Edition #16

Happy Wednesday — hope you’ve had a great April, May and are enjoying some good weather (it’s been up & down in DC!) — I missed the April recap, but I promise you it’s for a good reason. We’ve been BUSY — building some new features, activations and more that I’ll go into in today’s newsletter.

Before we get in — to all the new readers — welcome! Every month, Ellie & I (& the rest of the team helps too!) put together a round up of news, highlights, tests and things we’re exploring around the creator economy as it relates to the progressive/impact space at Social Currant.

If you were forwarded this email, subscribe here. If you want to learn more about the work Social Currant did in 2023, view our impact report here.

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Alright, so — let’s dive in to some of our updates:

• [EVENT] For the folks in DC, we’re hosting a happy hour in partnership with the National Digital Roundtable. Come join a network of digital folks, content creators and more. Use code ‘SocialCurrant‘ to get your free ticket. RSVP here.

• [WEBINAR] We’re partnering with Netroots Nation to host a creator only webinar! Join me, Conscious Lee, Ariana Jasmine & Laurenzo Adesso for a panel on how organizations can effectively work with content creators to reach audiences more effectively. RSVP here.

• [CREATOR DATABASE] Our creator database is LIVE! Want to test it out? Let me know and I’m happy to give you a quick demo. We’re slowly building up the creators on the database, but you can sort by state, city, cause and directly work with creators through our platform!

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Today, we’re going to focus on a few different things to give you some updates from around the creator space, recommendations and best practices. We’ll cover:

• A creator conference and key takeaways

• Opportunities to engage creators in the next few months

• The news around TikTok and platform diversification

Alright, so let’s dive in:

[CREATOR CONFERENCE & TAKEAWAYS] The Hub Project, Way to Win & Future Forward organized a one-of-its-kind creator conference that brought together almost 140 creators to learn more about important issues like democracy, abortion, the economy and more. Creators participated in industry focused breakouts, heard from electeds and thought about how to use their platforms for good. A few takeaways:

• Creators, especially those who already create impact based content or want to are looking for spaces to meet other creators. The power of community building for organizations should be rooted in creating space for your community to meet EACH OTHER, not just YOU.

• Non-political creators want to engage. Almost 70% of the creators at the conference did not create content about politics every day but still want to talk about issues they care. Think about how you can engage newer voices, but also make sure to continue investing in existing voices that are talking about the issues that your organization is advocating for.

• We need to move beyond just sponsored content (which is an important piece of the puzzle) to long-term organizing — events, in-person relationship building, briefings and a lot more.

[OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE CREATORS IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS] A quick few opportunities to engage creators in the next few months, we’ll be involved in all to some level so let us know if we can support with any planning or brainstorming:

• June 21st - July 15th: Copa America

• June 26th - 29th: Vidcon Anaheim

• July 26th - August 11th: Olympics

• August 1st - 4th: Lollapalooza

[TIKTOK, The Ban & What You Should Be Doing] Since I last sent out this newsletter, a bill that outlines a framework to ban TikTok has officially passed the House, Senate and been signed by President Biden. A few more things to know & some actions to take:

• This Axios article about the bill and context around it will make sure you’re caught up.

• 8 TikTok creators are suing the US Government over the TikTok ban.

• Actions to take:

  • Encourage creators to be multi-platform if they aren’t already.

  • Invest in creators that have multi-platform audiences and are able to create multi-platform presences.

  • Try new channels: invest in creators on platforms like Snapchat, Youtube and other platforms in addition to TikTok & Instagram.

  • Support your creators — with Instagram updates and TikTok challenges, creators are not feeling welcome on any social platforms and it’s important to acknowledge that.

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monthly roundup of what’s going on in the creator economy:

• YouGov recently released a report into all things TikTok, from what creators are talking about in their content to the political leanings of the average TikTok user. Download the report here!

• Instagram says Reels that are longer than 90 seconds can actually HURT engagement. Read more here.

• Threads has finally launched a fact checking program. They haven’t, however, announced which organizations will be fact-checking partners for Threads. Read more here.

• TikTok is testing 60 minute uploads as it tries to take some of Youtubes audience. Read more here.

• You can now add collaboration posts on TikTok! The popular Instagram feature is now making it’s way to other platforms. The impact on reach is yet to be seen. Read more here.

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Anecdotes, observations & what we’re hearing from creators: We recently hosted a call with some creators and had a bunch of interesting anecdotes from creators:

• Suppression in political content — As social platforms become more active about filtering out political content, many creators who are posting about progressive issues are seeing a decrease in overall reach.

  • They’re combatting this by being more strategic with how they use hashtags and key words in their content (for example, Trump = cheeto man) or by making their caption something different from the video’s messaging entirely (for example, “What’s your favorite color?” in a video talking about aid for Gaza).

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FAQs from the month:

• What issues are most organizations focusing on in their campaigns?

  • Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen more campaigns, content and interest around the following issue areas:

    • Clean Energy & Climate

    • Reproductive Rights (Especially around the overturning of Roe)

  • A few spaces we’re looking to focus more on:

    • Healthcare

    • Corporate Greed & Economy

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If you made it all this way - thank you! For reading, trusting creators and me. I'm building Social Currant to make an impact and you all are a part of this journey. Until next month!

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