Skip to main content

Posts

Creators: Get the latest tips, tutorials and updates!

Are you a video creator, blogger, content collector or curator? Subscribe to get news and tutorials for YouTube, Blogger, AdSense, and creator tools, social media, and more every week!  Learn more about me . Last updated April 2024
Recent posts

Creator Weekly: Bluesky Likes Links, YouTube Posts AI Tools, Reddit & YouTube Music Recaps

As we move into December platforms are sharing their annual recaps. Last week it was YouTube Gaming, this week YouTube Music and Reddit. Next week I’m expecting Spotify. And what strikes me is that these recaps only cover your activity into early November. That means you can be different in December! Experiment. Listen to new artists. Join a new subreddit. Focus on the holidays. If it’s good, keep doing it through the new year, and maybe it will be part of next year’s recap. If it doesn’t work for you, no one will be the wiser. This week there has been a lot of discussion around which platforms are good for sharing links, and Bluesky seems to be the winner. And there are updates for YouTube, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky and more. 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. Top news and updates this week Get your YouTube Music and Reddit 2024 recaps. Social media versus links: Bluesky is the winner. Add images to YouTube quizzes. YouTube Posts now have built-in AI image and text tool...

Creator Weekly: YouTube Shorts AI Backgrounds, Google Scholar turns 20, Threads custom feeds

  This Thanksgiving week, I want to give special thanks to you, dear readers. Thank you for reading and special thanks to all of you who join my live streams, so I’m not just talking to myself! 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. Top news and updates this week Google Scholar is 20 and now offers AI summaries of scholarly works. YouTube expands access to AI-powered Dream Screen (backgrounds) and Dream Track (music) in the Shorts editor. Longer YouTube Shorts (1-3 minutes) are now being treated as Shorts, rather than videos. YouTube added new text formatting buttons to the description editor on mobile and soon on desktop. YouTube is expanding availability of automated translation and dubbing. Google Search updated its site reputation abuse policy to combat “parasite SEO.” AdSense is launching collapsible (bigger) anchor ads. You have to opt out if you are currently running regular anchor ads on your website. AdSense is simplifying its first-party cookie controls, and wil...

Create Dream Screen AI-generated backgrounds for YouTube Shorts

You can now use Dream Screen in the YouTube Shorts editor to generate fantastic video backgrounds.  Dream Screen uses Google DeepMind’s Veo generative video model to generate short video clips. It was announced by YouTube in September 2023 , so it has been tested for over a year. Dream Screen is currently available in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It may not be available on all devices. And YouTube makes clear this is still experimental. Generate a YouTube Short Background with Dream Screen 1.  Open the YouTube mobile app and tap the + button to create a Short. 2. In the Shorts editor, tap the Green Screen option on the right menu. 3. Tap the AI (pink sparkle) button at the bottom of the screen. 4. Describe what you want it to create. Currently the prompt needs to be in English. 5. Select a style (Vintage, Clay, Anime, Pastel, Digital) or leave it on None.  6. Tap the Create button to generate images....

Creator Weekly: YouTube Livestream Promotion, Jewels for Gifts, Spotify Partner Program

Hello all! I hope you are having an excellent Autumn weekend. This week’s edition is extra long. There are updates for video creators from YouTube, TikTok, Spotify (yes!) and Facebook, new features and news from Threads and Bluesky as more people ditch X, updates for web creators from Google Search, AdSense and WordPress and so much more. Top news and updates this week YouTube Shorts promote upcoming livestreams. On YouTube you can buy Jewels to give Gifts that let creators earn Rubies. Longer YouTube Shorts may not be fully treated as Shorts until the first week of December. Google Ads gives advertisers tools to manage partnerships with YouTube creators. YouTube Studio app now has a Community Hub instead of a Comments tab. Spotify launched a Partner Program for Video Podcast Creators. Facebook Metrics are now Views for all types of content Beehiiv is investing in journalists. TikTok is testing integration with affiliate networks. The November Google Search Core Update has started...

Creator Weekly: Google Vids, Ghost Recommendations, YouTube Brand Partner Linking

This has been a week, and I’m ready for a social media vacation. Maybe. Although I’m not sure I could stand the FOMO . It seems most companies have taken a bit of a break (or have been otherwise occupied ) this week, so there aren’t a lot of big updates. But even so, there are updates and tips for video creators, bloggers, and social media denizens. 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email Top news and updates this week Google Vids is now available to most Google Workspace users (and personal accounts with Workspace Labs). Eligible YouTube Partner Program participants can now use Brand Partner Video Linking for Shorts to connect with Brands. CapCut Commerce Pro is a new suite of marketing video creation tools (not free though!). Share music from Apple Music or Spotify to TikTok. And save songs from Instagram to Spotify. Ghost launches a platform-independent recommendation system based on Webmention. Google Photos has replaced the Sharing page with Updates. Find people to f...