Google’s Discover — the sleepy, scrollable corner of the Google app that shows you “stuff you might like” — is getting a bit more social. Starting September 17th, Google is adding a follow button and a way to preview a creator’s content inside Discover, and over the coming weeks, it will begin surfacing short-form social posts — think X and Instagram posts and YouTube Shorts — alongside the usual mix of articles and videos.

If you use the Google app on your phone, you’ll still see articles that match your interests, but soon those article cards will sit next to short-form social posts and creator clips. A new “follow” control appears when Discover shows you something from a publisher or creator; tap the name and you can preview their articles, videos and social posts, then follow to see more of their stuff. For the follow feature, Google says it starts “today”; social posts will roll in over the coming weeks. You’ll need to be signed into a Google account to use the following preview and subscription features.

Google frames the move as convenience: people told the company they like a mix of content types — not just long reads but also quick videos and social posts — and Discover has always been about surfacing interests without you having to go looking for them. By bringing creators’ posts and Shorts into the same feed, Google is essentially trying to be a one-stop home screen for the stuff you’d otherwise hop between apps to find. “In our research, people told us they enjoyed seeing a mix of content in Discover, including videos and social posts, in addition to articles,” the company wrote.

How it works for you

When you see a piece of content, the creator or publisher’s name will be tappable. That opens a mini hub where you can preview that creator’s recent items — from their newsroom articles to their Instagram posts and Shorts — and a follow button sits there if you want a steady stream of their content in Discover. The social-post integration itself will phase in over weeks; Google explicitly said it’s starting with a handful of platforms and plans to add more later. The follow and preview features require you to be signed into your Google Account.

What this means for creators and publishers

On paper, this is good news for creators: a new discovery surface that can surface your posts to people who don’t follow you on the original platform. For publishers, though, the change arrives at a sensitive moment. News organizations have been wrestling with changes in how Google surfaces content — especially as the company experiments with AI summaries and different search placements — and some publishers say they’ve seen traffic shifts as Google adjusts where and how it highlights content. Integrating social posts into Discover could re-route attention (and pageviews) in ways publishers will be watching closely.

The privacy and algorithm angle

A few practical caveats: Discover is personalized, and Google’s blog reminds people the follow-preview tools work only when you’re signed in. That means the recommendations are tied to your account signals (what you search for, what you follow, what you click). If you care about how your feed is shaped, that sign-in step is important — it’s not anonymous. Google hasn’t published a granular breakdown of how it chooses which creators’ social posts show up, beyond saying it will “bring info together from across the web.” Expect questions from privacy advocates and journalists about what data is used for this cross-platform aggregation.

Early rollout and the fine print

Several outlets reported that the follow button is live now and that social posts will appear in Discover in the weeks following Google’s announcement. That’s consistent with Google’s message: follow functionality starts today and broader social integration is phased. It also means you might see the feature at different times depending on your device, region, and whether you have the latest Google app update.

Why it matters (and what to watch)

This change nudges Discover further away from being a passive news digest and more toward being a hybrid feed — part social aggregator, part news app. For users, that could be a convenience win: fewer app switches, a single place to keep up with an indie YouTuber, a columnist, and a viral Reel. For creators and publishers, it’s a fresh distribution channel — and for some, a test of whether Discover can meaningfully replace clicks on a hosted site or actual engagement on the original platform.

What to watch next: whether Google expands the platform list beyond X, Instagram and YouTube Shorts; whether creators see meaningful referral traffic or simply impressions inside the Google app; and how publishers respond if traffic patterns shift. Google’s announcement is intentionally optimistic about the benefits — the real test will be how audiences and the publishing ecosystem react over the coming months.