Hello readers! This week there are updates for YouTube live streamers, TikTok creators, X posters, Adobe users and Bluesky and Reddit members.
And there’s more pushback on generative AI, including labeling laws in the EU and California, and Snapchat blocking AI-generated videos from recommendations. (I’m getting tired of AI news too, but that’s what’s happening.)
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Top Updates
- New AI content labeling laws go into effect in the EU and California.
- YouTube mobile live streaming has a new Practice Mode.
- YouTube Shopping is now available in the UK.
- X replaced its AI Revenue Sharing monetization program with a new Original Content Rewards Program.
- Snapchat will no longer recommend wholly AI-generated videos in Spotlight (which kills monetization).
- TikTok has a new partnership with Disney, which is great for Disney (including Marvel and Star Wars) content creators.
- Reddit is putting old Reddit behind a login, added new AI mod tools, and is making it easier for posters to learn subreddit rules.
- Bluesky improved trending topics and expanded group chats to 100 members.
- Google Drive made it possible to leave time-stamped comments on videos. Great for collabs.
- The new Adobe ChatGPT Plugin gives you access to the suite of Adobe editing tools.
- Plus more for Twitch, Restream, StreamYard, website owners, Instagram, Discord, Buttondown, Pinterest
EU & California Require AI Labeling
New laws require AI companies to label and embed machine-readable metadata in
realistic images and videos (deepfakes) indicating how the content was made.
That would include whether the content was generated or edited using AI.
While the details differ, the EU Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content and the California Artificial Intelligence Transparency Act (CAITA) are in alignment, with both going into effect on August 2.
There are already standards for AI-generated content labeling, such as C2PA Content Credentials. And many companies already comply. The latest member of their steering committee is TikTok, joining Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Sony and other companies.
In the EU, the law also covers AI-generated text that is “published to inform the public on matters of public interest” that did not undergo human review. Most major companies with AI tools have already signed the WU AI code of practice. That includes Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
In California, this is just the first step. Starting in January 2027, large online platforms will have to let users get the details of AI-generated content on the platform itself. By 2028 all phones and cameras produced in California will have to store provenance information when an image is captured, allowing those images to be labeled as “real”.
It’s not clear what this will mean in practical terms.
Some popular AI tools, like Midjourney, apparently have not implemented the machine-readable labels. They could be subject to fines.
I expect to see clearer AI labels (the EU even has suggested icons) in social media and messaging apps. Already in response Google and YouTube have added tools for advertisers to label AI-generated ad creatives.
And I suspect that the race to comply could result in more mislabeled content. We shall see.
While the details differ, the EU Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content and the California Artificial Intelligence Transparency Act (CAITA) are in alignment, with both going into effect on August 2.
There are already standards for AI-generated content labeling, such as C2PA Content Credentials. And many companies already comply. The latest member of their steering committee is TikTok, joining Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Sony and other companies.
In the EU, the law also covers AI-generated text that is “published to inform the public on matters of public interest” that did not undergo human review. Most major companies with AI tools have already signed the WU AI code of practice. That includes Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
In California, this is just the first step. Starting in January 2027, large online platforms will have to let users get the details of AI-generated content on the platform itself. By 2028 all phones and cameras produced in California will have to store provenance information when an image is captured, allowing those images to be labeled as “real”.
It’s not clear what this will mean in practical terms.
Some popular AI tools, like Midjourney, apparently have not implemented the machine-readable labels. They could be subject to fines.
I expect to see clearer AI labels (the EU even has suggested icons) in social media and messaging apps. Already in response Google and YouTube have added tools for advertisers to label AI-generated ad creatives.
And I suspect that the race to comply could result in more mislabeled content. We shall see.
X Original Content Rewards Program
X launched a
new monetization program,
called the “Original Content Rewards Program” and winding down the current
Revenue Sharing program.
Starting in April, X started making changes to encourage original posting, including reducing Revenue Sharing payouts for aggregator accounts, taking impressions from large accounts that reupload content and awarding those impressions to the original posters, and reducing the reach of accounts that just aggregate popular content.
