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

SALON: DO PROTESTS HELP OR HURT AMERICA

About: This after hours salon-style event is centered around conversation and debate about the issues of the current moment, and how protest comes into the mix. Posing questions around protest and its impact, the event’s programming aims to have attendees view the form of civic engagement from multiple angles and POVs. Food and bev from Eat Offbeat will be provided.

When: July 25, 2025 from 6:00-9:00pm

Where: Fabrik NYC [NY, NY]

VERY FINE PEOPLE: ZOHRAN, THE CREATOR

About: Very Fine People, an org at the intersection of culture and politics, will focus its next monthly gathering on learning from the successes of Zohran Mamdani’s primary campaign: how did he succeed as a creator, how did he tap micro influencers, and how did his message and vision resonate with the public. The event will feature Mamdani’s chief campaign advisors and original digital organizers.

When: August 2, 2025 from 2:00-7:00pm 

Where: The Bench [NY, NY]

SOCIAL CURRANT: BRUNCH SERIES – CHICAGO

About: Designed for creators by creators, the Social Currant brunch series is coming to Chicago. 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. P.S. this series will be coming to more cities soon – stay tuned. 

When: August 3, 2025 from 11:00am-1:00pm

Where: Chicago, Illinois

CREATOR ECONOMY LIVE [EAST COAST]

About: For the brands in the chat, Creator Economy Live is an event with one goal – to get brands up to speed on how to navigate the creator economy in its quickly evolving form.

When: August 5, 2025 [Noon-5:00pm] & August 6, 2025 [8:30am-5:00pm]

Where: Marriott Marquis, Times Square [NY, NY]

RESOURCE ROUND-UP

Save ‘em, share ‘em

→ Jed Foundation’s mental health storytelling guide: A comprehensive guide you can return to time-and-time again, the Jed Foundation’s digital storytelling guide shares prompts, tools, and topics for creators that speak about mental health topics to utilize; it also provides resources for creators themselves on how to address and maintain one’s own mental health while working in the online sphere. 

→ Mashable’s guide to protest-related misinformation: Protests and the misinformation that circulates about them, unfortunately, go hand-in-hand. To stay smart on what’s real and what’s not, tap into Mashable’s guide on the misinformation that typically makes its rounds during or following a protest, enabling you to not just have a handle on the real-real, but also keep your audience informed.

→ 30 ways to up your Instagram game: This easy-to-read guide from Tinna Loaiza shares 30 ways that creators can level-up their content. Central to the guide are ‘reframes’ on how to present information in your content – and no, not from a visual end, but from a storytelling perspective. Specifically relevant for social impact work is the guide’s advice to  “talk about the problem like you’ve lived it, not studied it.”

ROUND OF APPLAUSE

An inspo reel of paid social impact campaigns that slayed

• Sander Jennings and AFSCME worked together on this lifestyle-centric Reel to get both the message and CTA out to people to call their Senators about the federal budget bill. 

• Jewlieah teamed up with nonprofit [and free] period tracking app, Euki for this Reel, to share a safer way to keep on top of one’s cycle.

• Liberal Jane took a graphics-first approach with this partner post featuring none other than period-tracking app, Euki. The post goes beyond the deats of the app, but provides a guide to protecting your period info.

Interested in creating content in partnership with leading organizations in the social impact space? Pitch yourself and your channels directly to their teams on Social Currant.

PLATFORM UPDATES

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TIKTOK → Timing is everything, and TikTok seems to have gotten that message loud and clear with its latest update – another option for creators [and orgs and brands and everyone else under the sun] that like to schedule their posts out. The platform has added a “Schedule to post” feature, enabling creators to select a specific date and time for their post to go live, directly into the creation flow  [the “Post Composer” screen you see when you’re adding location, caption, etc]. It’s not so much that this feature is so wildly mind-bending as it is a feature that provides creators with choices, meeting them in the different ways they go about creating [or rather, scheduling].

THREADS → Following the roll out of DMs or direct messages on Threads, the platform is adding another feature to the in-app private communication HQ. Now, creators can share images in DMs. Does that feel rudimentary? Does it feel like an addition that doesn’t alter the social media universe? No argument here – but what it does do is bring the platform more in line with its competitors and thus more appealing for communities to plant their flag on Threads island.

FACEBOOK → In a win for creators putting blood, sweat, and tears into their original content, Facebook is changing its algorithm to demote what it deems unoriginal content. The goal of this update, according to reporting from Social Media Today, is to incentivize creators to keep creating and to get the credit for what they create. Will that be a deterrent for accounts that grab and go with others’ content? TBD.

BLUESKY → Notifications can now get a bit of personalization on Bluesky thanks to the launch of the latest update. The platform now allows users to turn on notifications for specific accounts, which for some might be the elevation of fan behavior and for others a faster way to stay on top of posts from accounts that are relevant to their interests. In addition, Bluesky users can customize alerts for other types of interactions like mentions, reposts, and replies, etc.

