ICYMI: TikTok's 3-Minute Video Edition
Here's what happened on social media this week, July 2
💻 Roadmap
TikTok is rolling out its new 3 minute videos to all users within the next few weeks. Once available, you'll get a notification that you have access to shoot, edit and upload longer videos.
It it a good move? Who knows but this does change TikTok from something fun and casual to much more produced video that needs to be scripted and edited, pointed out this author of a book about TikTok. It also demands way more of a commitment from app users who are used to watching seconds, not minutes, of video.
Advertisers might be happy, longer video means more opportunities for ads. But it’ll be interesting to watch if this ultimately destroys what made TikTok so special.
📲 “We’re no longer a photo sharing app,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced this week, pointing out that the app is focused on four key areas:
Creators
Video
Shopping
Messaging
Photos won’t disappear overnight but given the algorithm preference for video — long, short and live — plan your future content strategy accordingly.
Instagram is also running several tests, including a new link sticker that allows anyone to share a link in their Stories. That’s a BFD for anyone with less than 10K followers who currently doesn’t have access to swipe up links in Stories. Instagram’s head of product says that for now it’s a limited test that’s meant to track how people, like activists, might take advantage of links to direct people to website resources.
Instagram is also testing IGTV ad revenue sharing with publishers like ATTN: and Group Nine Media (home to NowThis and PopSugar).
📰 Facebook just introduced its Substack newsletter competitor: Bulletin is described as a set of publishing and subscription tools that will initially be tested with a small pool of writers.
👆 Click Thru
🏈 College athletes can finally make money off endorsement deals thanks to a new NCAA ruling that allows them to take advantage of name, image and likeness opportunities. Now that there’s no backlash to sponsored content deals, expect to see a lot more paid placements from amateur athletes in your Feed.
(More reading: a breakdown of the rules.)
⚢ Facebook, Google, Twitter and TikTok have pledged to tackle the abuse of women online as part of a global forum for gender equality. Efforts will focus on content moderation and safety tools.
🎥 A YouTube product manager shared 5 tips to grow as a small channel.
🎬 Google revealed the YouTube Theater this week, a 6,000-seat performance venue in Inglewood, CA. How long until a Facebook Stadium or Amazon Field?
🌟 Ryan Reynolds just joined TikTok. More platforms, more fun.
💰 Instagram is building a suite of money-making tools for creators. Insider recapped 10 features the platform is testing or has begun to roll out. (The content is behind a paywall but it’s worth subscribing if you’re a creator. Their team truly does some of the best work around the business of being an influencer.)
Badges
IGTV Ad Revenue
Creator Shops
Exclusive Productions
Affiliate
Creator Marketplace
Reels Bonuses
Exclusive Content
Creator Fund
NFT Marketplace
⓭ Teen girls are cultural tastemakers but still can’t get any respect. Yes, Vox! This aligns with my POV that every new app, feature or function should undergo rigorous teen girl testing before getting released.
“Teenage girls can love something with elemental purity, with an intensity no one else can ever quite match. That might be part of why they’re so good at deciding what’s cool: When they commit to something, they commit hard.”
💸 Here’s a good recap of how the Internet lost its mind and people you love, trust and/or respect endorsed Venmo on Twitter and Instagram this week. For. Only. Five. Hundred. Dollars?!
💵 How do you reign in creators when the backlash is the brand? You don’t. Taylor Lorenz dug into the Nelk Boys who’ve figured out how to make way more money for themselves than YouTube’s ad revenue ever could.
🤖 Content strategy 101: Things that are familiar. But not. Remember everything is cake? Chihuahua or muffin? Dancing robot dogs? It’s not the first time Boston Dynamic robot dogs have trended and it probably won’t be the last. People just can’t get enough.
👗 The unfiltered energy of fashion influencers on TikTok is nothing like the hyper-studied still life that is Instagram.
🌎 Local and domestic tourism seem to be benefitting as the travel creator economy resets for next boom.
🎓 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.
“The best part is you don’t even have to try to create an origin story. It’s already there, inside you. And it will keep writing itself whether you work on it or not.”
- Erin Kim, a writer and creative strategist currently at Google Design, spoke on the importance of establishing your origin story as a pillar of your personal brand.
If you’re struggling to define and differentiate yourself as a creator, go back to those fixed elements that shaped your point of view, your values and your behavior — just like they might appear in any superhero story. (For example, would Batman be the tortured hero he is without Bruce Wayne suffering the death of his parents and growing up at Wayne Manor with Alfred?)
Ask yourself:
Who is the main character in this story?
Who are the recurring characters?
Who are the supporting characters?
What are the major events or the environment that shaped this story?
As a creator, understanding your origin story and being able to identify the people, places and things that had an impact on you is critical. If you can’t connect with yourself, how is anyone else expected to connect with you?