Keeping It Currant

Welcome to the latest 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. Before you scroll, make sure to pop in and say hello in the Social Currant creator-dedicated Slack channel, here.

ADD TO THE CAL

Creator events to add to your cal

AFSCME CREATOR BRIEFING: THE UNION DIFFERENCE

About: Join Social Currant and AFSCME to learn more about how the union difference matters now more than ever. ​In this briefing, you'll hear from an expert from AFSCME on what it means to organize a union, plus the ins and outs of covering workers’ issues and the labor movement in your social content. ​​This 45-minute convo is more than a briefing—it’s an invitation. To build with us. To amplify a message that matters. And to lead the way in a space that’s still waiting for creators like you.

When: August 26, 2025; 5:00pm EST

Where: Virtual; Zoom

SOCIAL CURRANT’S CREATOR DINNER SERIES: NYC

About: Designed for creators by creators, the Social Currant dinner series is coming to the Big Apple. Join the table with fellow creators to discuss your online experiences and how you’re using [or want to use] your platform to make an impact. 

When: August 28, 2025; 6:00pm EST

Where: NY, NY

WHY FASCISTS FEAR TEACHERS; EVENT WITH AFT PRESIDENT RANDI WEINGARTEN

About: ​Find out why AFT President Randi Weingarten has been dubbed “the most dangerous woman in America” & why right-wing operatives like Corey DeAngelis are already melting down about her new book. ​Join us for an exclusive event to celebrate the release of Why Fascists Fear Teachers. Enjoy food, drinks, and a lively conversation with Randi about her book, the future of education, and the fight for democracy.

When: September 2, 2025; 6:00-8:00pm EST

Where: NY, NY

VIDSUMMIT

About: VidSummit is a conference that aims to help creators level-up their craft through engaging and interactive programming where attendees will get to hear from creators excelling in the space on what’s worked, what hasn’t, and the tricks of the trade.

When: October 7-9, 2025

Where: Dallas, TX

THE TOOLBOX

Tools to help you create & monetize

STAN STORE: For creators offering a full suite of digital products—like online courses, 1:1 calls, and more—Stan brings everything together in one organized storefront, making it easy for potential clients to make a purchase. Mixing e-commerce and aesthetic savvy, Stan easily integrates with the apps you already use for business like Google calendar. Set-up your own Stan storefront here.

CASTOS PRIVATE PODCASTING: Exclusive content can make your community feel like insiders, giving them behind the scenes details and more access to you. And now that content can come in the form of a private podcast thanks to Castos. Available with a monetization capability, Castos private podcasting option enables creators to not just offer exclusive content to community members, but to bring home the dough.

SOCIAL CURRANT: Using social media for good pays – literally. Via Social Currant’s platform, creators can directly connect with leading organizations in the progressive space to collaborate on paid campaigns that bring the issues you care about to the audiences that matter most [that would be yours!]. The platform itself doesn’t just connect the dots for the organizations that utilize it on the daily, but also enables creators to pitch themselves for campaigns that interest them. Join Social Currant here.

TIKTOK HOTEL PROGRAM: The clock app has launched a new invite-only program for creators through TikTok Go, with the goal of providing creators another route to monetize their content. This particular program is focused on the hospitality space, allowing eligible creators to earn commissions for promoting hotels, restaurants, local experiences, and other services. The program is currently open in the U.S., but is limited to just hotel promotions ATM.

RESOURCE ROUND-UP

Save ‘em, share ‘em

→ MAKING YOUR CONTENT MORE ACCESSIBLE: Open the doors of your content to more people by making your content more accessible. This guide shares the 1-2-3 on how to do exactly that, from adding closed captions to using CamelCase.

→ CHATTING ALL-THINGS LABOR RIGHTS, A GUIDE: When FAQs meet all-things labor (rights), you get Let’s Talk Labor, an ultra-informative Substack from Alex Quintero on what you need to know about unions, and how to speak to your audiences about their benefits. Tap into the need-to-know deats here.

→ CREATOR COMMUNITY BUILDING 101: Building a community is hard. Building a community that sticks around for the long-run is even harder. This four stage walk-through is here to help, sharing the top tips n’ tricks from creators that have grown communities from the ground up. 

GIVE YOUR TWO CENTS

Surveys to help push the industry forward

→ Creator Mental Health Study: This 10-minute survey is focused on creator mental health. The answers derived from participants will be used to inform programs and resources for creators as it relates to mental health. The quick FAQs:

• This study is a collaboration between longtime creator Shira Lazar and her initiative Creators 4 Mental Health, in partnership with Lupiani Insights & Strategies, with support from Opus, Social Currant, and Statusphere — and in collaboration with advisors and partners from leading organizations including the Aakoma Project, Harvard University, UCLA, and Pew Research.

• Responses are anonymous and analyzed in aggregate .

• The deadline to participate is September 3, 2025.

• Participants will be given 3 free months of Pro access to Opus Clip

→ Digital Campaigning: This quick survey is for campaigners, specifically those focused on building in the digital space. The findings will be used to understand what’s working and what’s not in the face of a rapidly shifting landscape. The quick FAQS:

• This survey is put on by NEW/MODE, SoSha, Social Currant, Higher Ground Labs, and New Media Ventures.

• Participants will be kept in the loop on findings.

