ICYMI: An Influencer Went Viral for Good
Here's what happened on social media this week, December 3
💻 Roadmap
💵 TikTok repackaged their monetization features into a hub called Creator Next. Eligible creators with 10K followers or more can use the hub to apply for new and existing tools such as the TikTok Creator Marketplace for brand collaborations. Creators will also be able to take advantage of Tips (actual payouts) and Video Gifts (virtual bonuses) through the hub.
🗂 LinkedIn’s Creator Mode is getting some updates, including access to LinkedIn Live for eligible creators and newsletters.
👆🏻 Click Thru
🎁 An influencer named Things I Bought and Liked posted some Title 1 teacher Amazon wish lists for Giving Tuesday. Her efforts really took off when brands such as HGTV, IHOP and Lyft all jumped in to help clear the lists. TIDAL thanked the brands that donated by tagging and roasting their competitors. This is the most inspired and clever thing you’ll see all week.
❗️Meta (aka Facebook) has been ordered to sell Giphy, the GIF making and sharing platform, by a UK regulator because they found it could limit other platforms’ access to GIFs.
🔥 Will Meta allow sex in its version of the metaverse or will it maintain “almost Disney levels of safety”? Vice digs in.
🔵 Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down this week — adding to the perception that being a social media CEO is not so much fun anymore as Silicon Valley “views the massive social networks it built over the last two decades as ‘buggy legacy applications’ mired in annoying social problems.”
🎥 VidCon, the digital video conference for creators, brands and fans, is taking place in Abu Dhabi December 3 through 6 with Nick Jonas performing. VidCon US which was to take place in Anaheim got canceled in October due to COVID-19 concerns.
🚫 A TikTok star’s viral prank placing a cardboard cutout of himself in a gas station convenience store turns out to have been a carefully orchestrated marketing stunt. People are pissed and the campaign might have violated FCC terms because no one disclosed this was sponsored content from the beginning. Sigh. The truth always comes out.
👾 Former Twitch streamer Ludwig Aghren has been transparent in discussing why he left to start streaming exclusively on YouTube Gaming: Twitch didn’t seem to value him as much as he valued the company. At one point in time, Ludwig was the biggest streamer on Twitch - breaking Twitch subscriber records previously held by Ninja - and yet there was no acknowledgment from the company regarding that accomplishment. It’s wild this still has to be said but value your creators!
👶🏽 This might be my favorite headline of the week: Are Instagram’s Aesthetic Moms Hindering Kids’ Development? Turns out the grid’s obsession with taupe and cream might not be as stimulating for nurseries as a high contrast print. But so far there’s no evidence of long term damage based on your love of muted neutrals.
🎄 Instagram and Pinterest are also ruining Christmas chaos with their glam aesthetic in this funny rant from Embedded that makes the case for ugly ornaments.
🤗 Meet the “comfort creator”: According to the New York Times it’s the human equivalent of an emotional security blanket — a creator who gives off cozy vibes and makes you feel comfortable.
🥣 The husband of the head of Instagram’s Fashion Partnerships has officially launched a boujie granola brand. If you follow Eva Chen’s Stories, you’re familiar with Tom’s Perfect 10 origin story. I was curious, but this Bon Appetit review really makes me crave a bag.
🔢 It’s end-of-the-year review season which feeds into our love of big picture data, content curation and nostalgia. This week’s highlights:
Giphy revealed frustrated Stanley as the Top GIF of the Year, and The Office as most popular channel of the year.
Spotify launched its annual end-of-year Wrapped campaign featuring the top music and podcasts streamed globally in 2021
Tumblr released its 2021 Year in Review list categorizing the most popular stuff on the platform.
The Most Frequently Used Emoji of 2021 list was released and Tears of Joy is doing just fine 😂 thank you very much.
YouTube revealed 2021’s Top Trending Videos and Creators — Mr Beast took the top spot in both categories.
YouTube also released their Music 2021 Recap
Apple released their 2021 Music Replay.
🔴 Creator friends: share your thoughts on your biggest struggles and be entered to win a ticket to Creator Conf (Dec 13-14). *This isn’t an ad, just support for a creator friend Jamaica King who’s looking to build out her own support network for other content creators. Take the survey!
