Keeping It Currant, a newsletter by Social Currant & Girl and the Gov®
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Keeping It Currant

Keeping It Currant

In this issue: How to grow on YouTube, tips for navigating disclosure rules, and the launch of The Coconut Club Podcast

Social Currant
January 23, 2025

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

BRIEFING: NAVIGATING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS – ECONOMY & TARIFFS

About: Join us for a creator briefing with polling experts from Navigator Research! We'll discuss public opinion and polling data on the economy and Trump's proposed tariffs, and how to most effectively communicate with audiences online about these topics.

When: January 30, 2035; 3:00pm EST

Where: Virtual

SC CREATOR CIRCLE

About: The next Social Currant creator circle will be all about YouTube. Bring your questions and get ready to chat with your fellow creators on how to best utilize the platform.

When: January 30, 2025; 6:00pm EST

Where: Virtual

RSVP: Drop a note to [email protected] to be added to the cal invite.

THE TOOLBOX

Editing app alternatives to CapCut

InShot: Perhaps the closest to CapCut from an editing functionality POV, InShot lets you edit from your phone, on-the-go. Test it out here.

Canva: An in-app and desktop option, Canva offers video editing capabilities. With its vast library of graphics and text add capabilities, Canva is great for branded content. Test it out here.

YouCut: This offering similarly provides users with a way to quickly edit videos. It has a similar interface to CapCut and shares many of the same caption-add, transition, and general effects. Test it out here.

Slate: For creators that work with a team, Slate may just be your new bestie. It’s giving collaboration, it’s giving ability for all hands on deck, and it’s giving it was clearly (and was) designed by social media managers. Test it out here.

Instagram is currently previewing its own editing app dubbed ‘Edits’ but it’s not available for all at the time of this newsletter drop.

RESOURCE ROUND-UP

Something to save, something to use

FOR THE CREATOR WHO WANTS TO DWLD ALL THEIR TIKTOKS → If you only downloaded a few faves or top performers, but are now realizing you want to download all of your posted TikToks sans watermark, try out this Chrome web browser extension.

FOR THE CREATOR LOOKING TO DIVERSIFY → If the 12 hour TikTok ban taught us anything, it’s that it can be gone in the blink of an eye. Diversifying and growing your audience elsewhere is a way to ensure continued success as a creator. This guide from Social Currant can help you brainstorm exactly how to do just that.

FOR THE CREATOR LOOKING TO UP-LEVEL THEIR BRAND PITCHES → Pitching brands is an art and a formula. This Social Currant guide provides tips on how to master the art and follow the formula, complete with an email template to follow.

FOR CREATORS DABBLING IN LINKEDIN CONTENT → If you’re new to LinkedIn or simply are aiming to grow your presence on the platform this year, this guide will help set you up for success. Covering topics to post about, examples, and a walk-through of what engaging content looks like on LinkedIn, the guide is a must-save, must-share.

FOR CREATORS NAVIGATING PARTNERSHIP DISCLOSURE RULES → What’s the difference between FTC and FEC guidelines for content? This one-sheeter shares the overall differences and what you need to know about each so that your content is compliant.

HOW THEY CREATED IT

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

Meet Kary Santayana (they/them): Hey! I’m Kary (they/them)! I create androgynous style, social impact, and queer lifestyle content to inspire non-conformers to show up as their most authentic selves. I hope that by being myself online and creating content, I can encourage others not to be afraid to be who they are openly and proudly. My goal is that people who watch and engage with my content feel empowered to show up as who they are meant to be, wear what they want to wear, and exist freely in a world that wants to put people into boxes.

Image courtesy of Kary Santayana.

Follow Kary on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, & Bluesky.

Why is making political content so important to you?

“As a queer, non-binary, half-Filipino-half-white person, my identity is so often politicized. I’ve observed the way my communities and other marginalized communities are treated in society, and I need there to be positive change. My goal is to show people that queer/trans/minority folks can (and do!) live whole, fulfilling, joyful lives, and our existence doesn’t harm anyone.”

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

“Oh man! In a dream world, I would loooove to do a really moody and editorial content collab with Dr. Martens! For me, Dr. Martens boots have always been such a symbol of resistance, grit, and solidarity and I love that they’re a subtle way to flag my queerness to others. I think I’ve collected over 10 pairs over the years, and love that they have been a long-time symbol of strength.”

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

“I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Apparel Design & currently work a full-time job in fashion on top of doing content, so I’m very much in the fashion world. I’m also someone who didn’t really have any queer or non-binary folks to look up to growing up. And even once I came out, I didn’t know many people who looked like me, acted like me, and dressed like me. So, as cheesy as it sounds, I decided to be my own representation by blending my passions for fashion and queer culture!”

