Peggy K's Creator News

This week YouTube shared their plans for 2022, Google and Facebook explained how they keep your data private (really!), new backgrounds and stickers help you celebrate Lunar New Year and more. If you are interested in Web Stories, join this week’s #OnEBoardChat on Twitter. It’s Sunday 11AM Pacific, 6PM UTC. And if you want the Weekly Update in your email inbox,  sign up for my newsletter . Year of the Tiger You can celebrate Lunar New Year (beginning February 1) with the Year of the Tiger background in Google Meet . Note that holiday-specific backgrounds are usually only temporarily available. Detailed instructions for changing your background in Google Meet. Also try s earching Google for “Lunar New Year”, “Chinese New Year” or Year of the Tiger for a surprise. Instagram has Lunar New Year stickers and a special AR effect  to help you celebrate. Top Updates YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki posted her first “letter to creators” of the year, looking back at 2021 and ...

Google Meet adds temporary holiday-inspired backgrounds to make your meetings more festive. The latest celebrates the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year, Tết, 설날), which begins February 1, with an illustration of the Year of the Tiger. Watch the video for a quick tutorial on how to change your background in Google Meet, or read on for detailed instructions.  新年快乐! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! 새해복많이받으세요! Change Your Google Meet Background on Desktop Note that if you are using a school or work account, your organization may have disabled background effects.  Change your Meet background before joining a meeting 1. Open your Google Meet meeting by clicking a meeting link or entering a meeting code 2. On the Join page, click the Effects icon at the bottom right of your video preview 3. In the "green room" select the background you want to use 4. C...

Welcome to the first weekly update for 2022! This first edition of the year is later than planned, as it turned out I really needed a longer break than I originally expected. My commitment focus for 2022 is “Reflection” and that is part of what I’ve been doing the past few weeks. I’ve realized that I feel most creative when I have a chance to work on projects away from home. In the Before Times I often went to the library or a cafe or other comfortable space to work on things. But with COVID, that hasn’t been a practical option. I’m still working out what will work best, but I feel like just trying to work that out is a step in the right direction. I’ve also set aside some time for a couple of personal projects that had fallen by the wayside. That means less time for blogging, but it’s been good for my spirit. As I write this I’m feeling more mentally energized than I have for several months, so it’s been a good thing. And now I’m back for your weekly updates. Onward into 2022! T...

YouTube earnings and other AdSense earnings will have separate payments accounts starting in March 2022.  If you are a YouTube Partner you should have received an email from AdSense this week with the announcement.   Email from AdSense:  A new way to manage and view your YouTube earnings Do YouTube Partners need to make any changes?  No. Your YouTube earnings and payment information will still be available from your AdSense account.  Your current payment method and any custom payment threshold will automatically be applied to the new YouTube payment account. Any unpaid YouTube earnings will be transferred to your new YouTube payment account when that becomes available. You will continue to be able to access your already-paid YouTube earnings and payments information in your AdSense payments account.  As now, you can see your YouTube channel's estimated revenue and ad p...

This week you can make your virtual holiday parties more festive, watch automatically captioned Twitter videos, and embed your Instagram profile on your website. Plus there are new features for Calendar, Docs, Drive and Slides to improve your productivity into 2022.  If you are a YouTube creator and partner, be sure to check your AdSense US tax settings (go paperless!) and check out Qaya, Area 120's new merch storefront. Read the details below. This is the last Weekly Update until 2022! The next edition will be Sunday January 2, then will return to the usual Saturday schedule. There will be an end-of-year round-up in the meantime. Have a wonderful holiday, a merry Christmas and on to the new year! Reminder: you can get the Weekly Update in nicely-formatted email form by signing up for my newsletter. Holiday Cheer Use the new winter holiday background in Google Meet or the (slightly disturbing) Duo AR Christmas tree to make your Christmas meetups more ...

  As 2021 winds down, there were a slew of new features announced for YouTube (Permissions support in Live Control Room, Places Mentioned, subscription collections), Meta (professional mode for Profiles, comment moderation tools, Facebook Live features, Horizon Worlds metaverse opening), Google Chat (video and audio calls), Google Workspace tools (tables in Docs, shortcuts in Drive, Tasks in Calendar), and much more. Plus you can get your end-of-year recaps from YouTube Music, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook. Find out where all your time went! Reminder: if you would like the Weekly Update in your email Inbox, subscribe to my newsletter. Note that FeedBurner-based email subscriptions may be turned off at any time. More Best of 2021 If you are looking for the top 2021 trends for YouTube, GIPHY and more, c heck out last week’s update . Google released their Year in Search 2021 . You can dig into all the search trends around the world, or check out the top entertainment trends...

I want to start this week's update with a pearsonal plea. This week I got my COVID booster shot. There were some minor side effects, but it is worth it. If you are eligible, and haven’t gotten your vaccination or booster yet, please do, for your health, for the health of your family, friends and co-workers, and to help prevent new variants from emerging. In the US you can find a location at www.vaccines.gov or on your state’s vaccination website (in California it’s myturn.ca.gov ). Do it now, and you will have protection in time for your Christmas and New Year's Eve parties. Just do it. OK, with that out of the way, this week we take a look back on what was popular in 2021, and have a few creator updates. There was a change in leadership and policy at Twitter, new creator features on YouTube, Facebook, Clubhouse and LinkedIn; new Memories in Google Photos and more. Best of 2021 Facebook’s GIPHY shared the top GIFs of 2021 . Here’s number one : And 2021 has often been ... ...