Disney strikes a TikTok deal to let creators use its films and shows

🚨 The Social Media Crisis Playbook: What Disney, Jet2 + NY Post did when it all went wrong → Save your spot + Get playbook^*
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🔍 The Creator Cheatsheet: 4 ways to find creators and how to spot a fit before you hire → Download the Cheatsheet^*
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☕ The One I Actually Read: Stacked Marketer covers the ads, ecom and AI news you miss → Free. Daily. 4 Min Read → Add to your Inbox

🔍 4 smart ways to find creators on TikTok and Instagram

🎯 How to tell if a creator will land with your audience before you hire

🔀 Why picking for UGC + influencer partnerships are different jobs

✅ A checklist for choosing creators by campaign type

🏰 How hackers hijacked Disney's Instagram to push fake crypto

✈️ How Jet2 turned online mockery into the viral moment of the year

📰 How one angry employee put the NY Post's reputation at risk

⏱️ Exactly what to do in the critical first 5 minutes

🤖 How to tackle deepfakes without making things worse

✅ A social media crisis playbook, incl. who needs to be in the room

Meta says its Muse Spark 1.1 AI hacked another company during testing, because you aren’t cutting edge if your LLM doesn’t break the law

Meta smart glasses are being banned in venues across the UK amid privacy fears

Meta is rolling out Meta One on Facebook, introducing a new subscription experience with three membership tiers designed for creators and businesses.

Meta added ‘Your media gallery’ in Accounts Center that displays your content — images, clips and stories — posted on Facebook, Instagram and Threads

Meta started inviting creators to join and register for Meta Festival Online.

The FTC is concerned about Meta surveillance of users’ of erectile dysfunction apps

Meta Ads now accepts stablecoin payments through wallets including MetaMask, Coinbase and Binance

Meta plans to catch Anthropic and OpenAI in part by making its engineers train its rival MetaCode product

Facebook is once again testing a redesigned layout for profiles and Pages

Facebook is testing the ability to upload a text transcript for Reels.

Facebook is testing a new ‘Explore Similar’ feature for Reels, making it easier to discover related content

Instagram created a new Hot Trash account…

… Meta confirmed to Rachel Karten that “it was meant to be an internal space for the design team to share explorations, ideas, and inspiration. The account has since gone private.”

Instagram is rolling out a Bonuses programme that lets eligible creators earn money from photo and carousel posts.

Instagram is updating the Mention sticker with support for multiple mentions in a single sticker and more control over colour customisation

Instagram is testing the ability to apply multiple voice effects to voice notes

Instagram has been spotted offering a revised posting interface

Instagram Edits is testing letting you organise your projects into folders

Instagram Edits added Speed Curves in beta, letting creators apply preset speed ramps, including Bullet, Jump Cut, Flash In, Flash Out and Ramp

WhatsApp now lets @-all mentions notify an entire group, even when the chat is muted (in groups above 32 members, only admins can use it. Users can also mute @-all alerts!)

WhatsApp polls now support deadlines, anonymous voting and edits within 15 minutes, while users can now spin up a new chat from an existing group without adding everyone manually

WhatsApp will start gently nudging users to un-mute channels

WhatsApp is testing a separate inbox for big-business messages

WhatsApp says it is fixing an issue that led to some accounts being disabled for no good reason

WhatsApp channel admins will soon get the ability to flag AI-generated media

WhatsApp is testing age checks for users in India

WhatsApp added music suggestions when selecting audio in the app

A new WhatsApp scam bypasses passwords, using a six-digit code to hijack your account

Threads replaced the @ symbol next to usernames with the Threads logo icon

Threads has a new animation for the Like button to mark the release of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

Threads users can use Meta AI to summarise posts, explain trending topics or explore links without leaving the app

X product chief Nikita Bier is leaving after just one year in the job

Elon Musk is still trying to sue advertisers for not advertising on X. He’s trying to revive claims against brands including Mars, Lego, and Pinterest

xAI’s request to block Minnesota ban on ‘nudify’ apps was denied by a judge

X started displaying media as carousels but with a limit of only four media items per post

X followed Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube in blocking Saudi dissidents’ accounts inside the kingdom