As a creator, what are you always excited to see other creators doing?

“BEING AUTHENTIC!! I truly just love seeing creators be unapologetically themselves, whether that’s vulnerable or silly or sweet or funny or brave. Being honest and authentic is what makes a great creator stand out. Folks watch their content for them!”

FACT CHECKING HQ

Fact-first resources

Sharing accurate information is always important – and in this new political era it’s even more important than ever. Taking the time to ensure that the details of a news item or happening are correct is vital for keeping your audience informed and for building trust. It’s important to note that with the speed in which information can travel, it's essential for content creators to take a responsible, media-literate approach to stories that cross their desks before sharing them. With that, a few guiding points to consider when reporting on bills and executive actions at both the federal and state level:

For Bills:

Check to see if there’s been a press release or fact sheet made available by the bill’s sponsor or co-sponsors.
Check to see if the bill has been filed using congress.gov for federal bills and for state bills, the state legislature’s website.
Reach out to the representative’s press team with clarifying questions.
Google news articles on the bill – read at least three from different sources when possible/available.
Read op-eds on the bill to get a well-rounded POV on the bill.

For Executive Actions:

Check to see if there’s been a press release or fact sheet made available by the White House briefing room for federal. For Governor’s offices or other state level roles, do the same.
Google the executive action – read at least three articles on it from different sources when possible/available.
Read op-eds on the action to form a comprehensive understanding of arguments for and against.

To Note: If a claim in a press release, fact sheet, etc doesn’t feel right to you – fact check it. Copy, paste, Google.

Meta may have gotten rid of their fact checking, but that doesn’t mean you have to. Use these tools to keep your side of the street clean:

Politifact: The fact-checking resource can be used to check true or false on big political news items. It also utilizes a truth-o-meter tool to rank how true or false a statement is, a MAGA-Meter to track Trump’s promises, and an ability for people to suggest a fact check with this form.

FactCheck.org: This fact checking resource lets you submit claims you’ve been hearing/reading/seeing easy peasy here, as well as offers an archive of already fact checked claims.

FAQS

Classic questions, quick answers

“With everything going on with TikTok and Meta, I’ve been working on growing my YouTube channel. I know key words are important to that, but I’m not sure how to utilize that to grow. Any thoughts?”

The rules of engagement for key words have been different for TikTok and Instagram. That’s because the overall sentiment from the platforms is that they were suppressing political content, and thus if you included words that indicated it as such, it could result in your content not being seen. YouTube is a different story with that. As a result, a video’s description and title can include the topics and words that actually describe the content, as opposed to the speak/type-in-code style we’ve all become accustomed to using on other platforms to not get stuck in the filters. In other words, hello SEO meets YouTube. With that in mind…

For the content that you’re posting, think about what someone would “Google” to find it. What question is it answering? What information gap is it filling? What topic area does it cover? Think about questions that would be asked and then use that question and a portion of the “answer” that you provide in the video, to craft your title and description.
To take it a bit further, there are several apps and web browser extensions that can be used to pin point and target key words that will help to get your video(s) in front of the right audience. One of the most popular of the options is vidIQ.

“What’s the deal with the Community tab on my YouTube channel? Is this something I should use?”

Absolutely use the Community tab! It’s another avenue to connect with your subscribers through. It’s especially good for getting feedback via its poll feature, as well as for teasing content to come. Because you can upload images in addition to video, it also gives you an opportunity to repurpose particularly relevant image content as well. Think of it as a Broadcast Channel on Instagram meets Threads posts with a dash of YouTube.

To submit questions for consideration in this section, please send a note to [email protected].

THE COCONUT CLUB PODCAST

Watch, listen, subscribe to Social Currant’s new pod

The just launched Coconut Club Podcast from Social Currant features conversations with creators covering the waterfront of topics, from growing online to trends they see at the intersection of politics and social media. The first episode featuring none other than Jolly Good Ginger can be viewed here and listened to here. P.S. don’t forget to subscribe.

Considering starting a pod? Have a pod and are not sure how to get it in front of your target audience? Girl and the Gov® can help with that. Explore options here.

ATTN: POLITICAL CREATORS

Fill out this survey on your 2024 election experiences in the industry

Our eyes are on the future, which means we also have to take a look back at what happened during 2024 – the good, the bad, the ugly. The following survey will help us get a thorough understanding of how we can build back better with a strengthened progressive digital media sphere.