Features & insight
Features and insight
Expert analysis, reporting and long reads on the platforms, people and strategies shaping social media.
California passes sweeping AI and social media restrictions as tech's home state tightens grip on platforms and automation
Twenty-six bills now sit on Governor Newsom's desk, targeting everything from addictive feeds for under-16s to robo-boss firings and data center energy costs. The state's response to AI and platform harm just became the most comprehensive in the US.
Creator economy hits $323bn but 56% of full-time creators still earn below living wage as subscriptions replace sponsorships
The creator economy grew 26.5% to $323.48bn in 2026, yet more than half of full-time creators earn under $44,000. The gap exposes a fundamental shift from brand deals to recurring revenue models, rewriting what sustainable creator income actually looks like.
The Key to Organic Social Media That Actually Gets Enquiries
Social media marketing is constantly evolving, but the one constant behind it is that real people are selling real things to real audiences. Looking at organic socials through a more soulful, connection-led lens is helping my clients get enquiries on repeat, without sacrificing their authenticity.
Snapchat's Harry Potter activation shows what pre-launch marketing looks like when you own the platform, not just the ad space
HBO and Snapchat are rolling out 12 AR lenses, Bitmoji fashion and physical mirrors months ahead of the HBO series premiere. The real lesson isn't the partnership. It's the timing, the surface area, and what it says about where TV budgets are moving.
Reddit's 15-second video ad goal is built for messages that take longer to land
The new optimisation option rewards watch time over raw views. Brands running trailers, demos and testimonials now have a billing structure that reflects the full message, not just the opening seconds.
ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox face the EU's toughest platform rules. Here's what that changes for social marketers.
The European Commission has designated ChatGPT as a search engine and Reddit and Roblox as very large platforms under the Digital Services Act. For social media marketers, that means stricter content moderation, new transparency requirements for ads, and fresh uncertainty around organic reach on platforms already under regulatory pressure.
LinkedIn ramps up fight against AI slop as EU user growth stalls
The platform is blocking billions of automation attempts while its latest transparency reports show active user numbers in the EU have flatlined, exposing the tension between growth ambitions and content quality.
How UK Anti-Doping challenged SARMs misinformation online
In our Social Media Marketing Awards finalist series, The Sauce is looking at the campaigns that earned a place on this year's shortlist, the problems they were built to address and the work behind the results. UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) is a finalist in Purpose-Led or Social Impact Campaign of the Year for Clean Sport Week 2026.
TikTok Shop hits $23.4bn in US sales, with creators driving three-quarters of revenue
The platform now exceeds Target's online business as the fastest-growing US retailer for the second consecutive year, rewriting the rules of how products reach buyers and who controls the transaction.
Ken Burns brings classroom courses to YouTube as educational content stakes rise
The documentary filmmaker and PBS LearningMedia are putting curriculum-aligned courses on the Ken Burns YouTube channel, starting with The American Revolution. It's a signal of how seriously YouTube now treats educational credibility.
WhatsApp's new security upgrade targets the account takeover risk that's haunting brand teams
Meta just replaced WhatsApp's six-digit PIN with full passwords and added caller context on Android. The changes are quietly solving one of the biggest blind spots in social and customer service workflows: who actually controls the account talking to your customers.
Meta's $17bn settlement forces two-hour limits and overnight lockouts for teen users
The social media giant has agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion and implement the most restrictive usage controls yet across Facebook and Instagram, reshaping how brands can reach teen audiences and how the platforms themselves function for anyone under 18.
LinkedIn's AI slop button was used over 1 million times in two weeks. Now it's showing creators private warnings
More than one million LinkedIn users flagged content as AI-generated within two weeks of the button's launch. Flagged posts now see 40% fewer views, and the platform has started privately warning creators when their content is marked as inauthentic.
Instagram Gives Creators More Control Over Reposted Content
Instagram's repost controls let creators prevent their work from being shared to other users' profile grids, building on the platform's year-long push to protect original content and curb aggregator accounts.
Reddit's Shopify integration rolls out globally as platform builds DTC commerce infrastructure
Reddit has opened its Shopify integration to all advertisers globally, automating product catalog syncing and conversion tracking for Dynamic Product Ads. The move positions the platform as a purchase research channel rather than a competitor to TikTok Shop's transaction layer.
YouTube's Demand Gen now lets viewers message brands directly from video ads
Google is testing conversation starters on YouTube ads, expanding travel inventory for local activities, and rolling out AI video creation to all advertisers as part of its August Demand Gen Drop.
YouTube doubles entry bar to 8,000 watch hours while adding first ongoing performance threshold for Shorts
YouTube is doubling Partner Program entry requirements from February 2027 and introducing a rolling 10 million Shorts views threshold that will pause creator earnings. The changes reshape who gets paid and how they stay paid.
What Substack's new collaboration and segmentation tools mean for newsletter growth in 2026
Substack has shipped Creator Match, audience-specific content blocks, global reply rules, and advanced podcast editing. The real question is which of these features changes how creators grow their lists, and which are just nice-to-have noise.
Unilever puts half its €8bn marketing budget into creators and wants one in every postcode
The world's biggest consumer goods company now works with 300,000 creators, transforming the creator model from a niche tactic into a mass production system. What it means for the industry, and what breaks when you scale this fast.
Snapchat adds 100-hour threshold creators must maintain to keep earning from Spotlight
Snapchat introduced a rolling performance bar in May that can pause monetised creators' income if they drop below 100 hours of Spotlight view time in the prior 28 days. The change shifts the platform away from viral jackpots towards sustained, schedule-driven rewards.
Manifest launches creator debit card with Mastercard as financial infrastructure becomes a distinct vertical
The embedded banking platform's new business debit card bundles fraud protection, invoicing, and cash-flow tools into a single account. Traditional finance is now building for the creator economy, not just tolerating it.
TikTok Shop creator levels now visible to brands, changing how sellers vet partners
TikTok has made its creator badge system visible to sellers, letting brands see which tier a creator holds before opening collaboration talks. The shift turns previously hidden performance metrics into front-facing signals that could reshape how partnerships form.