"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." — Martin Luther King Jr.

Hi CCs,

If you’re a creator, entrepreneur, or marketer, this was a particularly tumultuous weekend. I’m writing a longer intro here to cover the most important highlights over the past few days because it requires more attention.

TikTok’s ban on Saturday night lasted about half a day and many are seeing it as a major PR stunt as TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, joins the circle jerk of tech billionaires that have aligned forces with Trump to seemingly co-lead the United States.

The message that popped up for users when TikTok turned the lights back on (see below) has earned a lot of backlash for its Trumpian propaganda and has increased weariness and distrust for the app. Many top creators who posted traumatic goodbye videos and are now wondering if TikTok will ever be the same even if it does stick around.

Meanwhile, Instagram announced a number of new changes — more updates all at once then we typically see over a period of months (click here to view in social updates below) — in a move many are saying was an attempt to take the spotlight. And I suppose remind people Instagram exists and everyone should migrate there?

That’s of course not what’s happening.

In a form of protest, millions of Americans downloaded the Chinese social networking app Xiaohongsu (RedNote). By late Friday, the app led the Apple App Store's list of top, free downloaded iPhone apps in the United States. Facebook and TikTok were bumped from the top five. RedNote also topped the free table in the Google Play store.

Will people stay on RedNote now that TikTok is back? Probably not, but time will tell.

I personally signed up for an account to see what was going on. It’s very heartwarming to see how Chinese creators are going out of their way to welcome Americans (TikTok refugees, officially). It’s entertaining right now but I don’t anticipate that it has staying power.

The biggest question really for brands and creators is: “what platforms should we prioritize this year?”

I appreciate how social media specialist Tameka Bazile outlined the situation and offered a prediction (that I agree with) below:

Many experts are predicting that creators and brands alike will make a huge shift towards YouTube.

To be clear: YouTube is not a replacement for TikTok. It is nowhere near as social and has a completely different content style and algorithm. Overall, they are entirely unique experiences that require different content approaches.

If brands are considering expanding to YouTube, you can see this as an opportunity to lean into the idea of becoming your own media company of sorts and developing unique, valuable, entertaining content that is more produced and looks absolutely nothing like an ad (although, of course, it is). Advice many experts in the field have been shouting from the rooftops throughout 2024.

A content strategy here could look similar to how Nude Project is approaching their YT channel with their own podcast and entertaining behind-the-scenes vlogs, how AG1 created a series Morning People, or how Ahrefs combines education and docuseries as a content strategy.

Long-form content can be clipped into short videos and published across different platforms to maximize output. Although, its best to consider in your creative strategy process how long-form will adapt to short-form from the beginning.

Over the past six months, my agency, Posture Media, has been building out a productized service specifically designed to amplify your brand’s social strategy through a signature content series. If you’re interested in exploring this, get in touch with me by simply replying to this email or [email protected].

Lastly, I want to hear from you:

Lessons on branding every visionary must know featuring design legend Debbie Millman

I had the truly unique experience of interviewing the incredible Debbie Millman for deepfeed Podcast. 🤯 Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, and “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, a woman of influence by Success Magazine, and one of the Queer 40 by Lesbians Who Tech, Debbie Millman is also an illustrator, author, educator, curator, editorial director of PrintMag.com and host of the podcast Design Matters.

You know her work even if you don’t know her name. Debbie is responsible for some of the most iconic rebrands in history for major brands such as Burger King, Tropicana, Dunkin, and many more. Check out our full interview and let me know what you think. If you’re liking the content please consider subscribing to deepfeed Podcast on YouTube so we can get other amazing guests. Thank you! 🙏

NY Times podcast: The TikTok Flip-Flop

Sapna Maheshwari, who covers TikTok for The Times, discusses the biggest social media ban in American history — and whether the incoming president can actually stop it. Listen to the episode here.

