November 2026 S@MS Newsletter 

Which social platforms is AI pulling from?: A new study found that an active presence on social can help brands increase visibility in AI-generated search results. Chatbots commonly cite links to social media posts within their answers to user queries, with Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook being the top cited platforms.

Pinned comments return to LinkedIn: Users will once again be able to pin a comment to the top of their LinkedIn posts. A welcome update that will (hopefully) help our story links maintain a more prominent spot in the LI comment section.

YouTube engagement is down across industries: If you've seen your YouTube numbers dip recently, you're not alone. A report from Pixability showed a year over year dip in engagement rates on brand channels across video categories.

Instagram testing new "features" video format: In an attempt to make the platform more palatable for long form content, Instagram announced it is testing a new video upload feature that will allow videos up to 90 minutes in length. After so much focus on short form video in recent years, it will be interesting to see if this shift in strategy sticks.

2027 social media conferences: Interested in attending a social conference in 2027? Social Media Today has started a running list of upcoming events. 

Back to the beginning: This simple carousel format provides an opportunity to tug at heartstrings and highlight a person's longtime connection to a brand or place. All you need is a story, two photos and a few filters. 

We all need inspiration. Here are a few accounts that may spark new ideas. 💡

1. Milwaukee Brewers: The 2026 World Series Champs are not only winners on the field, but on social. Despite being an athletics team, the Brewers often edit their content in a way that breaks the traditional sports industry mold — slower cuts, less intense music, a more artistic feel. In a May 2026 interview with Rachel Karten, they described their approach as "arthouse baseball," saying they wanted to create content that felt experimental, innovative and unconventional to the sport. Great inspo for when you have a project that you want to expand out of the traditional higher ed mold.
2. NFL on CBS: Every week, the account has to publish info on team records. Every week, they manage to make us laugh. We appreciate their creative approaches to conveying the same information time and time again, and think they're a good one to keep an eye on for ideas to freshen up cyclical content.

What does Gen Z actually want to see from brands on social?

In this era of intentional unplugging and "silence, brand" replies, quippy posts in comment sections and trend hopping is not enough to build rapport with a Gen Z audience. Which begs the question: What do they actually want to see on social, especially from brands?

As noted in this article from Pinterest, "Gen Z wants their time online to be in service of their lives offline." The article then goes on to break down three content formats for brands to consider trying to better serve their Gen Z audiences.

Substack As Seen On also broke down three content categories that are prevalent in the feeds of Gen Z users, with links to a variety of examples of different ways to execute each category. 

The FY 2026-27 inclusive holiday calendar is live! Big shout out to our Office for Inclusive Excellence and Impact for putting together this resource. 

Join our Social @ Michigan State Teams channel.

We're only in your inbox once a month, but there are resources, updates and questions being shared in our Teams channel every week. Click here to check it out and join. 

"So how long should your video be? The short answer: as long as your idea takes to explain, and not a second more."

Video content is hard. Platforms provide guidance that contradicts the analytics you see on your page; no one can decide if long form or short form is the format of the future; and honestly, it just takes more effort to capture and produce.

We appreciated these guidelines from LinkedIn about how to determine the right length for a video, and felt like they were applicable across platforms. 

It was fun to see everyone's content for homecoming week. We especially loved CAL's "home" graphic carousel and Alumni's tailgate fit check. 

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Social Media Content Suggestions: comms.social@msu.edu