Social Media News / April 2026

Hi there 👋

It’s been a fun month for social, between festival grounds becoming the ultimate playground for big budgets and platforms quietly updating the tools we use every day.

In this edition, we’re looking at the advertising highlights from Coachella 2026, unpacking the long awaited editing updates on Instagram, and giving a shoutout to some of LinkedIn’s new features.

Consider this your filter for the noise, we’ll fill you in on everything worth watching and why it matters for your brand right now 👀

Coachella 2026 Advertising Wins 

Coachella has taken over the internet, and for those of us who didn’t make the desert festival, social media provided the ultimate second hand experience. We’ve been watching the activations closely. Coachella 2026 showed us the clear divide between brands just throwing money at the desert and those actually putting it to good use.

We’re awarding the Mosh Crown to the brands that we believe had the most success:

👑 Rhode

Timing is Everything. Rhode dominated Bieberchella by hosting over 500 creators at Rhode World. They leaned into exclusivity, creating a place for influencers to do beauty touch-ups and generated up to $10M in Earned Media Value.

👑 Pinterest

In a sea of people living through their lenses, Pinterest went against the grain. Pinterest wanted to promote the message that they are about living your best life offline, so they made their activation entirely phone-free. The price of admission was locking up your device, allowing people to actually be present. Inside, guests could get beauty makeovers with e.l.f. Cosmetics, make custom charms, and use a physical photobooth. It was a risky move, but it sparked massive curiosity and praise for being a sanctuary in the chaos.

👑 Neutrogena

Neutrogena filled a literal need by showing up with widespread SPF stations. By solving a genuine problem for the festival goers, they got their product into almost everyone’s hands without it feeling like a forced sample.

👑 Heineken

Heineken focused on the social fabric of the weekend. Their activation served as a 360 degree hub designed specifically for matchmaking and shared experiences, positioning the brand as the primary facilitator of the festival’s energy rather than just a drink in hand.

👑 Revolve

Revolve stayed off site and hosted an invite only Festival, launching exclusive product drops that created a “had to be there” energy. By creating their own environment, they set themselves up for getting a flood of content from all of their attendees.

Editing Abilities on Instagram Just Got a Glow Up

We already know you can tweak captions and tags but Instagram is finally expanding its toolkit to save us from those delete and start over moments.

A new Carousel Reordering feature has rolled out as of late March 2026 which means you can finally reorder photos and videos in a posted carousel. No more losing likes and comments because the third slide should have been the hook. Just shuffle the deck and save.

And for all you Community Managers, Comment editing has officially arrived. You now have a short window to fix typos in your replies. 

But there are limitations…

15 minutes: That’s your window to fix a typo before it’s permanent.

Text only: You can edit what you have written, but you can’t edit or swap a GIF once it’s commented.

Transparency: An edited label will appear, but your version history stays private.

A massive win for all you social media managers and community managers. These updates are all currently rolling out and people are starting to see them here in NZ, so log in to your account, give it a try, and see if you’ve got it yet.

LinkedIn is Quietly Levelling Up 

LinkedIn has been sneaking a few fresh updates into the mix lately. While it’s still the home of professional wins and office banter, these new features make the platform a lot more intuitive for creators and brands in Aotearoa.

• Breaking News Alerts: LinkedIn is adding a ‘Breaking News’ section to the top of the homepage. It’s a quick way to stay across global and local industry shifts without leaving your feed.
• Vertical Video in the Main Feed: Videos now display more prominently in the standard feed, rather than being tucked away in the standalone video player. This signals a major push for video content visibility.
• Easier Editing for Scheduled Posts: You’ll now see a clear line at the top of scheduled posts displaying the ‘Posting date and time’ alongside a handy edit button. 
• Profile Appearances in Analytics: This new feature allows you to see exactly where your profile has been mentioned across the platform. It’s a great tool for tracking reputation and seeing which communities are talking about you.

Most of these are already live and ready to use in Aotearoa, we’re just waiting on the Profile Appearances update to finish landing in local feeds, so keep an eye on your analytics to see if you’ve got the green light yet!

Behind the Scenes at #OnSocial26 

If you were at the Marketing Association’s #OnSocial26 event recently, you likely spotted our activation. It was a day of connecting, learning, and of course capturing plenty of content.

We kept things busy with a prize wheel where some lucky attendees went in the draw to win over $7,500 worth of OPPO products (#thankyouOPPO) alongside a fantastic range of products from our friends at Comvita, Lee Kum Kee, MTA and Rug Doctor. We also got all the goss from the community on their biggest marketing mistakes, insights from the event, and their industry pet peeves (keep an eye on our socials for the footage). Plus, we were keeping everyone’s professional presence sharp with free headshots and giving a few lucky folks the chance to try the beta version of our new IG audit tool. Watch this space, it’s coming soon! 

Shoutout to Julian who took centre stage as a moderator for the panel: How the Next Generation of Consumers and Creators Actually Use Social, asking all the big questions about what Gen Z wants to see from brand marketing strategies. Can’t wait to see you all again next year! 

That’s all for this round of updates 🎉 We’ll be back next month to fill you in on everything else heading your way. Keep an eye out!

The Mosh Crew