X has improved the bookmarking experience

TikTok has expanded its Drama section to let you browse drama episodes by category, explore what’s Trending, and discover New releases

TikTok withheld a safety feature from millions of users to measure engagement… one died by suicide

TikTok quietly settled three more teen addiction lawsuits

TikTok is adding playlists for LIVE recordings

TikTok and iHeartRadio are turning Alex Warren’s single launch into a live fan event

TikTok US is closing an office that housed content moderators, and laying off 250 employees

YouTube is finally decluttering its bloated design

YouTube is giving nervous creators Practice Room, a rehearsal room for vertical livestreams

YouTube is testing a video ideation tool with useful tools to help creators’ inspiration

YouTube explained its AI slop policy and why some creators won't get paid

YouTube is bringing its Shopping affiliate programme to UK creators

YouTube is testing a new option that automatically enrols users in newly available experimental features

YouTube added built-in Channel QR Codes

Reddit plans to show more reviews and recommendations in the feed

Reddit does NOT get special treatment in Search results, Google claims

Reddit is testing a video experience where users can watch viral posts or listen in the background

Reddit’s AI-search boom is attracting a new wave of stealth AI SEO spam

Snapchat no longer rewards fully AI-generated Spotlight content

Snapchat now lets marketers plug lead ads directly into HubSpot

Snapchat added a Now Playing feature that lets users link Spotify and share what they’re listening to with selected friends via Snap Map

Snap still won’t say how many people preordered its $2,195 Specs as the September launch event looms

Telegram has introduced a new rich text editor

Trump’s Truth Social started its $100,000-per-month early-access subscription for his own market-moving posts. Corrupt much?

Signal finally lets you link a second iPhone to the same account

Meta launched its first AI coding agent to take on Anthropic and OpenAI

Meta is making AI its first line of developer support. Devs now hit an AI assistant before docs, tickets or a human response

ChatGPT could soon let you easily create and use custom WhatsApp stickers

Threads added an ‘Ask Meta AI’ option to the post action menu, offering more information about the post you’re viewing

TikTok is giving advertisers a more advanced AI video engine. Dreamina Seedance 2.5 can generate 30-second clips, double the previous limit

TikTok owner ByteDance is training one of China’s biggest AI models yet, said to rival Anthropic’s most advanced Mythos model

Snapchat launched an MCP server that lets advertisers analyse performance and refine campaigns inside third-party AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini

Adobe launched a ChatGPT plugin to integrate tools like Photoshop and Premiere with the chatbot

Meta’s daily users across its apps reached 3.60 billion, up 3% year on year

Meta’s AI spending has taken a chainsaw to its cash flow: Quarterly free cash flow fell from $8.55bn to $784m as infrastructure spending surged

Reality Labs lost $4.62bn in Q2 while generating just $431m in revenue

Reddit’s Q2 revenue jumped 61% to $805m, marking its eighth straight quarter above 60% growth
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LinkedIn’s revenue rose 12%, driven mainly by stronger Marketing Solutions sales

Snapchat’s revenue rose 19% to $1.6bn, while daily users reached 493m, ahead of forecast
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Pinterest’s Q2 revenue rose 18% to $1.18bn, while monthly users hit 640 million
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Facebook and Instagram allegedly ran thousands of “nudify” ads

TikTok was charged with breaching EU tech rules on online safety for kids

Meta signed an AI licensing agreement with Newsmax, as its latest right-wing news source

X and major music publishers ended their three-year copyright war

Elon Musk settled his long-running legal battle with a group of advertisers

X says Australia’s teen social media crackdown breaks international law

Russia charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorism, and Australia is taking Telegram to court over terrorist content

The EU is set to label Roblox and ChatGPT as “very large online platforms” under the Digital Services Act

X Money officially launched in the US, offering a deposit account, peer-to-peer payments, and a Visa debit card

…but be careful what you post if you want to keep your account 😬

Meta AI now lets you connect to Gmail and Google Calendar for daily briefings and schedule checks

Meta AI can now rewrite the text inside your ad images

Meta Ray-Bans got a major AI upgrade with Threads browsing, better visual understanding, and more

