If you got invited to Forbes’ Creator Upfront, um, maybe you didn’t? I was just named one of Canada’s top 10 female LinkedIn influencers — yes, I live in LA but will happily accept this honor on behalf of my home country! And using AI doesn’t actually make you more — or less — money on Substack, which seems like a win-win whether you’re for or against it.
YouTube announced a Shorts hub called AI Playground
Google dropped 3 AI Shopping updates
Instagram confirmed it's testing new insights for Reels and Carousels based on when viewers like the content
Pinterest launched its 2025 Holiday Season marketing guide
It’s about to get messy between the U.S. Commerce Secretary and China’s ByteDance
Elon Musk says X will bring back Vine, but in AI form 🤔
Back to School Report: Gen Z parents say influencer content is more trustworthy than brand content
Report: the top content format on each social platform in 2025
YouTube Analytics now reports on new, casual and regular viewer metrics, replacing the previous new and returning viewer metrics.
Google dropped some AI Shopping updates: their Try On experience is live in the US today, allowing you to see how clothing will look on your body; Price Alerts allow you to specify the amount you want to spend on an item and get alerted when it matches your budget; and this fall, U.S. shoppers will be able to explore shoppable outfits and room inspiration by describing what they're looking for
Instagram confirmed it's testing new insights for Reels and Carousels to give brands and creators more information about what is and isn't working and ways to improve their content:
For Reels: Instagram is testing the addition of an interactive chart that indicates the exact moment when a viewer liked your Reel
For Carousels: Instagram is showing creators which slides in their Carousels people are viewing when they like them
Threads announced improved engagement metrics, a performance tracking chart and the ability to see where your content was discovered.
LinkedIn released its 2025 B2B Benchmark Report: Trust Is the New KPI. Among the stats, 76% of marketing leaders believe that collaborating with creators helps build authenticity for brands. Across key goals — from customer engagement to revenue growth — those who use influencer marketing outperform non-users by as much as 39 percentage points.
LinkedIn announced Premium members would now benefit from a 6-month free trial of Notion AI.
TikTok LIVE is bringing back Player Spotlight: Messi — a special live stream experience offering fans an unfiltered all-Messi match view starting Saturday, August 2 at 7:10pm ET.
Private equity firm, Blackstone, has reportedly pulled out of a consortium bid for TikTok US. September 17 is the latest deadline for the potential TikTok ban.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said TikTok would have to stop operating in the United States if China does not approve a deal for the sale: “Americans will own the technology, and Americans will control the algorithm.”
Spotted: Elon Musk does not like hashtags or emojis. X will start charging more for ads with more than one emoji in the ad copy.
Musk made a vague pronouncement that X will bring back Vine, but in AI form.
🏆 The Best Content Format on Each Social Platform in 2025
Buffer analyzed millions of social posts to find the top-performing content format on each platform. Here are some standout insights — and one specific format — that caught my eye:
TikTok: No surprise here — video took the top spot. But interestingly, it only earned 7% more views than photos or carousels.
Instagram: Reels deliver the most reach, but carousels drive 12% more engagement.
LinkedIn: Carousels blew everything else out of the water — earning 278% more engagement than videos, 303% more than images, and a massive 596% more than text-only posts.
In last week’s poll, only 20% of you said you’re using Threads actively and nearly 60% of you said you were in wait-and-see or unconvinced mode. Let’s see how everyone feels about Carousels.
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📓 Deloitte Back to School Survey
Gen Z parents (reminder, the generation spans 13 to 28-year-olds) are influenced by social media for back to school shopping:
59% of Gen Z parents say influencer content is more trustworthy than brand content
75% of Gen Z parents plan to use social media for back to school shopping
67% of Gen Z parents plan to use Gen AI for back to school shopping but only 54% trust it
- Insights from Deloitte’s 2025 Back to School Survey based on polling of 1,203 parents of school-aged children
🗄️ EMarketer’s B2B Marketing Report
B2B marketing is getting a DTC makeover:
64% of B2B marketers plan to take a consumer-facing approach to their work in 2025, embracing channels like TikTok and Instagram
64% of buyers are more likely to engage with a B2B brand that uses simple language
50% more B2B buyers rated a brand as trustworthy after seeing their CEO in casual clothes
- Insights from eMarketer’s report on how more B2B marketers are adopting consumer-style approaches as part of their marketing efforts
YouTube’s ad revenue increased 13% year over year, reaching $9.796 billion - Variety
TikTok's message to managers: Don't 'be nice' during performance reviews - Business Insider
How LinkedIn became a breakout platform for content creators - Marketing Brew
Reddit is an alternative to AI slop. It’s also an increasingly valuable data source for tech firms in a race to dominate AI. How long can it be both? - New York Magazine
DEI drop off, niche creators and thinking beyond social — how the creator economy is shaping up in the back half of 2025 - Digiday
The future of holiday marketing is creator-led: 3 tactics to use in Q4 - Forbes
TikTok creator Sydney Robinson is incorporating brand partners like Domino’s, Hilton and Tripadvisor into “commercial breaks” during her Group Chat series — sponsored videos that fit into the plot - AdAge
You don’t have to be an influencer to share a link in bio recommendation - Elle
Big Yowie — an AI-generated Bigfoot influencer — reveals how much it costs to generate a video (over $100) and how much can be made through monetization - Kapwing
This app brokers free meals, salon visits and workouts for models — if they post about them -Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post’s TikTok Guy, Dave Jorgenson, is starting his own video company that explains the news, with a twist - New York Times
Thanks for reading!
