ICYMI: New TikTok. New Algorithm?

We're (probably) getting a new version of the app

Have you been able to get back on the grind this week? Maybe you don’t need to. I’m sending out a trend report on Monday about sleepy girl summer. Don’t mistake it for laziness, it’s an intentional way of directing your energy — and brands are getting on board.

Speaking of intentional activities, I’ve been making an effort to read more books lately. I just received a copy of Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language. I’m about halfway through and it’s SO good. If you’re curious about Gen Z slang and enjoy digging into the origin stories of trends and cultural phenomena — for example, where did yeet and seggs come from?! — this one’s for you.

⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY

• TikTok’s reportedly planning to release a new app for U.S. users and the implications are potentially disruptive

• More U.S. TikTok Shop employees have been laid off

• Instagram’s Edits app added new features for ideas, insights, audio and sharing content

• Instagram will now let Google index photos and videos — but there’s no guarantee Google will include more posts in search results

• Threads is catching up to X when it comes to daily active users on mobile

• LinkedIn launched a new API, which means it’ll be easier to track creator performance

• YouTube is shutting down its Trending page in favor of Charts

• Pinterest released its first ever Men's Trend Report — men account for over a third of the platform’s global audience

• X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino is leaving the company

• Time magazine released its inaugural Time 100 Creators list — topped by Kai Cenat

• Data! Data! Data!

  • Instagram is the platform of choice for creators

  • Affiliate is Gen Z creators go-to monetization model

  • Newsletter are some of most buzzed-about (and buyable) media properties

  • Strategic consolidation is spiking among Creator Economy brands

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💻 ROADMAP

📲TikTok Updates

Here’s what we know so far:

1. TikTok is reportedly building a new version of its app for users in the U.S. — Code name: M2 — according to The Information. The company plans to launch the new TikTok app, to U.S. app stores on September 5 — ahead of a planned sale to a group of investors. TikTok users will eventually have to download the new app to be able to continue using the service, although the existing app will work until March 2026.

2. A report from Reuters claimed the new app was expected to operate on a separate algorithm and data system from its global app. However, TikTok posted a rebuttal statement to that on their website, saying: “The recently posted Reuters story, which is based on anonymous uninformed sources, is factually inaccurate.”

3. More details about the new app are expected to be announced when the Chinese government approves the sale — except there's no timeline for that. And China hasn’t even confirmed if there is a deal, according to a CNN report. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning kept it brief on Monday when they said: “China has reiterated its principle and position on issues related to TikTok on multiple occasions.”

What we don’t know… yet:

1. Was the entire Reuters report inaccurate or just the part about the new algorithm?

2. Who are the investors and what are their plans for the app?

3. Has the Chinese government signed off on the sale in time for the Sept. 5 switch?

4. Will the new app include TikTok’s secret sauce, the infamous FYP algorithm?

5. Will your content and followers transfer over from one app to the other?

6. Will you still be following the people you follow on TikTok or have to start from scratch?

7. Will U.S. users still see global content and vice versa — will the content from U.S. brands and creators still appear in the original TikTok app for the rest of the world?

The answer to any one of these questions is likely to create massive ripples to the TikTok experience this fall.

“This is going to be an absolute mad dash for brands who have been heavily invested in TikTok for retail sales. Not a lot of time to learn, pivot, and launch any holiday-timed retail promotions,” pointed out marketing consultant Laurel Pinson.

Takeaway:

All the prep work you did in anticipation of the potential TikTok ban still stands:

• back up your content

• download key analytics

• start scenario-planning for a possible migration

• bake contingency language into any creator partnerships

Chances are the TikTok of the future could look very different from what you know today.

Related:

• TikTok's owner has plans to move US users to a new version of CapCut

• Trump says he wants to start talks with China for a TikTok deal

• See the letter Trump sent Apple and Google to keep TikTok in the app store

📲TikTok Updates Continued…

• TikTok reportedly laid off more US employees working in its TikTok Shop division.

• TikTok shared a guide to livestreaming: TikTok Live 101: Everything You Need to Know for a Flawless Stream.

• Spotted: TikTok only allows up to 5 hashtags.

📲 Meta Updates

• Instagram’s Edits app added new features to the Ideas Tab, making it easier to organize and track content ideas.

• Also new on Edits: more insights into new followers and accounts reached; more ways to control and enhance your audio, and the ability to share content directly to Instagram, Facebook and more destinations on iOS.

• Instagram will now allow Google (and other search engines) to index public photos and videos, posted by Creator and Business channels, which means the content could surface in search results. But Google already includes Instagram posts in search results when relevant and hasn't actually made any commitment to include them more often — so there’s no guarantee this will impact your Instagram content (despite all the enthusiastic posts we’re seeing this week).

• Threads is catching up to X in terms of mobile app users, with 115.1 million daily active users in June compared to X’s 132 million daily actives.

• Spotted: Meta is giving away its verified subscription plan for free to selected creators.

• Meta reportedly lured several OpenAI staffers to join its AI efforts with multimillion dollar bonuses (some rumored to be up to $100M). OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, framed it as “missionaries versus mercenaries.” They’ve also reportedly poached Apple’s head of AI models.

📲 LinkedIn Updates

• LinkedIn launched a new API to provide more insights on creator metrics. Key performance metrics — like follower growth, post impressions and video views — will now be accessible directly through third-party tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Metricool.

