Keeping It Currant: May 30, 2024

Welcome to the May issue of Keeping It Currant, a newsletter by Social Currant & Girl and the Gov® focused on sharing insights on how to navigate the intersection of the creator economy and the political and social impact space. This issue includes:

• An interview with creator Laurenzo De Camilla

• A look at Pinterest and using it as a political creator

• New platform updates, including one from Tumblr

• Four creator resources to save and share

• Upcoming events & networking opportunities for creators

…and much more. Dive into it all below – and don’t forget to check out the Social Currant creator-dedicated Slack channel, here.

ADD TO THE CAL

Upcoming creator events to add to your cal

UNITED DIGITAL INNOVATORS: A HAPPY HOUR FOR CREATORS & STRATEGISTS

About: The  happy hour event aims to bring together creators and digital strategists to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and explore innovative ways to align creative vision with data-driven insights. This event, hosted by Social Currant and the National Digital Roundtable, provides a unique opportunity to forge connections and unlock the full potential of digital content creation and distribution.

When: Thursday, May 30, 2024; 5:30-7:30pm EST

Where: IRL – 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20006

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS BRIEFING

About: In June, two years after overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court will issue rulings in two important cases that will affect access to medication abortion and emergency care in communities across the country. Join leaders in the reproductive rights movement to learn more about the impact of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and what’s at stake as the Court prepares to rule again on reproductive freedom.

When: June 4, 2024

Where: Virtual; details to come

CREATOR DINNERS

Coming to cities around the USA

This summer we’ll be bringing creators together for intimate dinners to meet n’ greet, network, and chat all-things social impact meets the creator economy. We hope we’ll be in your neck of woods. Let us know your location deats by ‘dropping us a pin’ in the form below. From there, we’ll let you know if a creator dinner near you is a go.

CURRANT CONTENT TRENDS & STYLES

When content trends meet political topics – a look at the latest concepts to try

MAJORING VERSUS MINORING TREND

About: Inspired by this creator’s video, this could-be trend has friends sharing two things that they’re focusing on for the moment. The ‘bigger priority focus’ is shared as ‘what they’re majoring in.’ The ‘smaller priority focus’ is shared as ‘what they’re minoring in.’ 

What this can be used for: The resulting TikTok can be similar to the original, but it can also take the form as a mini mic series or a solo one-off video, sharing an issue you’re ‘majoring in’ advocating for and an issue you’re ‘minoring in’ learning more about.

HOW MUCH MONEY DO WE HAVE LEFT TREND?

About: This audio was used to share a classic scenario where the budget was blown, as shown via this creator’s Reel.

What this can be used for: The audio however, can be used for more political applications as well, such as highlighting elements of today’s cost of living crisis [cough, cough bank accounts after paying rent cough, cough].

SHE’S BEING SO DIFFICULT TREND

About: Beauty and the Beast is having a moment with this audio, where creator’s are using it like this to share a moment where they’ve been told to ask for something ‘more kindly’ because they’ll be ‘more likely to get a ‘yes’ response, only to get a ‘no’ and be more frustrated.

What this can be used for: This trend can be used to share an ‘ask’ you’ve made of people or wish to ask of people that gets rejected. For example, ‘registering to vote,’ ‘calling a member of Congress,’ or ‘learning more about an issue.’

HOW THEY CREATED IT

The BTS with creators that have knocked it out of the park

Meet Laurenzo De Camilla (they/them). Laurenzo produces advocacy and social justice skits centered on political issues to both educate and entertain audiences. In 2023, they founded a program called Queer Hangouts with their partner @barrierose where they visit schools in Ohio to encourage queer youth and teachers. The three pillars that guide their work are ARTIST, EDUCATOR, and ADVOCATE.

Follow Laurenzo on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

What drew you to the niche that you’re in?

