Instagram lets creators publish their own Stories effects: creator news, 10 Nov

Instagram has a new web tool, Effect Builder, where creators in the US describe a look in words and publish it as a Restyle effect that anyone can use in Stories, with the creator's handle on it. LinkedIn also published how its feed now picks posts from people a member does not follow.

Instagram: Effect Builder publishes your own Stories effects#

What changed: Social Media Today reported on 9 November 2026 that Instagram has launched Effect Builder, a web-based tool that is part of Edits. Instagram's help page for Effect Builder sets out how it works:

• You describe the look you want, such as a colour palette, lighting style, art style or mood, and the tool generates a preview on four sample photos. You can keep refining with more prompts, or upload a photo as a style reference.
• You add a title and a cover image, then publish. The effect is reviewed against Instagram's Community Standards first, which can take up to 24 hours, and you get an email with the result.
• A published effect appears in the Restyle options in Stories and on your profile. Your handle shows on the effect and on every story shared with it, and viewers can tap the effect to use it on a photo of their own.
• The Library tab shows each effect's status and, once published, how many people it reached and how many times it was used.

The help page says effects are suggested to people based on things such as how often an effect is used and how people interact with stories made with it. It says nothing about payment for effects.

Who it affects: creators in the US, aged 18 or older, with an Instagram account in good standing. The same page says anyone aged 18 or older in the US can apply a published effect. No other countries are listed.

What to do: if you are in the US, open Effect Builder on a computer, sign in with your Instagram account and build one effect that fits the look of your own stories. Avoid brands, logos, copyrighted characters and recognisable real people in the prompt, title and reference images: the help page names these as the most common reasons an effect is rejected. Then share a story made with the effect, which Instagram calls the best way to help people find it. Outside the US, nothing yet.

LinkedIn: how posts reach people outside your network#

What changed: on 9 November 2026 the LinkedIn Engineering Blog described Profile Relevance, a system now used as a source of posts from people a member is not connected to. Social Media Today covered the post the same day. According to LinkedIn:

• The system matches posts to members by professional context. Its evaluation looks at topic, location, job title, company, industry, seniority and education.
• The member's and the author's country are part of the match, so members are more likely to see posts that reflect their local professional context.
• A post must have received at least one like, comment or share from a member who is not connected to the author before this system recommends it.
• In LinkedIn's online experiments, feed updates viewed rose 0.54%, the viral rate rose 0.94% and the hide rate fell 18.8%.

LinkedIn does not say when the system went live, or how much of the feed comes from it.

Who it affects: anyone who posts on LinkedIn and wants to be seen beyond their own connections. LinkedIn says the change means posts can reach relevant audiences outside the author's network.

What to do: nothing has to change. The post gives two facts worth knowing: this source matches a post's subject to a reader's professional context, and it waits for one reaction from outside your connections. A post that is clearly about one professional topic gives the system something to match.

Sources#

• Social Media Today, Instagram launches visual effects creator for Edits, 9 November 2026.
• Instagram Help Centre, About Effect Builder, read 10 November 2026.
• LinkedIn Engineering Blog, Profile Relevance: Boosting Feed Relevance with LLMs at LinkedIn, 9 November 2026.
• Social Media Today, LinkedIn explains its improved content recommendation system, 9 November 2026.