THE TOOLBOX

Two tools to help you create

BRING TIKTOKS FONTS WITH YOU EVERYWHERE → TikTok really said “yea, our font is that girl” and dropped the ability for creators of every stripe to be able to use what it’s calling TikTok Sans [font] just about anywhere their hearts desire. Free to use, the font package enables creators to integrate the font[s] that they use on TikTok elsewhere. With that capability, it allows creators that have published products outside of TikTok to generate brand consistency across their libraries of content. At the same, because of this, it incentivizes creators to utilize and integrate TikTok fonts into their branding, instead of using fonts from elsewhere, like Canva. Get TikTok Sans here.

JOIN GOFUNDME’S CREATOR COMMUNITY → GoFundMe has hopped on the social impact creator bandwagon, launching a community that’s meant to provide tools and resources for those that use their content to fundraise for causes they care about. The community offers an array of tools, including access to GoFundMe Pro nonprofits and partnership opportunities. To apply to community membership, interested creators can fill out this application.

GET PAID TO POST ABOUT WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT

Tap into Social Currant campaigns that move the social impact needle

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.

NEWSLETTER STACK

Content-centric newsletters to add to your line-up

• #VIRAL: This newsletter from  Girl and the Gov® drops content ideas that work for political applications every Thursday. Get trends to your inbox by subscribing here.

• Chaotic Era: Hitting all the marks related to politics, media, and online influence in the midst of a particularly chaotic era in democracy, Kyle Tharp’s newsletter drops need-to-know data and analysis of what’s going on digitally. Subscribe here for controlled chaos at your fingertips.

• What’s Resonating: For a daily dose of the trends that are shaping the online-to-real world realities, What’s Resonating sends data-driven insights on what’s hittin’ and what’s missin’ on content from both sides of the aisle. Subscribe here for the daily data deats.

• Open Tabs: This bi-weekly newsletter from Lucy Ritzmann shares a little this and a little that, or in other words, stories that are happening at the intersection of politics, social media, tech and pop culture. Get on up to speed on the latest by subscribing here.

HOW THEY CREATED IT

The BTS with a creator in social impact

MEET LAUREN BASH: Lauren Bash aka @ReLauren [she/her] is a climate optimist, activist, and storyteller from Los Angeles. Her social channels aim to make conversations about sustainability and climate more inviting and less judgmental, through [sometimes silly] educational content around climate action, community building, and slow living.

She has been named a Harvard C-Change "Climate Creator to Watch,” and has been featured on Grist, Atmos, The New York Times, and dozens of podcasts. Outside of her online presence, you can find her cooking plant-based meals, surfing, running, and playing with her pup, Sonny. 

Follow Lauren on…

Why is making political content so important to you?

“I might be delulu in thinking this, but I believe that social media can be SUCH a powerful force for good when used as such; look how many folks rallied around protecting public lands in this last budget reconciliation bill, which was mostly from digital media. We can acknowledge that social media can be a tool to inform, activate, and engage individuals to flex their democratic power and demand their needs and wants to our elected officials. I believe that the state of the world right now demands that everyone with a platform use it to fight for justice.” 

What issue areas have you seen more of on social media? Which of these excite you?

“I love how typical non-political verticals, like running or cooking, are becoming more political online. We’re seeing running influencers connect the parallels between the need for clean air and safe spaces, making running inherently political. Or food creators speaking up for immigrant rights and protections, since food is deeply cultural, and the American food system heavily depends on immigrants. I’m excited to see more and more “non-political” creators find their voice in these movements and understand how everything is inherently political, especially when it’s under attack.” 

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 have let the expectation of perfection stop us from holding space for progress, and I feel like that’s why so many influencers choose not to speak up about politics, because they are scared of getting cancelled if they say the wrong thing. When really, I think if influencers simply showed solidarity, it would be such a great first step, as they continue to learn and find their voice in the movement. Since this current administration is destroying so many things, I believe that influencers are finding it harder to stay silent [which is a good thing!] so I want to see more mainstream influencers / celebrities speaking up, and acknowledge that while they may not have all the answers, they care, and therefore their audiences should care too. Silence creates “business as usual” while the world burns, which perpetuates more apathy, and we simply don’t have time for that.” 

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

“A comment section and DMs can only go so far. One of the best things I’ve ever done to understand my community was host 15 minute “get to know you” sessions with my audience. I posted my Calendly link on my IG stories, and for the first 30 folks to sign up, I had a quick meet & greet with them. I was interested in what climate activism looked like to them, how they’re getting involved, what their fears are, and how I could perhaps encourage them to stay engaged and take action. I still hold those conversations dear to my heart.” 

How do you balance online versus offline time?

“I’m proud to be a ‘hobbies girl.’ I love running, surfing, gardening, working on house projects, cooking, hiking, crafting, and so many other things! Most of them require me to be offline [you can’t bring your phone in the ocean, lol] so it naturally gives me strong boundaries. I also try to practice offline weekends as best as I can, and try to treat my role as a creator as a M-F type of job.” 

HEADLINES

News at a glance from ‘round the creator sphere

• Tubefilter: The Washington Post turned its reporters into TikTok stars. Now one of them is going solo.

• Mashable: Gov. Hochul, Sec. Clinton lead push for screen-free New York schools

• Social Media Today: Instagram Expands Google Access to Public Posts to More Regions

• DigWatch: Teens struggle to spot misinformation despite daily social media use

LET’S GET SOCIAL

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