New this week: ▶ YouTube Communities on desktop 🙍YouTube AI Creator likeness detection 📛 X rents “Priority” & “Rare” handles 👓 Samsung Galaxy XR immersive video 🎃 Halloween trends and features Get all the updates and links:

Tumblr is starting to show ads on free blogs. * No ads on blogs with a custom domain * No ads on blogs of Premium subscribers * Premium subscribers won't see ads anywhere * It's one ad at the bottom of the window (see pic) www.tumblr.com/changes/7973...

Elizabeth Spiers at TPM: "if you wanted people to read your blog, you had to make it compelling enough that they would visit it, directly, because they wanted to. And if they wanted to respond to you, they had to do it on their own blog, and link back." talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/what-...

Acknowledgement of the problems at TwitchCon is a first step, but actions speak louder than words. And how much of the problems around harassment especially are due to Twitch culture? Problems coming from inside the house may not be easily fixable. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Eb...

Google Ads turned 25. The platform Google set up for publishers, with AdSense for Content and YouTube, has allowed bloggers and video creators to at least earn a little from their efforts. I think it's fair to say Google Ads helped shaped the internet as we have it today. blog.google/products/ads...

YouTube Communities are finally available on desktop! Previously they were only available in the mobile app. Communities are available to all channels with existing access to posts and channel owners over 16. support.google.com/y...

🔔 Public records-based reporting should be free. @404media.co and @wired.com are leading the way. Hear why this is a public service and good for business, ft. @josephcox.bsky.social, @katie-drummond.bsky.social, Caitlin Vogus, and Lauren Harper. 🗓️ Oct. 29, 2 pm EDT RSVP: freedom.press/unpaywalled

Likeness detection is rolling out to creators in the YouTube Partner Program. This lets you easily detect, manage, and request the removal of unauthorized videos where your facial likeness may be altered or made with AI. Provide your official ID and facial scan to set it up. www.youtube.com/watc...

Long live 3rd party cookies? Google completely kills their "Privacy Sandbox" after "low levels of adoption". Earlier this year Google announced they would not be blocking 3rd party cookies in Chrome. www.adweek.com/media/google...

This is so cool!

You can now create an ad-supported YouTube Course with just a few clicks. It's a specialized playlist with comments. Viewers see their progress and get a badge when the Course is completed. All this week's OnEBoard Tech Tips: news.oneboard.network/2025/10/tech...

You can now join the Waitlist for Twitch's upcoming AI-supported Alpha "Auto Clips" tool. Auto-Clips will automatically create and publish the most engaging moments of your stream - and allow you to say "clip that" to generate a 60 clip. dashboard.twitch.tv/settings/str...

This week's YouTube updates: ▶Second chances for creators with terminated channels ▶YouTube Shorts improved timeline editor ▶YouTube expands ad-supported courses ▶Switch a live stream from public to members-only ▶Leave voice replies to comments Get them all:

Google now lets you set up Recovery Contacts for your account. Add someone who you trust as a recovery contact. If you lose access to your Google Account, you can reach out to your recovery contact directly with a code that lets them confirm it’s really you.

wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...

YouTube will allow some creators with terminated channels to create a new channel: * must be at least 1 year after channel termination * Terminations for copyright infringement or violating Creator Responsibility policy aren't eligible * Eligible channels must be approved blog.youtube/inside-...

🍀 #PESummit25 #Google #Ireland #Dublin #PeopleofBlueSky Enjoyed the real blue sky with @peggyk.bsky.social

Confidential at a Google conference #PESummit25 🍀 Friend in crime @peggyk.bsky.social

BREAKING: A catastrophic breach has impacted Discord user data including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the app’s verification process, email addresses, phone numbers, approximately where the user lives, and much more. 🔗 www.404media.co/the-discord-...

Sounds fancy, but for me being a Google Product Expert is mostly about keeping up with new features and ideas, and sharing that knowledge. #PESummit25

New this week: ▶ Earn with YouTube BrandConnect Open Call 📈 AdSense for Content traffic sources report 🧑‍🤝‍🧑Threads topic-based communities 👑Twitch Social Media sharing badges ✨ Deepfake friends in the Sora app

YouTube BrandConnect Open Call is a pilot program aimed at channels looking to break into sponsorships * Eligible Open Calls on the YouTube Studio mobile app Earn tab * Shorts only * No edits * Earn up to $3500 * Brands can use selected content up to 180 days www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZH8...

Collaborate on YouTube!

YouTube is updating its Medical Misinformation policy to enforce against content that “falsely claims tobacco or nicotine are not addictive or harmful”. Enforcement begins on October 20th. Source: support.google.com/youtube/answ...

AdSense for Content has a new traffic source breakdown report. Sources: Bing, Facebook, FMKorea, Google, Instagram, Naver, TheQoo, X (Twitter), Yahoo, and YouTube. Other traffic is Direct, Other, or Unknown. It’s available for reports starting July 21, 2025. support.google.com/a...

