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Creator Weekly: YouTube Hearts, Google Vids Updates, Beehiiv Podcasts

Hello readers, I hope you had a non-foolish week. Unlike days of yore, most tech companies no longer join in April Fools Day pranks. I don't miss that, especially with jokes getting harder to distinguish from real life. A couple of exceptions: Threads let people toggle on a Comic Sans version, Snapchat trolled Meta with Reals, and Twitch switched to their original site layout. Funny? Maybe worth a chuckle. And don't miss Google's big update that allows Gmail username changes.  New This Week Google Vids has multiple updates, including Veo 3.1 video generation for all, customizable AI avatars that can interact with objects, export to YouTube and a screen capture extension for Chrome. YouTube added bulk comment hearting, expanded access to Effect Maker and AI chat on TVs. YouTube is launching Stations, a new TV viewing experience. LinkedIn requires live streams to be scheduled. TikTok added Came...

Creator Weekly: YouTube Shopping Expansion, Sora Shutdown, Music in Google Vids

This week's theme is shopping. You may be seeing more creators promoting products on YouTube and Instagram.  Plus OpenAI is killing the Sora app, X was going to limit monetization outside users home region, plus new features for Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and more.  This week's top updates YouTube Creator Partnerships matches advertisers and creators YouTube Shopping expands to more creators Meta adds shopping features to Instagram Reels Generate music in Google Vids with Lyria 3 Edits has new fonts and templates Rushes is a new Vimeo replacement Twitch improves mobile streaming StreamYard has a new look Restream adds sharing and analytics features Ghost adds members only podcasts WordPress dot com allows AI agents Beehiiv adds AI integration for audience insights Mastodon launches friendlier user profiles Reddit labels good bots X tried to limit international creators monetizing US politics, then b...

Creator Weekly: YouTube Reimagine, Canva Magic Layers, Facebook Creator Fast Track

I'm still not fully back up yet, so no live stream this week again. You should watch this week's OnEBoard Tech Topic , because I'll have a tip! Top Updates  YouTube launches Reimagine AI remix tool. YouTube now lets you add language-localized thumbnails. Canva Magic Layers turns flat images into editable layers. Facebook Creator Fast Track guarantees monthly earnings for popular YouTube, Instagram and TikTok creators. Substack adds a built-in video recording studio Meta cancels (then uncancels) the VR Horizon World metaverse. YouTube and Video YouTube   launched Reimagine , an AI Shorts Remix tool that lets you generate an 8 second clip from a single Shorts frame. You can use two images from your mobile gallery to insert a person (yourself?) or object. It's powered by the Veo video generation model. Creators can disable all remixing on their Shorts if you don't want people to do this. Yes,  I tried it  and I find it a bit u...

Creator Weekly: Big YouTube Thumbnails, Instagram Creator Tools, Digg Reboot Killed by Spam

Hello readers!  As you probably noticed, there was no newsletter last week.  I had a serious health emergency, and recovery is going to take some time.  I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do things going forward.  For now, there will be a briefer newsletter each week. I'm not sure when I will start live streaming again.  So that's good news, that I'm feeling good enough to write all this. But video is more logistically complicated. (And I am definitely not camera ready). Here are the updates that will help you stay in the know!  YouTube News   Last fall, YouTube announced a bunch of new features that would improve viewing on big screens. That included much larger video thumbnails. Now all creators can upload thumbnails up to 50 MB , up from 2 MB. Time to make sure your thumbnails are looking good.  Hollywood Reporter: YouTube Gives Political Figures and Journalists Access to AI Deepfake Detection Tool. The tool is also available to all ...

Creator Weekly: YouTube Voice Replies, Twitch Suspensions, Google Vids Longer Videos

As February comes to a close there are several new features from YouTube, Twitch, Discord, Google Vids, Threads and Bluesky. You should review your Amazon Wishlist settings and check your AdSense reports. And on the AI front Google updated Flow and released Nano Banana 2. 📨  Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. 👂 Listen to the Creator Weekly podcast in YouTube Music 🔴 Watch Creator Weekly Live episodes Top news and updates this week YouTube expanded voice comment replies to all creators. Discord cut ties with Persona for age verification. Twitch now separates streaming suspensions and chatting suspensions. Twitch will no longer enforce their policy prohibiting displaying a combined chat. Google Vids can create videos up to 30 minutes from videos up to 90 minutes (that you cut down). Threads lets you connect your podcast (on some platforms) to share rich link previews in posts. Amazon Wishlists may soon expose the recipient’s shipping address. Flow ,...

Creator Weekly: Apple Podcast Video, YouTube Shorts Editor, Snapseed Camera

This week I am loving watching the sliding, twirling, and swooshing in the Winter Olympics (from warm inside, of course). It’s amazing to see what the athletes can do. And I like the camera work with drones and the skating videographer for an immersive experience. But now I think I’m ready for spring. This week there are updates for Apple Podcasts, YouTube Shorts, LinkedIn, Restream, Meta, Snapseed and more. 📨 Subscribe to get Creator Weekly by email. 👂 Listen to the Creator Weekly podcast in YouTube Music 🔴 Watch Creator Weekly Live episodes Top news and updates this week Apple Podcasts is adding video. Generate music and lyrics with Lyria 3 in the Gemini app or YouTube Shorts editor. The YouTube Shorts editor now lets you precisely edit clips. In the YouTube Studio mobile app, Shorts will display as a grid, rather than as a list. LinkedIn is fighting “engagement pods” and inauthentic comments. Restream Studio lets you simultaneously stream vertical and landscape, eit...