As a user, this should hopefully mean more original content in your Home feed.
The YouTube Shopping program is now available in the UK. Eligible channels can tag products from Wayfair, Currys, Debenhams, Boots, M&S, and Etsy. The YouTube Shopping affiliate program is available to most channels in the YouTube Partner Program in supported countries.
Snapchat will no longer recommend “wholly AI generated videos” on Spotlight. That kills monetization of such content, as Snapchat shares revenue from ads within a Spotlight. Of course, Snapchat has AI tools, and videos “enhanced or edited with Snapchat’s AI creative tools” are eligible for recommendation (with AI labels). This is part of a larger trend, with YouTube, LinkedIn, Substack, and other platforms trying to promote “human made” content, rather than low quality, repetitive AI slop.
TikTok has a new partnership with Disney. Curated Disney-centric fan-created content will appear in the Disney+ app. Creators will have access to Disney creative assets, including characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and more.
Twitch Alerts now work for mobile live streams. “Customize where they appear on screen, swap in a different set, or turn them off in Mobile IRL Alert Settings.”
If you connect your Restream account to Rumble, you can post clips there directly. Rumble is a video platform that’s popular on the far right.
StreamYard now lets you use details from a previous stream when you create a new stream. Perfect if you are streaming a series.
Starting in April, X started making changes to encourage original posting, including reducing Revenue Sharing payouts for aggregator accounts, taking impressions from large accounts that reupload content and awarding those impressions to the original posters, and reducing the reach of accounts that just aggregate popular content.
As a user, this should hopefully mean more original content in your Home feed.
- Earn from “qualified impressions” on “original content”.
- Only impressions from Premium subscribers on the Home Timeline feed are counted. Impressions from Premium+ subscribers may be more valuable than from Basic subscribers.
- An impression is counted when at least 50% of the post is visible (so it includes people quickly scrolling past).
- Each account can generate one impression
- It does not include paid, promoted, artificially generated or fraudulent impressions.
- Original content can include commentary, reactions, analysis, original memes and transformation of content for humor.
- Original content cannot be created or posted using automated means, be sexually explicit or harmful, be focused on monetization coaching, contain disinformation, have a helpful Community Note or violate other policies.
- Eligibility requirements
- Account in an eligible country, in good standing with no history of violating monetization or platform policies.
- Subscribe to X Premium.
- Have at least 500 “verified” followers.
- Have at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions on posts (not replies) from verified users in the past 90 days.
- Post original content.
- Current Revenue Sharing program members can apply for the Original Content Awards Program starting September 8th.
YouTube and Video
There is a new Practice Mode for vertical live streams in the YouTube app. You can use that to practice managing the stream, running polls, using the green screen and other features. When you are ready, you can then just tap a button to go live. Learn more.The YouTube Shopping program is now available in the UK. Eligible channels can tag products from Wayfair, Currys, Debenhams, Boots, M&S, and Etsy. The YouTube Shopping affiliate program is available to most channels in the YouTube Partner Program in supported countries.
Snapchat will no longer recommend “wholly AI generated videos” on Spotlight. That kills monetization of such content, as Snapchat shares revenue from ads within a Spotlight. Of course, Snapchat has AI tools, and videos “enhanced or edited with Snapchat’s AI creative tools” are eligible for recommendation (with AI labels). This is part of a larger trend, with YouTube, LinkedIn, Substack, and other platforms trying to promote “human made” content, rather than low quality, repetitive AI slop.
TikTok has a new partnership with Disney. Curated Disney-centric fan-created content will appear in the Disney+ app. Creators will have access to Disney creative assets, including characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and more.
Twitch Alerts now work for mobile live streams. “Customize where they appear on screen, swap in a different set, or turn them off in Mobile IRL Alert Settings.”
If you connect your Restream account to Rumble, you can post clips there directly. Rumble is a video platform that’s popular on the far right.