📲 YouTube Updates

• YouTube is removing the Trending page and Trending Now list and pushing you toward YouTube Charts to find the most popular content in specific categories. They also launched a corresponding blog series — What’s Trending — to track the videos and conversations making waves.

• On July 15, 2025, YouTube is updating its YouTube Partner Program guidelines to better identify and crack down on mass-produced and repetitive content.

• YouTube announced eligible creators in the YPP program will be able to share aggregated channel and audience insights, audience breakdowns and YouTube shopping program performance data with advertisers, brands and third-party platforms.

• YouTube partnered with the National Film & TV School in the UK to launch a Creator Incubator, it’s a new program designed to cultivate technical skills among the next generation of creators.

• Google launched Offerwall, it’s a publisher ad tool that puts micropayments, surveys, ads, and more in front of readers in exchange for access to the publishers' content. The new feature is available for free in Google Ad Manager after earlier tests with 1,000 publishers that spanned over a year.

📲 X Updates

• X CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted that she was stepping down “after two incredible years.”

• In related news: Elon Musk's Grok chatbot went batshit and posted some really disturbing stuff.

📲 Pinterest Updates

• Pinterest released its first ever Men's Trend Report. The accompanying data is fascinating — especially if you’re looking for a non-toxic environment to reach the male demo: Men account for 36% of Pinterest’s global audience, which is roughly 205 million monthly active users. And according to the platform: The “data paints a picture of a nuanced group of male users on Pinterest that largely rejects the toxicity you might find elsewhere online—and engages with content in positive, authentic ways…”

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👆CLICK THRU

Should Your Brand Open a Coffee Shop

Brands ranging Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Capital One and Uniqlo are opening coffee shops — establishing “third places” as customer experiences. It helps brands, especially luxury brands, reach customers outside of their usual demo, specifically those who may not be able to or may not want to spend big bucks on a purse, but can justify a $7 iced latte. It also ties into the non-alcoholic, beverage-based trends we’ve seen this year, including a global rise in matcha-focused businesses and the popularity of midday coffee raves.

Time 100: Most Influencer Digital Voices

Time Magazine released its inaugural Time 100 Creators 2025 list in categories including Titans, Entertainers, Leaders, Phenoms and Catalysts with Kai Cenat as the cover story as, “the most popular performer on the Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch—and one of the internet’s biggest personalities.” It’s a solid list and manages to be distinct from Forbes’ Top Creators list, which emphasized earnings, follower count, and entrepreneurship. Time’s focused more broadly on cultural influence, platform diversity and global reach, featuring scholars, activists and doctors alongside more traditional creators.

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🧮 DATA DROP

📰 Newsletters Heat Up

Media companies — and especially newsletter-first brands — are a hot commodity:

Six of the top ten media companies and platforms Hirsch Leatherwood is keeping an eye on in 2025 include Substack (the platform), Feed Me, Dirt, Puck, Punchbowl News and Goop (which started as a newsletter), according to a survey of 100 investors, dealmakers, and media execs

- Hirsch Leatherwood report: Worth the Hype

📱Instagram Still Rules

Instagram is the platform of choice for creators:

92% of digital talent citing it as their most active social media outlet, according to 200 global influencers surveyed by Influencer Intelligence. The second and third most popular are TikTok (53%) and YouTube (30%)

- Influencer Intelligence report: What Creators Think About Influencer Marketing

💸 Affiliate = Gen Z’s Favorite Revenue Stream

Affiliate is Gen Z creators go-to monetization model:

83% of creators are already familiar with it, and nearly half have been active on affiliate platforms for over a year, according to a new survey from Collective Voice and Suzy

- Collective Voice report: 2025 Monetization Trends Among Next-Gen Creators

🤝 Stronger Together

Strategic consolidation is a major theme in the Creator Economy this year:

There's been a huge surge in M&A activity so far this year, with 52 transactions announced in H1, up 73.3% YoY — including Later x Mavely ($250M), Publicis x Captiv8 ($175M), PSG x Uscreen (majority buyout for $150M), and Publicis x BR Media Group (~$100M).

Largely absent from this conversation are the social platforms. They’ve dramatically slowed down their M&A activity in recent years, according to Quartermast Advisors Founder James Creech. Some of the factors explaining this include:

• Political backlash against big tech and the prior administration's tough anti-trust stance, especially around acquisitions

• Focus on AI as the next platform shift

• Changing macroeconomic conditions creating shareholder pressure to emphasize profitability over growth

- Quartermast Advisors: 2025 H1 Creator Economy M&A Report

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👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES

• Snapchat is trying to get better at supporting homegrown stars over creators from other platforms -Marketing Brew

• YouTube prediction: we’re going to continue to see more and more original content made for YouTube first, and then it’ll be repurposed to TV -Fast Company

• Eventbrite created an interactive Color Theory wheel on Eventbrite to help people unlock their real-life vibe and discover event types that fit their spirit perfectly -Eventbrite

• Best Buy and Lowe’s CMO’s explain why they launched new influencer programs -Modern Retail

• Teen Vogue launched Group Project, a content series based on the many ways young people are building and engaging with community -Teen Vogue

• Artists are hosting small, in-person events — and encouraging their fans to hit record and post, spreading performances to millions -Bloomberg

• Lawyers are advising content creators in the U.S. that weighing in on political topics can come with serious risks -Bloomberg

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