Peggy K's Creator News

Hello readers! This week there are updates for YouTube communities and Shorts, new tools at Substack and Facebook to show who’s human, new features for Instagram, X, Google Photos and more. Before you read on, check your Google Account’s security and sign-in options . The best time to secure your account is now! Google now lets you add a selfie video to help you sign into your account. If you have a single device (like your phone), set this up to make sure you can still sign in if your device is lost. Set it up at g.co/signin-selfie. Manage your selfie videos . Learn more. OK, now read on! ✉ Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email.  🔴 Join Creator Weekly Live on Sunday. This week’s Top Updates Upload a custom thumbnail for your YouTube Shorts . New YouTube Community features, including Community-only posts and quote posting.  For monetizing creators: YouTube is launching free Membership trials (you can opt out your ch...

Dear readers, did you celebrate World Emoji Day on July 17th 📆 🥳 ? Party with pictures! This week there are updates for YouTube creators, Twitch, Google Image Search, beehiiv, Google Vids, Edits and more.  ✉ Subscribe to the Creator Weekly newsletter to get updates by email. 🔴 Join Creator Weekly live on Sunday. Top Updates YouTube expanded its Inauthentic Content monetization policy description to provide more examples and more explicitly call out some AI-generated content. Google Image Search turned 25 and is getting a Pinterest-like redesign, with easier access to Collections. Google is also adding AI image generation in Search AI Mode. Beehiiv launched Communities where you can engage your subscribers.  YouTube is testing a redesigned “insights-first” YouTube Studio Analytics (renamed Insights). YouTube shared a report highlighting their positive impact on the U.S....

This week YouTube renamed the Inauthentic Content monetization policy Generic or Repetitive Content. They added two new categories of content that violate monetization policies: Unsatisfying or Offputting Content and AI Personas Related to Sensitive Topics. In July 2025  YouTube renamed the Repetitious Content monetization policy Inauthentic Content. This was not a policy change. Instead the update was meant to "clarify that this policy includes content that is mass-produced or repetitive", including new examples. At the time it seemed pretty clear that this was addressing the masses of low-quality AI slop flooding the platform.  This update is a similar clarification. Note that this does not affect the  Reused Content policy . Are these new monetization policies?  YouTube says explicitly that this is NOT a policy change . Instead this is meant to be a better explanation of current policy. They also make cl...

Hello readers! This week YouTube expanded access to Shows, a new Meta AI tool caused backlash, Google Search Console will track your social media performance in search, and more.  ✉ Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. 🔴 Join Creator Weekly Live on YouTube. Top Updates YouTube Shows are available to all channels in the YouTube Partner Program.  YouTube Creator Music in YouTube Studio will no longer offer paid licenses. Music will either be free or offer revenue sharing Ask YouTube searchbot is now available on desktop. YouTube shared tips for creators to have their content appear there. The Meta Muse Image model launched with the option to prompt with any public Instagram profile. After backlash that was removed. You can still edit your own images, generate new images or use new AI effects for Instagram Stories. X launched a new Video Editor and Recorder i...

Summer is in full swing, and I hope you are keeping cool! This is a holiday week, with just a few updates including news from YouTube, Meta, Substack and X. 🌐  Subscribe to the Creator Weekly Newsletter to get posts in your Inbox every Saturday. 🔴 Join Creator Weekly live on Sunday to discuss this week’s updates. Tip of the week: Use the Google Vids Screen Recorder extension to record both your screen and yourself. Captured video can be edited in Google Vids (which is free for everyone).  It’s great for creating tutorials. Check out my video to see the results. Top Updates Celebrate the US’s 250th birthday with silly YouTube Shorts effects, historical images, American music and live streamed celebrations.  Add licensed popular music to your YouTube image posts to make them more engaging if they appear in the Shorts feed. Gemini Omni is available to generate clips in the YouTube Shorts ed...

Dear readers, especially friends in Europe, I hope you are staying cool. There is no summer vacation for creator updates! This week there are updates for YouTube Shorts and Instagram viewers, YouTube and Facebook creators, website owners and more. ✉ Subscribe to get Creator Weekly in your email inbox every Saturday. 🔴 Join Creator Weekly live on Sunday Top Updates YouTube Shorts player redesign with 2x speed, hearts replacing likes and Clear Screen mode. The dislike button is gone. YouTube Studio Content tab redesign with Notices, Visibility, and Estimated Revenue.  YouTube Studio app Account Status page gives an overview of any critical channel issues.  YouTube Studio has new AI-powered comment filters that let you search by general topic or mood. You can also find similar comments. Instagram for TV expanded to more devices and has more features for Re...