Instagram Edits added improved project exports, and new visual FX and audio features

YouTube Premium in the US bundled in Peacock Premium

WhatsApp brought audio and video calls to the web

WhatsApp is rolling out private view counts for channel admins

xAI’s Grok can now build apps from a prompt

LinkedIn collaborative posts are now available globally

I gave The Times my take on Andy Burnham’s social media strategy

I was quoted by Wired in a piece looking at legal uncertainty for AI creators

I spoke to NBC News about what the Perez Hilton incident this week says about the state of social media moderation

I helped The Daily Influence make sense of Snapchat’s fight against AI content

Influencers stayed in $1,500–$3,100-a-night rooms, with wellness sessions and ChatGPT workshops

Guests received private cabins, monogrammed pyjamas, gourmet dinners and branded honey

Comments online quickly turned to data-centre water use, environmental costs, and creators “selling out”

TikTok videos are telling people to put their phones in the fridge. Don't do it!

MrBeast pitched Slack on a $15 million, year-long partnership

T-Mobile appears to have paid $15 million for four video promotions

Amazon seems to have committed $12.5 million for 5 main-channel ads

Walmart was offered an $8 million to $10 million video about buying everything in a Supercenter

A 30 to 45-second YouTube integration cost around $2.5 million in 2024.

Adding a Short cost another $500,000. Website branding could reach $1 million monthly.

Pitches to Slack, Sony and Walmart sold scale, spectacle, and access to young audiences abandoning TV

AI slop is fooling advertisers' verification tools, meaning brands are paying premium prices for AI slop

Brands are moving past influencers and towards creators with actual authority. They are increasingly treating creators as media companies, not rented reach

From Substack to YouTube, here are the social platforms cracking down on AI slop

Meet the married couple who helped make the UK social media ban a reality

Researchers analysed 5,000+ Italian pupils, comparing account age with standardised test results.

Those joining at 11–12 scored lower in maths and Italian than pupils waiting until at least 14.

By age 16, the gap was equivalent to roughly 6 months of learning.

The authors of the study favour delaying access to social media for kids, describing outright bans as an emergency measure.

Myspace is coming back, its latest owners say. Sorry, Tom isn’t involved

A $2 sticker can defeat Meta glasses’ anti-creep light

YouTube wiped out several major ASMR channels. Creators including Bunnii and Slight Sounds were removed over alleged “sexually gratifying” content

OpenAI’s browser could be hijacked to spam your WhatsApp contacts

Australia’s under-16 social media ban barely dented usage. A government study of 4,100+ families found teen platform use fell from 85.9% to 81.5% after three months.

AI slop melodramas are taking over X—and their creators are cashing in

Boomers on Facebook are leaving comments that make it clear that they have no idea that AI-generated thirst traps aren’t real

The feature dropped singles into multi-guest chats inside TikTok’s “hangout” section

Some rooms offered flirting. Others served explicit gimmicks and very little actual dating

The test reached selected users in the US and other markets before TikTok paused it

The experiment looked less like Tinder, more like Omegle wearing a TikTok Live badge… but now it’s dead.

Old Reddit could become collateral damage in Reddit’s war on AI scraping

Start with the hook, then cut anything slowing the opening seconds.

Edit to the audio, using beat markers to make transitions feel intentional.

Use captions and visuals to reinforce the message, not clutter the screen.

Then study watch time, skips, saves and shares to sharpen the next edit.

The individual social post is losing its strategic value. Do brands need recurring content properties rather than endless one-off posts?

The best time to post Instagram Reels could be while you’re asleep!

5 tips for building an effective brand presence on LinkedIn

LinkedIn shared tips for effective event marketing

YouTube is encouraging creators to upload Shorts every week, saying that consistent posting could help them gain up to 50% more new subscribers

Snapchat offers a comedy-writing framework to help marketers decode memes, absurdity and inside jokes

Google published a proper guide to YouTube audio ads

Meta shared holiday 2026 tips for small businesses

The best time to post on Bluesky is the weekend. Buffer took a look at the data

Pinterest says holiday marketing should start in September

Reddit offered marketing insights for beauty brands

PODFATHER: Forbes estimates Joe Rogan earned $82m from podcast-related work between June 2025 and June 2026, making him the highest-paid podcaster. OpenAI’s TBPN ranked second on $70m, with Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO on $45m.

