ICYMI: See the Creators + Brands Launching Social “Shows”

+ lots of new platform updates this week!

May 02, 2025

Hi! Keep an eye on your inbox Monday for another installment of the expert series. “How to Get Buy-In From Your Boss (Written by a Boss)” is one of my FAVORITES so far — written by the legendary Jamie Gutfreund. This is one you’re going to want to bookmark, whether you’re a social media manager pitching your supervisor or a senior leader looking to get approval from the C-Suite!

⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY

Instagram Edits reportedly topped 7M downloads in its first week
Meta launched a standalone AI assistant app
YouTube is returning as VidCon’s title sponsor
TikTokers are trading LinkedIn profiles, boosting their numbers and building community
LinkedIn is launching new “shows” with select creators and publishers
SAG-AFTRA is giving influencers a greater share of voice in the union
Hulu is debuting an Alex Cooper docu-series
The Group Chat TikTok series is about to blow up your phone with season 2
Plus 3 other brand “shows” that just launched on social media

💻 ROADMAP

📲 Meta Updates

Instagram Edits reportedly topped 7M downloads in its first week — a launch 112x the size of CapCut's. But Edits still has a ways to go to catch up with CapCut’s current user base. The TikTok editing app has been downloaded 1.22 billion times worldwide, excluding China, since 2020.

Meta launched a standalone AI app. It’s the same Meta AI you already use through Instagram DMs but now designed around voice conversations because — and I’m not making this up — the average person wants more friends and Mark Zuckerberg says this could be the solution.
Note: The new app also includes a Discover feed. Which means if you don’t want to share your prompt history with the world, you’ll need to adjust to “make prompts visible to only you” in Settings.

📲 YouTube Updates

YouTube is returning as VidCon’s title sponsor (June 19-21), coinciding with its milestone 20th anniversary. Who gets top billing at the Anaheim Convention Center is an interesting indication of shifting platform priorities. It’s typically been YouTube — except in 2022, when TikTok took the spotlight.
YouTube announced creators can now edit the font captions on Shorts, customizing the font and color.

📲 TikTok Updates

TikTok promoted its Return on Influence report which underscores the importance of creative investment in today's marketing landscape.

TikTok released a Fashion Playbook for SMBs and a co-branded Discovery Commerce playbook for Enterprise.

TikTok is encouraging advertisers to use WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to chat with customers. There’s been no fanfare around this crossover partnership, except for a mention that appeared some time in April in TikTok’s Business Help Center.

📲 Pinterest Updates

Pinterest unveiled its Pinterest Inclusion Fund — an incubator program for creators and small business owners. The pinners selected to participate will receive access to expert training, resources and tools.

Pinterest released its annual wedding trends report. The data reveals brown is set to take over weddings this year, from florals and bridal party looks to decor and groomsmen attire — which tracks with Pantone’s color of the year: Mocha Mousse.

Pinterest announced it was rolling out their Gen AI labels more widely to increase transparency on Pins — which some users think is behind the mass bans happening on the platform.

📲 LinkedIn Updates

There’s a TikTok x LinkedIn crossover trend where marketing girlies are crowd sourcing support for their LinkedIn profiles and SSI (Social Selling Index) scores. I’m 100% behind this wholesome trend — especially if it helps more women find supportive communities on the briefcase app!

LinkedIn just announced BrandLink, an expansion of a program that allows brands to advertise against videos from creators and publishers. As part of the video push, LinkedIn is launching new “Shows” in collaboration with top voices and publishers like Candace Nelson, Gary Vaynerchuk, Adweek, Condé Nast and more.
Note: some articles are framing this as “LinkedIn is now paying creators” but BrandLink is an invite-only, pilot program. This may a move in the right direction, but it’s going to be a while before other creators are eligible.

👆 CLICK THRU

A Social Series Masterclass

The Group Chat is about to blow up your phone — again.

TikTok creator Sydney Jo Robinson just teased a script labeled The Group Chat Season 2, captioned: “Something good is coming.”

If you missed the faux drama the first time around, Robinson created a binge-able, multi-character series based on a friend group meltdown — with every character played by Robinson herself.

The series got a lot of comparisons to last year’s Who TF Did I Marry saga from storyteller Reesa Teesa. That breakout hit sent Teesa straight to Hollywood and so, who knows what could be next for Robinson? She’s already collaborated with Netflix in an extremely on-brand way.

Then again, she might decide to skip traditional TV altogether. The model does exist.

On Thursday night, I attended a YouTube dinner that celebrated creators producing their own digital series — outside of the Hollywood system:

Colin and Samir, who compare themselves to Inside the Actors Studio for the Creator Economy
Michelle Khare, whose Challenge Accepted series could rival the production value of any broadcast show
Adam Waheed, a comedian who plans to turn his Shorts into long-form standup specials for his 20M subscribers

These creators — and so many more — have become central to the new, new entertainment industry, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch.

Brands are also experimenting with this playbook around social series:

Alo Yoga released episode 1 of Jimmy the Intern, promising “episode 2 coming soon.” The video features NBA player Jimmy Butler as Alo’s underachieving new intern — with a bonus cameo from his coffee brand BigFace.
- Looks like a TikTok version of Abbott Elementary or The Office

Little Caesar’s launched Pretzel Crust Island, a four-part series hosted by German YouTuber Flula Borg. Inspired by comments from actual Pretzel Crust superfans, four characters compete in challenges to win a pizza.
- Looks like a YouTube version of Beast Games or Survivor.

Pretzelized dropped a four-part sketch comedy series, helmed by NYC comedians Eric Neumann and Marc Gerber. According to a spokesperson, the entire series (scripting, casting, shooting, editing, etc.) was developed internally by the brand team and the comedians were given full creative freedom.
- Looks like an Instagram version of Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm.

If you’ve been reading ICYMI for a while, you know I’m a big fan of serialized content and how you tell brand stories on social.

Instead of selling a product in 30 seconds, you’re inviting your audience to tune in and get invested.

That means adopting a creator mindset — or collaborating closely with a creator — versus taking a traditional brand marketing approach. The priority here is creative storytelling over specific product mentions.

If you’ve seen other examples of brand social series, I’d love to hear about it!

🧮 DATA OF THE WEEK

The digital economy is the nation’s job growth engine as employment in the sector is growing 12x faster than the total U.S. economy overall — this includes the 1.5 million Americans now working full-time as digital creators

-via the IAB’ Measuring the Digital Economy 2025 report, which comes in at a whopping 179 pages

👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES

The end of the Temu-Shein era of cheap prices may be hurting Snap, Google and Meta just as much as bargain shoppers -The Information
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is dead. Creators are building what’s next -Passionfruit
Democracy dies in billionaire tech bro group chats -Garbage Day
How we’re using generative AI has shifted year over year, including a lot less specific searches -Social Media Today
“You can pay attention to economist predictions, to trend reports, to news but listening to people is often the best meter on where things are going” -Shorty Awards Podcast
Universities are aiming to turn their student-athletes into well-paid social media stars -NYT
VidCon is introducing its first ever Hall of Fame to honor OGs like Rhett & Link, Smosh, Tyler Oakley, and VidCon co-founder Hank Green -VidCon
A ceremony for the 29th Annual Webby Awards winners will take place in NYC on Monday, May 12th -Webby Awards Winners
A celebration for the 17th Annual Shorty Awards winners will take place in NYC on Wednesday, May 21st -Shorty Awards Finalists
SAG-AFTRA launched an Influencer Committee led by Patrick Janelle to serve as a voice for digital creators and influencers within the labor group -THR

Thanks for reading and for all the nice messages I get — the feedback means everything.