ICYMI: June's Biggest Headlines
Hello 👋🏼 This is the only email I’ll send this week because of the July 4th holiday.
I’m including a few highlights from last week’s VidCon along with my regular “You Need to Know It” monthly recap for paid subscribers featuring the major platform updates.
📝 Key VidCon Takeaways
1️⃣ Will you add this Creator Conference to your calendar?
The White House announced a Creator Economy Conference at VidCon. The White House’s director of digital strategy, Christian Tom, used a panel with newsmaker Jessica Yellin — Civic Engagement In a Digital World — to announce the team would host a creator conference at the White House on August 14.
Creator interested in attending the D.C. event this summer can submit an application to be selected. Apply here.
2️⃣ Is YouTube about to level up their AI tools?
YouTube’s AI tools might get a Google-powered level up in September. Ebi Atawodi, a Director of Product Management at YouTube was responding to a creator request to integrate Gemini throughout YouTube to do things like transcribe videos and translate subtitles natively on the platform.
“Fantastic question... Tune in to Made On YouTube in September,” she said during a panel led by creator Jacklyn Dallas called Supercharge Your YouTube Workflow.
3️⃣ Instagram shared data on how many Reels to post; and how long they should be
Instagram said they looked into the creators who were growing at the fastest pace on their platform and saw that they were posting at least 10 Reels per month but added that frequency isn’t the only factor to success. Quality, audience appeal and length also come into play.
“We recommend them being over 10 seconds,” said product manager Valentina Titiun, at a panel titled Making the Instagram Algorithm Work for You. “We've seen that the sweet spot is actually 30 to 90 seconds.”
As always, take this one with a grain of salt and do what’s right for your account.
Related:
💻 JUNE ROADMAP RECAP
📲 Pinterest Updates
Pinterest launched board sharing, making it easier for Pinners to share specific boards — not just Pins — to other social platforms.
Pinterest announced Ad Labs, an advertiser program to test prototypes of new AI tools.
📲 Meta Updates
Meta announced creator-made chatbots.
Instagram rolled out several new features for Broadcast Channels, the most notable being going LIVE exclusively with channel members.
Instagram also announced Close Friends on Live. The new feature will allow you to broadcast live with up to three other people who are on your Close Friends list.
Instagram announced you can now add music to Carousels with video. Previously, you could only add music to carousels with photos.
Instagram announced Video Notes and Birthday Notes.
Instagram is testing Carousels featuring photos of different sizes, plus the ability to add text overlays on Carousels.
Instagram confirmed it’s testing unskippable ads. Will Gen Z mind the pause that stops them scrolling? TBD.
Instagram is testing public send counts, putting more emphasis on shares.
Instagram is testing the option to send Reels to a friend first, prior to actually posting.
Instagram is testing something called Reels Trial which allows creators to share Reels with and get feedback from people who don’t follow them.
Some creators are saying they can now add collaborators to Reels after posting.
Creators have spotted a new public-facing Creator Insights dashboard on Instagram that serves as a one-stop-shop destination for marketers sourcing and vetting influencers.
Threads API launched, which means you should now be able to use third-party applications to publish posts, reply to others, see insights and more.
Threads users can now swipe right on a post to like it, or swipe left to show they’re not interested
📲 TikTok Updates
TikTok announced Symphony Digital Avatars — generative AI avatars brands can use in their content.
TikTok announced their 'Deals For You Days' — their version of Amazon Prime Day — on July 9.
TikTok announced Out-of-Phone Mission, pairing brands and creators
TikTok launched an in-app Taylor Swift experience, allowing users to collect digital friendship beads to build a friendship bracelet.
TikTok is testing a new app in select countries called Whee for close friends.
TikTok confirmed it’s testing the ability for users to take or upload a photo to find similar products in TikTok Shop.
TikTok was spotted testing web links in organic videos.
TikTok confirmed they’re testing “Streaks.”
📲 YouTube Updates
YouTube announced new benefits for Premium subscribers, including a “Jump Ahead” button that lets you skip to the best part.
YouTube is rolling out access to Community posts to all creators, regardless of subscriber count.
YouTube announced creators who have Advanced Features enabled will now be able to use thumbnail A/B testing.
YouTube announced it removed time limits so streamers can now edit videos longer than 6 hours.
YouTube is testing a new feature in the US that lets the community add contextual notes to videos. It’s basically crowd-sourced fact-checking on videos.
📲 X (Twitter) Updates
X (Twitter) updated its adult content policy to officially allow users to post consensually produced adult content, aka porn, on the platform.
X announced it was officially hiding Like counts to “protect your privacy.”
📲 LinkedIn Updates
LinkedIn rolled out expanded newsletter features designed to increase engagement and subscriptions.
LinkedIn launched AI tools to help job seekers.
Thanks for reading. Is there an update this month that will have an impact on what you’re working on?!