ICYMI: Britney Blew Up the Timeline Edition
Here's what happened on social media this week, June 25
Hey there, thanks for clicking in to read my curated list of trending social content and key platform updates!
💻 Instagram is finally testing uploads via desktop. Business accounts previously had the option to use Facebook’s Creator Studio but this would allow anyone to upload directly from the Instagram website. At this stage, you either have the feature or you don’t, there doesn’t seem to be an update or a way to opt in. According to a statement the company gave Social Media Today it’s a limited test:
"We know that many people access Instagram from their computer. To improve that experience, we’re now testing the ability to create a Feed post on Instagram with their desktop browser."
👏 Instagram is also working on an exclusive Stories option for fan clubs. This makes so much sense. The Close Friends feature had so much potential to share exclusive content with fandoms but it was impossible to scale since you had to manually add and remove people. This could be a great alternative.
🔗 TikTok Jump launched this week, something that’s being described as “mini programs and services.” What does that actually mean? From what we know so far, creators will be able to post additional content, like quizzes, recipes and flashcards, on what amounts to mini TikTok websites hosted by third party services. That’s good for TikTok and casual users who get an enhanced experience. But it’s actually bad news for bloggers and creators who are forced to host their content on borrowed spaces.
🔵 Twitter users can now check if they are eligible for the platform’s new paid creator features - Super Follow and Ticketed Spaces - in the Monetization tab in the mobile app sidebar. Aside from the question of who will pay for tweets or audio spaces, it’s an advantageous deal for creators who will keep 97% of revenue generated from the features up to $50,000.
Ticketed Spaces monetization requires:
1,000 followers
Have hosted at least 3 Spaces in the last 30 days
18 years old
Super Follow monetization requires:
10,000 followers
25 tweets in the past 30 days
18 years old
📲 Twitter now lets you share tweets directly into your Instagram Stories. Unfortunately you still can’t share to your Feed but the Remix by Buffer app creates great Twitter screenshot graphics for Instagram.
👆 Click Thru
💔 Britney Spears’ trauma caused a collective timeline gasp Wednesday. Her statement at a conservatorship court hearing was live streamed, trickling online one tragic update at a time before the entire transcript was made available.
It led to an outpouring of support on social media from celebrities, #FreeBritney fans who were horrified to see their worst fears confirmed in her testimony and disability rights advocates, including congresswoman Katie Porter and journalist Liz Plank.
Whether any of this has an impact on Britney’s situation remains to be seen but it’s given a huge boost to the disability rights revolution.
📺 YouTube ad data suggests around 40% of viewership now happens on TV screens but TV advertisers have been slow to make the jump. What’s the hold up? Content quality, brand safety and suitability are some of the hurdles.
🎶 Black TikTok creators are striking to protest their uncredited viral dance trends, starting with an unofficial pact not to create choreography for Megan Thee Stallion’s new song Thot Shit. That’s lead to some, uh, uncreative results.
💪🏼 This small town TikToker got trolled after he asked if anyone wanted to hang out. But the universe wasn’t having it. Since then, @Brentlyg and his best friend Jeffrey have gotten millions of views, thousands of followers, and media coverage of their viral TikTok video. Somebody out there needs to turn this loveable-misfits-who-triumph-over-trolls into a Netflix series.
🏈 ⚽️ President Biden tweeted his support of NFL player Carl Nassib and professional soccer player Kumi Yokoyama for coming out this week. Digital diplomacy is not dead.
🧘🏻♀️ Instagram is the platform where yoga and QAnon intersected according to this LA Times article on how the wellness movement has a conspiracy theory problem that largely plays out on social.
🕺🏽 Flash mob videos are still a thing and this one deserves all the attention it’s getting.
📈 BuzzFeed’s going public. Given their impact on digital media — the dress! the watermelon! top down food videos! — it’s worth noting where they see areas of opportunity, simply put, in traditional advertising, affiliate sales and video content.
🎙 The American Influencer Council is hosting a Town Hall Open-mic session, Career Creator, Defining a Profession, to celebrate their one-year anniversary and Global Social Media Day. It’s open to any creator, you just need to RSVP.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 30, 2021
TIME: 2:00 - 3:30pm EDT / 11:00am - 12:30pm PDT
RSVP: https://impact.americaninfluencercouncil.com/aic-town-hall-meeting-join-us
🎓 IN SESSION
I had some amazing guest speakers join my UCLA Extension classes for creators and entrepreneurs this Spring. I’m going to highlight each of them over the next few weeks and paraphrase some of the best advice or wisdom they shared.
“I definitely got burnt out feeling like every experience had to be documented. That’s where the niche comes in handy. If something wasn’t health related, it didn’t go on my channel! I went to Japan and the only part of the trip that ended up on my channel was a drop-in at a local CrossFit gym and a go-kart race. Everything else I got to just enjoy with my family. Niche is important, not just for success, but also so you’re able to keep some parts of your life for just you. It may feel like you want everyone to know everything about you, but it’s just not sustainable. That’s when burnout happens.”
- Jordan Shalhoub, fitness creator and PopSugar Fitness social content producer, on the importance of niche not just for branding purposes to set yourself apart but for establishing healthy boundaries as a creator