PLATFORM UPDATES

New capabilities loading…

YOUTUBE: The video platform continues its foray into podcasting with the launch of a new ‘trim silence’ capability for listeners. The new feature enables audience members to remove any gaps within the playback of the podcast, potentially enhancing their listening experience and increasing the speed at which they can consume the content.

TIKTOK: The era of hashtags as the number one mechanism for directing content to its target audience seems to be at a close. That became first apparent via Instagram earlier this year, and has now become the modus operandi on TikTok, with creators reporting that they’ve been limited to five hashtags per post. So far there hasn’t been an official statement released from the platform on the change, but from the guesses on the inter-webs on what inspired the change, it seems to be a POV mixture that hashtags have become spammy and that search-ability is no longer reliant on them.

THREADS: The platform is currently testing a rather intuitive feature that’s made for the long-winded yappers that have loads to say on a topic. The feature is, for lack of a better term for it, an ‘auto post counter,’ that shows how many posts are in a Thread’s full sequence; and as seen with the example highlighted in Social Media Today’s reporting, it shows users what post in the Thread they’re on/reading. Will this update make it beyond the test? TBD, but fingers crossed it does.

INSTAGRAM: The platform has rolled out its repost feature – a feature that’s been around a hot minute on TikTok. Similarly, users profiles now have a reposts tab that shows the content they’ve reposted; this in essence, provides another way for viewers of an IG profile to get to know someone and their interests. In addition, reposted content will be fed into the feed of a users’ friends as recommended content.

PITCH YOURSELF FOR PAID CAMPAIGNS

Use Social Currant’s platform to secure partnerships

It pays to pitch [yourself]. In the essence of you can’t win, if you don’t play, Social Currant’s platform now has a new feature that allows creators to pitch themselves for active paid campaigns. The pro-active feature puts creators in the driver’s seat, with the ability to not just pitch oneself for an opportunity, but to have direct access to participating organizations to negotiate campaigns, brainstorm ideas, tackle questions, and work collaboratively to get the job done. Take the feature out for a spin by completing your Social Currant profile.

HOW THEY CREATED IT

The BTS with a creator in social impact

MEET JESS CRAVEN:  Jess Craven is a political content creator, the author of "Chop Wood, Carry Water Daily Actions” on Substack, and the co-host of the Practivist Pod. Her goal is to help average Americans become more engaged in the political process and to help elect more progressive lawmakers everywhere.

What's something you wish someone told you before starting to make content?

“Being yourself is your secret weapon.” So simple, but it turns out that’s literally what people want. It’s nice to know that, for whatever reason, my followers have chosen the unvarnished version of me, so there’s not a lot of strain in my process. I just am myself. Sometimes I wear lipstick. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have good lighting. Sometimes my lighting is crap. Sometimes I’m in my car. Sometimes I’m in my office. Sometimes my kid is playing the banjo in the background. Whatever it is, it turns out the most important thing is just to be myself. What a relief.”

Why is making political content so important to you? 

“At first it was just about translating activism into small actions people could take. Now it’s about that but so much more. I feel a connection with my audience. I’m honored by their trust and it makes me more determined than ever to get them good information.” 

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? 

“We just need more of us. I think I read recently that half of Americans get their news passively. With that to overcome, there need to be just a flood of reliable political content creators. And more and more there are!”

How do you get ideas for content? What does this process look like for you? 

“If it’s interesting to me I make a video about it. Zero planning. I know it’s not the way most creators do it, but my experience is if I read something and think “whoa, more people should hear about this” then people will, indeed, engage with the content when it’s out there. My enthusiasm for a topic, in other words, is the most important factor. It’s very fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, but it works for me.”

When thinking of a dream content collab, what would it be? Who would it be with? 

“A Substack Live with Heather Cox Richardson or Robert Caro. I love historians.”

What tips would you give to a creator on engaging with their community? What about building a community? 

“Be honest. Be willing to admit when you’ve screwed up. Fact check. I’ve posted apology videos, corrections, retractions, and other stuff that might seem embarrassing, but was in keeping with my moral code. I think it actually built, rather than undermined—trust with my audience.”

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

“This whole thing is such an accident. I started talking about stuff that I’m interested in. I discovered, to my great surprise, that people were interested, so I kept going. Again, I can’t overemphasize how much being a content creator was not part of my plan. But I’m so grateful to have stumbled into it.”

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

“I used to love TikTok passionately, but the whole Trump intervention–plus their massive suppression of political content–cooled me to them. I still post there but my best engagement is on Instagram and, weirdly, Facebook. I can’t stand Zuck either, but we’re stuck with limited options so I just post everywhere and hope for the best.”

How do you balance online versus offline time? 

“At a certain point in the day–usually right before dinner–I turn it all off for the night. I have a teenager and a husband, and I want to make sure they get enough of my time. I also try to take at least one weekend day off completely. I’ve learned I don’t have to be the “breaking” person all the time. I can cover as much as I can and trust that someone else will get the rest. That way I stay sane. And married. And rested for what is clearly going to be a very long fight.”

HEADLINES

News at a glance from ‘round the creator sphere

• ABC: ‘I am your voice’: Trump relaunches on TikTok with White House account

• RollingStone: Who killed the narrative podcast?

• NY Post: ESPN hires Katie Feeney for new lifestyle role

• Reuters: Truth Social host Rumble weighs near $1.2 billion deal for Northern Data

• Tubefilter: YouTube’s new Shorts ads gives kudos to creators

• Social Media Today: Instagram Considers Counting Screenshots in Its Engagement Metrics

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