Have you seen this video of a nervous Amazon driver having a conversation with a dog? It’s freakin’ adorable. A doorbell cam captured the wholesome moment an Amazon delivery driver wary of a dog sitting on the porch overcame his fear and approached the pooch for a cute conversation. I’d tell an Amazon joke here, but I’m worried about my delivery.
#BigChange for Instagram: As of today, you can no longer follow a hashtag (e.g., #healthycooking). Instagram pulled the plug, saying its hashtags are a mess of spam, bots and irrelevant posts. Try the “Explore” tab instead.
That escalated quickly: TikTok Shop is pulling in more customers than retail giants Shein and Sephora. It launched in September of 2023, and 45% of Americans have already bought something through it. Fashion and beauty items pitched by influencers are the most popular.
500,000 fans
On Xiaohongshu (China’s Instagram) for Maye Musk. Elon’s gorgeous mom has been a model for many years and is a superstar in China. At 75, she’s a top silver-haired influencer. Maye we all be this fabulous.
Now we’re talking! If you make YouTube videos, you’ll soon be able to earn more money. They’re rolling out an auto-dubbing tool that translates English videos into eight languages. Right now, only creators who focus on educational content can use it. The rest of us will have it in a few months. I can’t wait to try it!
Winning over Americans one check at a time: An Indiana mom raked in $95,000 in five months promoting fashion, beauty and kids’ products on TikTok. Unlike other social platforms with steeper entry requirements, TikTok Shop lets folks with just 1,000 followers start monetizing. Is it worth it for how much data they collect? Up to you. Here’s the signup link.
Another dangerous, dumb TikTok trend: The “Superman Challenge” has kids tossing each other into the air to look like a flying superhero, with many ending up in the hospital with broken bones and contusions. Talk to your kids about it.
#TikTokResume: Gen Zers are sharing video resumes on TikTok to get a job. Smart idea. It’s easier to show off your skills in a video than with a boring paper or online resume. Fun fact: 86% of job seekers use social media to find their next roles. You might want to share this with your favorite Gen Zer who can’t land a job.
No jokes when it comes to a kid’s well-being: Police are investigating after a TikTok mommy influencer posted a now-deleted clip in which her son flinched and covered his face when his dad walked by. It was so startling that viewers contacted Utah police and Child Protective Services in droves. Mom says they were just playing around.
Downvoting Google: Reddit Answers is the site’s new AI chatbot rolling out to select users. Type in a question for summaries and direct links to posts. Fwiw, OpenAI has access to Reddit’s posts, too, so I don’t see a reason to use it unless you’re a Chatty Cathy.
More like POS: Half of all videos tagged with “PCOS” on TikTok and Instagram include false info about polycystic ovary syndrome. Debunked claims include everything from birth control causing the hormone condition to a keto diet curing it. Those vids get a ton of views, given one in every 10 women has PCOS. Talk to your doctor, not a social media influencer.
Heartbreaking: The parents of Ashley Scott, a 14-year-old cheerleader who died by suicide, believe Ashley and other girls were cyberbullied and tormented during school hours. Such a sad story. Parents, talk to your kids about this. You never know what pain they’re hiding. Remind them they’re never alone.
📱 Will TikTok get banned? A U.S. appeals court just said Congress can force TikTok to cut ties with its parent company, Communist China’s ByteDance, or get banned. It’ll be appealed in the Supreme Court. If TikTok is banned, it won’t be illegal for you to use TikTok; the ban would only prohibit app stores from letting users download the app, among other things. Remember, TikTok sends just about everything you do on your phone to Chinese servers.
Rich parents tickle their kids by saying, “Gucci, Gucci, Gucci!” Aris Yeager got his big break on social media with a viral video mocking his wealthy college roommate’s entitled behavior. He started an account called “The European Kid,” a parody persona of a spoiled heir. Now, 1.7 million TikTok followers later, he makes up to $30,000 per post.
It twerks: People are turning to TikTok to pay off medical bills. Some creators can earn cash from videos over a minute long, and viewers only have to interact once. A mom turned a live dance party with her kids into $2,500 to pay off her 3-year-old’s medical bills. It works!
🎮 Twitch and YouTube are booming: Gamers spend more hours per week watching other people play video games than playing themselves. This year’s League of Legends World Championship esports event peaked at nearly 7 million viewers. Hey, parents — your kids can turn playing video games into a real job after all.
🧑🎄 Secret Santa scam trending on social: It goes like this. Send one anonymous gift and you’ll get dozens in return. Invite your friends, too! Spoiler: Your gift goes straight to a scammer, who won’t even send you coal in return. This pyramid scheme goes by names like “Secret Sister” or “Secret Santa Dog.” Pass!
25,000-mile project: Meta is building a $10 billion underwater fiber-optic cable to circle the globe. Why? To avoid geopolitical hotspots where subsea cables have been sabotaged in the past, like the Baltic Sea and Red Sea. Owning a global network cable gives Meta full control to prioritize traffic to its own products and services.
No kids allowed: Australia just banned kids under the age of 16 from using social media sites and platforms. Social media companies will have to enforce age verification within a year or face massive fines (up to $33 million!). It’s all about protecting kids’ mental health. I’m really interested in seeing what happens.
🤖 Thought leader or bot leader? You know all those LinkedIn posts sharing tips to maximize your #grindset? Yep, most of them — 54%, to be exact — are AI-generated. A study found these posts are getting longer, too, with their word counts jumping an average of 107% since ChatGPT arrived. No wonder our eyes glaze over while reading them.