keeps the app operational while addressing national security concerns that led Congress to pass the divestment law in the first place.

The new 90-day extension buys time, but the fundamental challenge remains unchanged: crafting a deal that satisfies U.S. national security concerns, TikTok's business interests, and China's sovereignty concerns over technology transfers.

With trade tensions still simmering and congressional patience wearing thin, this latest extension may represent one of Trump's final opportunities to broker a solution before facing increased pressure to simply enforce the law as written.

Wondering how you’re doing on the social media front? We’ve got you covered! We’re offering you a FREE social media audit of all your profiles!

We’ll take a deep dive into your accounts, looking at your profile setup and how your posts are doing. We’ll then provide you expert feedback and recommendations to help take your accounts to the next level.

Interested? Get in touch today!