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WTF is happening to Instagram?

Self proclaimed digital gossip girl, Taylor is a creative Swiss army knife with a pocket full of tips, tricks, and knowledge for thriving in the digital world. She's been a marketing director, a "creative" whatever, a tech journalist, a web designer, brand strategist, content creator, and more. Nothing has been as rewarding as being a digital entrepreneur.

Currently: Exploring web3.


If there’s one piece you read this week, let it be this one by Sophie Bishop. It’s an unfiltered definition of influencer creep, otherwise known as “the expansion of the micro-celebrity practice in our everyday social media lives.”

It boils down to this: these days influencers aren’t the only ones hustling to build their brand on social media. Creators and digital entrepreneurs — you already know this.

Everyone has to think about personal branding, even if you’re not posting daily selfies. Competing today means showing up consistently — if not daily — with something new and valuable for your followers (or patients/students/clients).

Coined “influencer creep,” it’s a phenomenon that’s become a prerequisite to being generally appealing, valuable, or worth investing in. It’s 2022, and there’s an inherent expectation that one be omnipresent regardless of profession or industry.

Do you even exist if your IG, Twitter, or TikTok isn’t sprinkled with signals that point to your brand? Look at…

  • Remote workers who embrace stylish and color-coordinated backgrounds for Zoom meetings
  • A yoga instructor who posts daring poses and dramatic backdrops all in a cohesive grid
  • A digital marketer who uses IG highlights to give viewers quick insights and sell a course
  • Your uncle’s friend who somehow has 200K TikTok followers for filming his #oddlysatisfying power washing business

For better or worse, there’s no escaping it: everyone is feeling the pressure of influencer creep. As creators, all we can do is be present and learn.

the socialverse

The latest social media news, tips, and platform updates you need to know as a content creator and digital entrepreneur.

TikTok stories are rolling out more broadly

TikTok is finally lifting a play from Instagram with the addition of stories, spotted more widely by users in recent weeks.

Yep, expect the all-too-familiar stories feature to appear soon on a TikTok near you. It’ll be just like Instagram. And Facebook. And Twitter. And LinkedIn. And… Well you get the idea. Here’s what it looked like for us this week:


LinkedIn finally launches a Business Manager platform

Last week, LinkedIn introduced Business Manager, a new centralized platform that makes it easier to manage people, ad accounts, and business pages.

  • View and manage your team, ad accounts, Pages, and business partners from a centralized dashboard.
  • Manage user access across accounts and Pages and download your monthly invoices directly from the platform
  • Share Matched Audiences across ad accounts

If your brand relies on professional networking and LinkedIn is one of your primary channels, this is a big deal. Finally — a hub that brings together all your pages and accounts in one place. It’s going to make life on LinkedIn so much easier, I promise.

READ MORE


13 things you didn’t know you could do on Instagram

Instagram has been doing a lot to give creators more control over their content and creative experience, recently releasing a whole slew of updates.

Here’s a list of the latest features and how to use them.

H/T Mara Anton | Techthelead

  1. Instagram Story Links
  2. Create and Publish Posts From Your Desktop
  3. Get Commission Directly From Brands
  4. Instagram Creator Shops
  5. Hide Like and View Counts on Instagram News Feed Posts
  6. See a History of Your Instagram Activity — From Used Passwords to Old Bio
  7. Hide Like and View Counts on Your Own Instagram Posts
  8. Add Pronoun of Choice to Instagram Bio
  9. Instagram for Kids (Under 13)
  10. Instagram Professional Dashboard Tool
  11. Filter DM Requests Containing Offensive Words
  12. Block a Personal Account and All Accounts Made by That Person
  13. Add More People To Live Rooms

what we’re keeping a pulse on

WTF is happening to Instagram?

IG is no stranger to ads, but the recent influx of sponsored content is raising serious questions about the platform’s shelf life. Beyond niche creator circles and IG marketing communities, even well-known influencers, journalists, and tech personalities are taking note of what IG users are experiencing en masse.

Here are just a few of the recent callouts:

READ MORE


How the pandemic changed our relationship with tech (and each other)

Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, published a new, three-part research report exploring “how the demand for deeper human connection has sparked a profound reset in our relationships.” The report is based on a survey of 36,000 adults across 12 markets.

  • 72% of respondents said that the pandemic caused them to reprioritize their closest friends
  • Young people are most open to using more immersive tech to foster connections (including augmented and virtual reality), though all users indicated that tech will play a bigger role in enhancing personal connections moving forward
  • 37% of people surveyed globally reported reassessing their life priorities as a result of the pandemic

READ MORE

Curious about launching an NFT project?


I wrote a detailed guide for other creators

If I had a coin for everyone who’s asked me to explain NFTs this year, I’d have a lot of coin content to discuss.

Here’s the thing: NFTs can seem intimidating, but they’re actually pretty accessible once you know what to look for. And they’re quickly becoming a lucrative way for creators and artists to share their content and message. This guide is our team’s personal notebook on how we developed a successful NFT collection. Because it’s been organized, categorized, and broken down meticulously into a wiki-style guide, we figured the price of a few cups of coffee could help offset the time and effort in exchange for forever-access to the whole thing.

It’s currently available for $29 with half off using the code SAUCE06

(for those who wish to access the guide but are otherwise unable to pay, please let me know)