“I wanted to make videos about personal experiences I’ve had with gender expectations, pronouns, and nonbinary identity. TikTok was largely undiscovered in 2019, and at that time there was a gap in the social sphere of people talking about these issues. I wanted to participate in the cultural shift to normalize and destigmatize these experiences.”

What social media platform do you prefer, and why does it get the #1 spot?

“I’m a huge fan of YouTube Shorts! I could go on and on about why this platform is my favorite one. (For context I use YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram). Here are a few reasons why I love YouTube Shorts: YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google; discoverability on Shorts is high right now; it’s an American company; videos cumulatively grow over time; the BTS analytics are superior to any other platform’s I’ve seen; YouTube has fair Community Guidelines; you can post long-form videos, short-form videos, community posts, and you can have private memberships in an interface that makes sense; you can also earn money through multiple revenue streams. Need I say more?”

How do you balance online versus offline time?

“For being a Content Creator, I ironically don’t spend much time online! I don’t open my computer until my first work session from 9am-12pm. I may watch a long-form video of one of my favorite YouTubers during lunch, and I’ll sometimes watch a TikTok or two when I get on the app to post my own content. When writing scripts, I often research relevant information, but having boundaries with how and when I engage online has become very important to me in recent years.”

What would you really like to see evolve in the political content space in the coming months? Are there any change points you're excited for?

“I strongly believe that the advertisement sector is moving online into the Creator Economy (and moving away from traditional television ads). Young people are online, and we need them to vote! I hope to see more Creators–with our same values and vision–join this grassroots movement in order to make change happen, especially in this upcoming Election cycle.”

RESOURCE ROUND-UP

Something to save, something to use

• Instagram’s Creator Interview Series → Listen-in for inspo or just to enjoy hearing from fellow creators with Instagram’s new Creator’s Interview Series. Start with this Mosseri x Ezee chat.

• Social Currant’s Political Term Swap Library → Talking politics on social media can stop a video right in its tracks - TYSM algorithm. To prevent low views, try swapping out typical words with ‘algo speak’ i.e. word alternatives. To see what might work for commonly spoken about topics in the political social sphere, tap into Social Currant’s library of term swaps, here.

• YouTube Creator Roundups → ICYMI, YouTube Creators drops a monthly video on its channel running through the latest feature updates. Start with the latest roundup on new Super Chat features and comment settings.

• Canva Launches Upgrades → Canva had a glow-up [albeit it’s always been phenomenal], and there are updates that work for every occasion. Whether you’re an individual creator, working in talent management, or touching any other element of the creator economy, Canva’s new updates are ones to take out for a spin. Start with these 10 new feature highlights.

HEADLINES

News at a glance from ‘round the creator sphere

• The Verge: X is hiding likes to encourage ‘edgy’ engagement

• TikTok Newsroom: Helping Creators Bring Their Creativity to Life with TikTok Studio

• Social Media Today: YouTube Provides More Guidance on Rule Violations, Adds Instrumental AI Soundtracks

• Tubefilter: With $1 million grant program, TikTok supports creators who are “inspiring meaningful change”

• Techloy: TikTok tests 60-minute uploads to rival YouTube

PUT A PIN IT

Using Pinterest for political content

Pinterest is like everyone’s super successful cousin – you interact with them at family reunions and you don’t see them much in between. But, to the descriptors used in the sentence before, they’re super successful. So, how can you tap into this success as a political creator on a platform? A few ideas of the many:

→ Merch Pins: Whether you’re launching your own merch with a message or your wearing an item that shares a political standpoint, creating a pin using an image/video of said items in action, is an easy way to draw eyes to not just the items shown, but the message they’re sharing. With that, instead of including a link to purchase the link, swap it with a link to a social post you’ve created about the issue – even better if it’s one that points to even more resources for viewers.

→ [Political] Yard Sign Pins: Yard signs are great social media fodder – especially on Pinterest when the imagery taken of a sign in the wild is top notch. With an ability to backlink to a campaign website, and thus share more about a campaign you care about, a Pin is a great way to expand a campaign’s reach.