FOLLOW ME DOWN: TIME’s 2026 creator ranking suggests follower count is losing power. The median following among TIME’s Titans fell from 46.5m to 30.3m

BAN FAIL: Australia’s teen social bans are having little effect. Use of restricted platforms fell only from 85.9% to 81.5% after three months.

50.2% said platforms had never asked them to verify their age

REEL BIG: Reels captured 51% of time spent on Instagram in Q2, according to new third-party data

WATCHING: 81% of US Instagram users watch Reels, but only 39% upload one

POST-FOLLOWER ERA: 60% of Instagram Reels reach audiences where 70%+ of viewers are non-followers

TikTok views average just $1.40 per 1,000

YouTube views cost around $6.70

Fake followers typically run $14–$20 per 1,000, except YouTube at a hefty $78

Comments cost far more: $93 per 1,000 on YouTube but $287 on Facebook

TikTok shares average $68 per 1,000, versus just $17 on YouTube

Likes cost around $10–$25 per 1,000 across platforms
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DOWN TO THE RIGHT: Some big pro-Trump influencers are losing their audience online

SEEING RED: Reddit’s rising daily active unique users, charted

ON THE GRAM: Instagram users are older than many assume

The Kids Online Safety Act social media safety bill has advanced in the US Senate. [CNBC]

Four US families are suing Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google over their children’s deaths. [Engadget]

Indian police have opened a case against Meta’s India chief over altered videos of prime minister Modi. [TNW]

…and Meta has apologised to the Indian government for restricting a Facebook post by Modi. [Reuters $$$]

YouTuber Hank Green faced a backlash after admitting he used ChatGPT to research a script for his Ask Hank Anything series. [Dexerto]

Reddit’s AI scraping lawsuit against Perplexity can move forward, a judge has ruled. [Ars Technica]

Indonesia has threatened YouTube with suspension over a vaping livestream involving children. [TechTimes]

Tinder is expanding IRL events as Gen Z lose interest in dating apps. [TechCrunch]

Bumble is teasing a swipe-free future as it doubles down on IRL meetups. Its new Plans app pushes low-pressure group meetups, while Bumble works on a swipe replacement. [TechCrunch]

Pinterest is expanding its Creator Inclusion Fund across 10 countries. [Pinterest Create]

Microdramas have hit their late-night parody era as Jimmy Fallon and the Daily Show both put serious production chops behind spoofs of the format. [TubeFilter]

Amazon is pushing Sponsored Products into creator content from 10 August. [PPC Land]

Podcasters are turning old episodes into free TV channels. [Bloomberg $$$]

Instagram is testing a new ‘Saved’ shortcut in the story composer for saved audio. [@oncescuradu]

Facebook is testing a new WhatsApp button in the composer. [@oncescuradu]

WhatsApp now lets beta users on Mac choose daily builds or a more stable weekly release. [WABetaInfo]

Threads now lets you enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) through Meta Accounts Centre. [@jonahmanzano]

Meta Business Suite has a new app icon. [@jonahmanzano]

X is testing a new grey bar for its in-app web browser that separates the user’s posts and the opened link. [@oncescuradu]

TikTok now displays the number of new posts from the accounts you follow directly in the Following list. [@theahmedghanem]

Google has added Threads links to its Knowledge Panel for public figures. [@jonahmanzano]

Twitch has launched Summer Drops Fest, letting viewers unlock cosmetics, items and badges by watching streams or buying subscriptions. [Twitch blog]

CapCut has opened a new creator collaboration programme. [@jonahmanzano]

TikTok’s Whee now lets you share your profile with a QR code. [@jonahmanzano]

As Hollywood studios chase creator culture, ownership gets complicated

AI influencers are heading into uncharted territory in Europe

How ICE is weaponising social media against its critics

Bluesky’s new CEO wants a big tent, not a bubble

Influencers are excited about Meta’s glasses. ...The rest of the world? Not so much

What is digital jealousy? The relationship problem social media keeps making worse

AI isn’t enough to protect social media communities from AI