The new OpenAI Sora social app (for iOS) lets you use the new Sora 2 video model to generate more realistic videos, create deepfake videos of your friends using Cameo, and scroll a feed of AI-generated videos (including trademark infringing content). openai.com/index/sora-2/

Twitch has a new Social Media badge that you can earn by sharing Clips from participating channels on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube * Based on how many views your content receives * Must be a subscriber or following for at least 3 months * Available for a limited time help.twitch.tv/s/article/so...

Snapseed, Google’s long-neglected photo editing app, has new AI powered features (of course). Google Research explains how the new Object Brush in the iOS app lets you simply draw a stroke on the object you want to edit. You can then adjust just that object. research.google/blog/introdu...

There are new generative AI templates in YouTube Effect Maker, the platform for creating effects for YouTube Shorts. Current templates: AI transformation, AI randomizer, AI head gesture quiz, and Drawing. Go to effects.youtube.com/... to give it a try.

Bluesky runs on open protocols with open source code. Today we’re taking an additional step and making a patent non-aggression pledge to ensure that everyone can build confidently on our work. Learn more and read the pledge in our blog post: bsky.social/about/blog/1...

What do you know about the new YouTube "Hide End Screen" option? Take this week's quiz: www.youtube.com/post...

YouTube has reorganized the comment moderation Settings on YouTube Studio desktop. * The Community tab is now the Community Moderation tab * There are sections for content controls, user management and channel guidelines. The settings are the same, just better organized now.

Please - stop doing the screenshot no link thing on Bluesky. This platform does not punish you for posting a URL. You picked up the habit from Meta apps? Stop doing Mark Z's bidding. Link ESPECIALLY to authors, reporters, bloggers, etc. where you quote the work.

Facebook added new fan features: * Fan challenges from Creators. A fan leaderboard lists challenges with the most reactions. * Custom top fan badges. These display when you comment on a Creator’s Page and on your own profile.

How to recover a hacked YouTube channel (and Google Account): www.youtube.com/watc... Your first step should be the hacked channel assistant, that will walk you through recovery steps. (Available in English, Spanish, Portuguese) support.google.com/y...

New YouTube Shorts Remix option: Extend with AI. Select Remix > 5 second segment > select an AI prompt to extend it You can then add more video and music * Remix links back to the original * Creators can opt content out of Remixes * Rolling out outside the UK and EU support.google.com/y...

New this week: ▶ Hide YouTube video endscreens ⏪Twitch Stream Rewind 🛡Spotify protects Artists from harmful AI 🗣Linktree-Canva integration & Profile Enhance ♪ Executive order allowing TikTok deal All this week's updates

YouTube Labs is a new feature for US-based Premium subscribers to try prototype AI-powered features. Current experiment is in the YouTube Music app - as you listen to radio & mixes, AI hosts will chime in with relevant stories and insights. blog.youtube/news-an...

Twitch has launched Stream Rewind, letting viewers pause, rewind and resume watching live streams. It's similar to YouTube live stream DVR. * Can only be enabled by Affiliates and Partners * Can only be used by viewers that are Turbo or Channel subscribers; eventually available to all

The new YouTube Hide button on the end screen does make it nicer to watch until the very end of the video.

YouTube now lets you "Hide" the end screen on a video (that's the overlay with recommendations over the last seconds of the video). Also the "watermark" you can add to your videos no longer becomes a subscribe button when you hover your cursor. More details: support.google.com/y...

What do you know about YouTube Collaborations? Take this week's quiz: www.youtube.com/post...

YouTube says there will be a limited pilot project that will be available to a subset of creators in addition to those channels terminated for policies that have been deprecated.

🍂 Autumn Equinox and our three tech tips news.oneboard.network/2025/09/tech... #AutumnEquinox #AI #Reimagine #YouTube #Collaborations #Whisk

New this week: ▶ YouTube Collaborations 📊 YouTube A/B Title Testing 🔴 AI highlight clips from YouTube Live 🐝 Integrate Beehiiv with your Discord server 🔍 Follow Creator content in Google Discover So many YouTube announcements! Get them all:

Thank you to the 14,000+ people who shared feedback on our community guidelines! We’re updating our rules for clarity, strengthening enforcement, and introducing product changes for healthier conversations. New guidelines kick in Oct 15. bsky.social/about/blog/0...

Google Discover will show more Creator content (articles, YouTube, social media). Follow creators in Discover to see more. blog.google/products/sea...

Beehiiv now lets you integrate your Discord server. Pair roles to your readers and subscription tiers. Automate invitations to your server seamlessly. Offer Discord access as an exclusive perk to your free and/or paying subscribers. product.beehiiv.com/p/flexible-s...

What do you know about YouTube's brainstorming tools? Take this week's quiz: www.youtube.com/post...

YouTube teases new AI-powered tools for turning podcasts into video clips, even if they're audio-only.