Creator Weekly: YouTube Custom Feed, Facebook Plus & Instagram Plus, Patreon Privacy Settings

Dear readers, would you pay for advanced creator features on your favorite platform? Meta is betting you will. 

Plus YouTube has launched multiple updates (yes, mostly AI-related), Bluesky lets you highlight when you are live, people can set their favorite news sites and blogs as Preferred Sources for Google Search AI Mode, Patreon is adding profile profile features and more. 

Tip of the week:  Create an avatar of yourself to use when you create videos in the Gemini app with Gemini Omni. Creating an avatar is also rolling out gradually to YouTube.

Join me live: Creator Weekly is live on Sunday to discuss this week’s updates. 

Top Updates

• YouTube lets you create your own custom feed (US only)
• Labels on realistic AI content on YouTube are more visible. And YouTube is getting better at detecting AI-generated content.
• Ask Studio chatbot in YouTube Studio can now remember multiple conversations for 30 days.
• YouTube Premium subscribers can turn on “Auto Speed” for podcasts, which will automatically adjust playback speed during lengthy intros or information dense segments.
• CapCut Pad is a new version of the CapCut video editor for Android tablets and Chromebooks.
• Spotify added shareable user clips from video podcasts.
• Vimeo is faster, has new profile pages, and simplified review options (which some pros hate).
• Google Search now shows Preferred Sources in AI Overviews, AI Mode, and link carousels. Have you added a “Add as a Google Preferred Source” link to your blog or news site?
• NotebookLM now syncs sources with Google Drive, so that you are always using the latest version.
• Google Workspace icons have a new modern gradient look.
• Meta launched Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus subscriptions, with exclusive Creator Story and Profile features. Meta One is an overall subscription with features for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and expanded use of Meta AI tools.
• Patreon’s new social Quips feed requires creators to merge personal and creator profiles. Profiles will also show your Memberships by default, and display “Mutuals”. New privacy settings let you control what people see.
• X is trying to reward original content, by taking impressions from large accounts that reupload content from small accounts, and awarding them to the original posters.
• Bluesky now lets you add a “Live” badge when you go live on YouTube, Substack and Beehiiv, in addition to Twitch.
• Plus more updates and articles to read. 

YouTube and Video

YouTube’s new “Your custom feed” lets you design a personalized content feed that you can pin as a saved chip at the top of the Home page. Use a prompt describing a mood, favorite topics, or specific interests. It can be general like  “give me something different beyond my usual feed” or specific like “help me unwind after work with guided meditations under 10 minutes”. Learn more.

• Launch by tapping the “Your custom feed” chip at the top of the Home page. 
• Available to signed-in viewers in the US. 
• Only available in English.
• Edit the prompt at any time.
• Videos you watch from your custom feed may influence your Home recommendations.
• YouTube is “continuing to closely monitor the feature’s impact on views, watch time, and revenue.”

YouTube is improving AI labels. The disclosure label for “photorealistic and meaningfully AI altered or generated content” is now more visible. Instead of being buried in the description it will either appear directly below the video player for long-form videos or as an overlay on Shorts. Unrealistic, animated or only slightly altered AI content will continue to have the AI disclosure in the description. An AI label will not affect recommendations or monetization of the video.

YouTube is also updating its systems to better identify AI-generated content. As a creator, you are still required to disclose realistic AI in your videos. But if you don’t, and YouTube detects photorealistic AI content, they will add a label. You can appeal, if YouTube gets it wrong, but if you are using YouTube’s AI tools, or fully generative AI use is indicated in the C2PA metadata, the label is permanent.

The Ask Studio chatbot in YouTube Studio can help you understand your channel’s performance and content, and brainstorm new content. In the latest update, Ask Studio conversations are saved automatically for 30 days. There is a new list view to let you manage and access different conversation threads. Learn more.

Nano Banana is now in YouTube Effect Maker, letting you create “fun, imaginative transformation effects with open prompts that don’t require visual scripting”. Try Effect Maker at effects.youtube.com .

There are new YouTube Premium features for podcasts.Learn more.

• “On the go” mode: listener-friendly controls when playing podcast video in the background.
• Auto Speed: “intelligently adjusts playback speed during relevant moments”,  like slower speech, lengthy introductions or information-dense segments.
• Ask Music for podcasts: AI podcast recommendations. This is in addition to AI-generated music playlists.
• High quality audio on TV.

New YouTube Creators series: THE BRAND DESK “Explore the perks and pitfalls of managing yourself, then learn how to scale creator partnerships into a sustainable business. Plus, step inside YouTube Creator Partnerships in Studio to learn quick, practical ways to boost visibility, attract brands, and maximize audience reach.” Watch episode 1.

CapCut Pad by Bytedance is now available for Android tablets and Chromebooks. It has “larger workspace, easier controls, and more room for your timeline.” Install it from Google Play.

The main Instagram camera now has a teleprompter (imported from the Edits app). 

Spotify has added user clips from video podcasts.

• Users can create a clip while listening to an episode. 
• The clip, episode, chapter or timestamp can be shared via Spotify Messages or to third party sites. 
• Clips are saved in Your Library.

StreamYard now lets you react to YouTube gifted memberships inside your StreamYard chat and respond in real time.

