ICYMI: Yik Yak's Back Edition
Here's what happened on social media this week, August 13
Housekeeping: I’m taking the next two weeks off. This summer (year) has been a struggle and I need a mental break. If you’re new here: I’m CMO at a fitness company run by an influencer turned entrepreneur, I teach influencer marketing at UCLAx and consult for creators in the lifestyle, gaming and health space.
I launched this newsletter as a resource for students and clients to stay up to date on the ways people connect and communicate online. I’ve got some fun stuff coming up in September and need to recharge before tackling a 24/7 schedule. Thanks as always for reading and hope you’ll stick around when I get back!
While I’m away I wanted to re-share this list of my favorite social-related newsletters. These are the emails I open as soon as they hit my inbox for news about social media, popular culture and creators:
Please Like Me: A look at the influencers battling for your eyeballs. This is a fun, deep dive on influencer headlines that I look forward to reading every week and is great for general awareness of the dramas within the creator community.
Creator Economy: News, commentary and financial analysis on the creators and companies driving the industry. This daily digest is a credit to Kaya Yurieff who must do an insane amount of work collecting all the information that’s packed into this easy-to-read newsletter which is especially good for investors and marketers.
Insider Influencers: Rundown on the business of influencers, creators, and social-media platforms. The team at Insider is turning out some of the best work covering the creator economy, especially if you are an aspiring influencer or manage an influencer. Amanda Perelli curates the headlines for this paid content but a subscription is 100% worth it if you work in this space.
Influence Weekly: Influencer marketing industry updates. It’s a little dry but if you’re a marketer who runs branded influencer campaigns or you manage a creator this is a weekly essential of deals and updates in that space.
Embedded: Your essential guide to what’s good on the internet. I didn’t have room for another newsletter in the rotation but found myself clicking into Kate Lindsay and Nick Catucci’s newsletter almost everyday for insights into memes, viral content and creators. It makes me a more informed person and I appreciate that.
Geekout Newsletter: The ultimate newsletter for busy social media managers. Matt Navarra does the best job at recapping all the tech leaks and platform updates each week. This subscription is a must if you’re a SMM and need to stay on top of developments.
💻 Roadmap
🙄 It’s not just you, all social networks really DO look the same now. Kaya Yurieff created THE chart that confirms what we’ve all joked about. Quick takeaways: The focus on short form video is not going away, audio social is iffy (if you didn’t jump on Clubhouse early on it’s probably too late, try Twitter Spaces) and the intersection of shopping and live streaming is a really interesting space to be.
🛑 Instagram is rolling out three updates meant to protect people from racism and abuse on the platform, including DMs from people who only just followed you.
✋ Google and YouTube are rolling out new protections for kids and teens, which could have a serious impact on unboxing toy videos among other things.
⌚️ TikTok is also adding more safety features for teens, including a 9pm curfew for push notifications.
👆 Click Thru
📲 Update: YikYak is back. After conflicting reports last week, the app tweeted that it was once again available in the App Store and in fact climbed to the no. 4 spot in the Free Apps chart.
Yik Yak is not back but the app that was a "breeding ground for hate speech and abuse in 2015” seemed to resurface this week and sent social managers and school admins into a frenzy. But there are some apps that may pick up where Yik Yak left off.
🎥 Are creators uncancellable? This interesting piece takes a look at how the rules of cancel culture on YouTube are very different from the standards networks and studios have for traditional talent.
👻 Snap creators are leaving the app as Spotlight payments dry up. Reminder: at one point Snap was paying out up to $1M a day but failed to show creators a clear path to monetization once the novelty payments dried up.
💕 Text-heavy meme posts are taking over Gen Z Instagram feeds. The latest from Taylor Lorenz is another fascinating look at how teens will make an online experience their own in ways that platforms can’t predict or enforce.
🌳 I am fascinated by Whalar CMO, Karyn Spencer, who just announced she’s leaving the agency and moving to the Costa Rican jungle. “I will no longer spend time forging paths to capitalism, product consumption, or commercialism. I will no longer spend my days in endless meetings on Zoom calls. I will no longer be checking my emails.” This is a book or movie in the making and I’m hoping for a happy ending.
👙 This case study on how a swimwear brand mixed influencer marketing and out-of-home advertising is a great step-by-step guide on how to amplify your marketing efforts.