StreamYard now lets you use details from a previous stream when you create a new stream. Perfect if you are streaming a series.
Web Publishing
Mark Williams-Cook writes: How cats.txt showed llms.txt evidence is GEO astrology (no, you don’t need a llms.txt file for AI to “understand” your website).Social Media
Old Reddit, the user interface favored by mods, old-time users, admins, and
apparently a lot of bad actors (spammers, scrapers, etc), will be limited to
mods and logged-in users. There’s no target date for that, and they say that
these changes will be happening over months and maybe more than a year. But to
encourage everyone to stop using the old platform, there need to be changes,
especially moving mods away from Automod (which uses keywords).
- Rules Hub, “a new, intent-based moderation engine” has launched for new communities. It uses LLMs to determine if a post or comment matches the intent of a rule. Moderators can decide if a rule automatically removes the content, sends it to a mod queue or just logs it. There is a testing sandbox to make sure new rules work as expected and provides performance logs that help rules be refined.
- Post and Comment Guidance helps redditors understand community guidelines before posting. This now can be based on the flair a user selects and allows automated guidance for top-level comments.
- They want developers to use the official Reddit Developer Platform, rather than the Public Data API.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the platform would
take down videos with harassing content and “obnoxious pranks”
recorded using Meta glasses.
Bluesky will display enhanced preview cards of your Buttondown-hosted newsletter, showing the publication’s name, avatar and themed cover, rather than the usual title and snippet. This uses an AT Protocol standard, so presumably any site could implement this.
Bluesky group chats can now include up to 100 members.
Bluesky launched improvements to trending topics. It “catches more topics, identifies more posts within that topic, and serves them up faster.”
Discord has updated their look across mobile and desktop, with a new true dark mode, theme customization, new icons with people in circles and things in squircles, and cleaned-up chat bar.
The Pinterest Inclusion Fund is an incubator program that gives creators active on other platforms grants for content production, training and other resources. This year they are especially encouraging creators in 10 countries with content that “fuel’s the platform’s inclusive features”, like skin tone, hair and body type ranges.
There’s a new Adobe plugin for ChatGPT. This connects to the whole suite of Adobe tools, including Express, Photoshop, Firefly, Illustrator, Premiere and more. You can turn long-form video into vertical Shorts or Reels, apply updates across an entire set of photos, turn a spreadsheet into graphics or use templates. Signing in to your Adobe account lets you access your Creative Cloud files, save work across sessions and access more generative capabilities.
Thanks for reading! 🌼
Bluesky will display enhanced preview cards of your Buttondown-hosted newsletter, showing the publication’s name, avatar and themed cover, rather than the usual title and snippet. This uses an AT Protocol standard, so presumably any site could implement this.
Bluesky group chats can now include up to 100 members.
Bluesky launched improvements to trending topics. It “catches more topics, identifies more posts within that topic, and serves them up faster.”
Discord has updated their look across mobile and desktop, with a new true dark mode, theme customization, new icons with people in circles and things in squircles, and cleaned-up chat bar.
The Pinterest Inclusion Fund is an incubator program that gives creators active on other platforms grants for content production, training and other resources. This year they are especially encouraging creators in 10 countries with content that “fuel’s the platform’s inclusive features”, like skin tone, hair and body type ranges.
Tools
It is now possible to leave timestamped comments on videos stored in Google Drive. Each timestamped comment is indicated with a marker on the video player timeline which you can jump to directly. This simplifies managing feedback.There’s a new Adobe plugin for ChatGPT. This connects to the whole suite of Adobe tools, including Express, Photoshop, Firefly, Illustrator, Premiere and more. You can turn long-form video into vertical Shorts or Reels, apply updates across an entire set of photos, turn a spreadsheet into graphics or use templates. Signing in to your Adobe account lets you access your Creative Cloud files, save work across sessions and access more generative capabilities.
Thanks for reading! 🌼
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