Vimeo, which was acquired by Bending Spoons in 2025, has been rebuilding the platform and adding new features to make it more “valuable”. 

• Faster uploads, page loading and search. 
• Simplified review: anyone with a link can comment, even without an account. And comments have timestamps and emoji reactions. (Some pros using this feature really DO want there to be a login wall for comments, so this hasn’t gone over great).
• Profiles have a new design and more customization options.
• Simplified showcase setup. 
• Translations in bulk.

Web Publishers and Search

Google Search has made several updates to highlight links in the search results: 

• AI Overviews and AI Mode use Preferred Sources. Links to a Preferred Source will be clearly labeled.  Add a Preferred Sources button to your website or blog for readers to click. Or people can add preferred sources manually at www.google.com/preferences/source.
• For some searches on a developing topic you’ll see a prominent link carousel, which will highlight Preferred Sources. 
• Other searches may show a carousel with “helpful perspectives” from online discussions, forums and social media. 
• There is a new “Highly Cited” badge for articles many other stories have cited.

Write is a new minimal writing editor on Wordpress(dot)com. It’s in beta (click the link to sign up).

WordPress(dot)com shares “everything you need to know” about WordPress 7.0: AI foundations, editing and admin improvements, flexible design controls, new and improved blocks, and performance, accessibility and developer updates. 

WordPress(dot)com Reader now has a Social Feeds section that lets you read posts from people you follow on Bluesky, Mastodon and other Fediverse platforms.

Beehiiv CEO Tyler Denk argues that Substack is a closed ecosystem, especially with its algorithmic feed and requirement to allow Apple In-App Purchases. He notes open is good for creators, and email is an open protocol. (And, of course Beehiiv is email-first)

Tools

Google’s NotebookLM will now sync sources with Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, Slides). That way if you update a spreadsheet or slide deck, it’s automatically updated as a NotebookLM source. It also means that if the file is deleted or your access is revoked it will be removed from your notebook.

As was noticed last week, Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Meet, Chat, and so forth)  icons have a new “modern” look. That means all the colors are gradients. Beyond that, the look is very much pre-2020, when the blocky multi-colored icons were launched.

Social Media

Meta One has launched, as one of several new subscriptions. Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus subscriptions include premium tools for creators and businesses. Meta One is an all-in-one subscription that includes Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus, WhatsApp Plus in one package, with additional Meta AI use  (currently being tested in a few countries). None of these replace the Meta Verified subscription which is “focused on verification, identity protection and extra support.”

Features for Instagram Plus subscribers reportedly include seeing how many people rewatched your Story, create unlimited audience lists for Stories (not just “Close Friends”), extend a Story beyond 24 hours, post directly to your profile and highlights without it going to your followers’ feeds, additional profile pins and more. Facebook Plus subscribers also have new Story and profile features. (It feels like YouTube will be the last platform that isn't pay to play.)

Threads now lets you add music to your posts.

There’s a new Facebook Guide to making better affiliate videos.

LinkedIn answers common questions about LinkedIn video.

Patreon wants to be a social network: Patreon Creators must combine their personal fan profiles and Creator profiles by July 6. Patreon has privacy controls that let you decide how your memberships and activity appear. This unlocks Patreon’s new Network, with a new Home feed and Tweet-like “Quips” posts.

Part of this change is making Patreon memberships more visible, along with new  granular privacy controls. Any new memberships you join after July 27 will be shown publicly, unless you turn this feature off. On the updated Creator Page, there is a list of the creators you subscribe to. And when a fan visits your page, they’ll see mutuals - members of your community they also subscribe to.

X is doing more to reward original content. Head of Product Nikita Bier says that they “identified a number of large accounts that have been programmatically reuploading content from smaller accounts to game the revenue share program and circumvent crediting the original author.” Now the impressions on those posts will be attributed to the original creator. That has the potential to shift the X ecosystem, with large accounts usually driving most of the views.

The latest version of Bluesky has updates for sharing articles, live streams and images:

• Use YouTube, Substack and Beehiiv links to go live, in addition to Twitch and Streamplace links. When people click your profile with the LIVE badge, they are taken directly to your stream.
• Dynamic Standard.site link cards. Used by Leaflet, pckt.blog, Offprint and other blog and longer article sites. 
• Updated GIF picker and improved photo viewer.

What’s making me mad

Stat News reports Sally Kornbluth, President of MIT isn’t mincing words about the recent losses to science. America built the world’s greatest research engine. Now it’s shrinking.

“In daily life, people may not feel the effects right away, or even in 10 years. But we will feel it. And when someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn’t or when other countries now investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.”

Interesting reading

Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI: Pope Leo Warns AI Images Are a 'Powerful Amplifier' of Disinformation

YouTube shows submitted for consideration for Primetime Emmy Awards: Julian Shapiro-Barnum “Celebrity Substitute”, Michelle Khare “Challenge Accepted”, Sean Evans “Hot Ones”, Cleo Abram “HUGE* If True”, Brittany Broski “Royal Court”, and Kareem Rahma “SubwayTakes”.

News and Documentary Emmys were announced this week, and YouTube-centered journalists Jorge Ramos (Spanish language news) and Johnny Harris (outstanding graphic design), who publish on YouTube.

Thanks for reading! 🌼