→ Sticker Pins: The same scenario applies to stickers, whether added to a water bottle or a street sign – Pins that feature an image of messaging in essentially a lifestyle format [classic Pinterest], provide an opportunity to link out to a website that can help inform on an issue you advocate for.

→ Events Pins: How many times have you been invited to an event and asked yourself ‘what do I wear to an event like that?’ and then gone over to Pinterest? Likely a few times. And what you probably found in searching for a type of event or outfit ideas, were Pins of ‘random people.’ Be the random people with a strategic backlink. Highlight a moment from an event and use SEO to your benefit to get viewers curious enough to tap the included link for more details. That link does not have to be the outfit - it can be to a social post about the event or org the event was for.

PLATFORM UPDATES

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TUMBLR → Often referred to incorrectly as a platform of a bygone era of blogging, Tumblr is stepping into the world of community creation with the launch of its aptly named “Communities” feature. The semi-private communities are in beta and currently have quite the waitlist [TBD on how long it will take to move through it]. The idea is to offer a “new” way for people with shared interests to connect with one another online. As TechCrunch notes in more formal language – it’s giving Reddit competitor, with the community spaces operating with their owner moderators and rules. If you’ve been thinking about diversifying your platform reach and content, especially as other platforms look to tamp down on political content, Tumblr might be worth exploring.

THREADS → Team Meta said yes to the dress three new platform updates that are focused on improving the user experience. The updates include:

• An ability for users to mute notifications on their own Threads posts, cutting down on some of the noise.

• An ability to remove a users’ unwanted re-shares of one’s Thread Quoted posts, handing creator’s a bit more power in the reach of their posts.

Additionally, the platform rolled out a swanky new desktop format that harkens back to the ‘when Twitter was Twitter’ days. 

LINKEDIN → In an update that is reminiscent of the popular ‘reply’ feature in iMessage, where you can reply directly to a specific text in an ongoing thread, LinkedIn has brought the concept to its mobile DMs. If you’re a diehard LinkedIn fan, you might be thinking, ‘wait don’t we have this feature already?!’ You’d be correct, it’s been a desktop feature for a bit, but now, with this feature, for those who use LinkedIn on the go, usability just got an upgrade. 

INSTAGRAM → Stories got a refresh with the launch of four new stickers, creating new ways to engage with your audience. The stickers include:

• Music: An ‘add yours music’ sticker allows creators to express themselves through music, tap into trending audio, and encourage their followers to engage with their own faves.

• Frames: What we would honestly call Polaroid, is a new sticker called Frames. It‘s made for TBT content most realistically, and is only revealed when a viewer ‘shakes their phone to develop the image.’

• Reveal: In a similar fashion, there’s the Reveal sticker, where users can post a hidden post only viewable if a viewer DMs the creator.

• Cutouts: This feature lets creators make a cutout sticker out of any image on your camera roll. It’s like ‘make your one Bitmoji except with a real picture of yourself or whatever your heart desires.
  

CAMPAIGN CORNER

Upcoming and current paid campaigns, available now. See one that’s of interest? Fill out this form and we’ll get in touch with details. Please note, if you’re a talent agent we’ll be in touch with a talent agency specific form – just respond to this email!

Campaign Focus → Voter Registration Campaign on Discord

Date Available: Now through November 2024

Campaign Goal: Promote a Voter Bot to share information relating to voting such as registration deadlines, information on poll locations, etc.

Location Requirement: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, Texas, Virginia 

Campaign Focus → Reproductive Justice Campaign

Date Available: Now through July 2024

Campaign Goal: To spread awareness on the attacks on reproductive rights in the US.

Location Requirement: North Carolina OR Colorado

Campaign Focus → Civic Engagement Campaign

Date Available: Now through November 2024

Campaign Goal: To raise awareness of candidates’ work on important issues in the state.

Location Requirement: Pennsylvania and Ohio

LET’S GET SOCIAL