How To Become A Master Storyteller by Kallaway

🤳 Content Inspo

The shot vs. the shoot [LINK]
Your behind-the-scenes content is just as important as the final content. Use the BTS of your project to invite your audience into the process. People love before/afters.

Produce an affordable lookbook [LINK]
So good for fashion/apparel brands of all sizes. I love this reference because you can literally film anywhere. Pick a unique angle and background and have your model walk into frame, introducing your collection. Bonus points for using a trending audio. This is great for a real-time showcase that is low lift and visually appealing.

The street-style signature question series [LINK]
Even though this is creator-led, it’s very relevant to brands as well in my opinion. Not only is this fairly easy to produce, you can ask random people a question that is directly tied to your brand values. It can be funny, heartwarming, or educational. People will come to recognize the question which is good for recognizability.

📡 On Our Radar

Social Magazine app Flipboard just launched a new app, Surf, which is dedicated to browsing the open social web and decentralized services like Mastodon and Bluesky, has introduced a video feed of its own. [LINK]

RedNote, Flip, Clapper and Likee claim the top of the App Store as TikTok comes back online. [LINK]

Over the weekend, RedNote added a feature to let users translate posts and comments between Mandarin and English. [LINK]

Tumblr launches Communities where you can “find others who share your obsessions by joining a public of private community for the things you love.” [LINK]

The rise of the ‘Homie Lookbook’ [LINK]

🎶 TikTok

TikTok is up again after going dark for about 20 hours although it cannot currently be downloaded by new users. [LINK]

CapCut, the editing app owned by ByteDance, is still not available for many users. I have discovered that a VPN works which I outline here. In the meantime, content strategist Nicky Saunders posted about possible replacements here.

📸 Meta

Soon, when you go to the Reels tab, you’ll see a dedicated feed of reels your friends have liked or added a note to in the top right and start a conversation with them right there. It’s being rolled out in a handful of countries to start, more to come soon. [LINK]

You can now upload Reels up to three minutes long. [LINK]

Instagram updates profile grid with vertical-aligned thumbnails. [LINK]

Instagram is simplifying the profile and will move highlights into the grid and add them as a tab. They are also building a tool so you can re-order your entire grid and make it whatever you want. And as a bonus, they are adding the ability to post directly to your grid, in case you want to bypass feed entirely. [LINK]

Instagram announces the soon-to-launch mobile video editing app, ‘Edits’, as a CapCut competitor. [LINK]

Meta says it plans to keep its fact-checking program in place outside the U.S. for the time being, though it could eventually expand it elsewhere. [LINK]

☠️ 𝕏

X is rolling out a dedicated vertical video feed for US users. [LINK]

X’s usage data suggests a decline in time spent throughout 2024. [LINK]

🦋 Bluesky

After the TikTok ban went into effect on Sunday, social network Bluesky launched a custom feed for videos on its platform. [LINK]

Bluesky is launching a new app called Flashes. This new photo-sharing app caters to users interested in photo and video content, aiming to attract those who aren't into text-based platforms like X.⁠ [LINK]

🤖 AI Boom

Apparently, Alberto Romero at The Algorithmic Bridge thinks OpenAI may have already built GPT-5, but is keeping it internal, using it to improve smaller public models. [LINK]

Both tech giants Microsoft and Google just announced they're bundling AI into their office suites. Microsoft is adding Copilot to Microsoft 365 for an extra $3 monthly while Google is going full steam ahead with rolling out Gemini to all Workspace Business customers immediately.

Intelligent agents are considered by many to be the ultimate goal of AI. What are they? [LINK]

That’s it for this week. If you made it to the end, reply with a 🦇 emoji.

Winter Mendelson
Co-Founder, Posture Media
Instagram / Linkedin / Threads

P.S. I will probably have typos in the event that my dad is unavailable to proofread. Sorry in advance.

​Creative Commerce is a newsletter for entrepreneurs, marketers, and social media managers. It is written, edited, and published by Posture Media, an independent branding and marketing studio based in Brooklyn.

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