Today's episode features a clip from the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, about how they've hit 3 billion monthly active users, and explaining how they're rolling out controls to allow you to determine what topics you see content about. Additionally, the YouTube team has some updates, including the ability to turn a live-stream into a Short, and an explanation of what terms you can say on YouTube.

Today's episode features the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, answering questions about why there are links only in Stories and not in captions or Reels, plus he explains how Stories can impact Reach. Additionally we hear from the CEO of YouTube, Neal Mohan, on how the platform will treat AI generated content - and how creators should think about it.

This is episode 1500! This is a huge milestone for me, and in today's episode, I include some new theme music. Mark Zuckerburg recently did a keynote at Meta Connect. It's long and there were a lot of technical difficulties so instead, Andrew Bosworth, CTO at Meta, explains the new products and their features. Additionally Adam Mosseri explains his favorite features of Instagram DMs, plus both Edits and Threads have some updates. Lastly, if you have never left a review for the show, would you mind taking 2 minutes to do so?

Today we do a deep dive into the YouTube Made On event, sharing updates from the Creator Insider team. We learned that YouTube paid out over $100 Billion dollars to Creators in the past 4 years alone! We also get new features like collabs, A/B testing of titles, and more.

The Head of Instagram does a weekly Ask Me Anything and I share his answers on the show. Today we discuss if there's a way to find out which followers are most engaged (there isn't a way!) and how DM groups are different from Broadcast Channels (DM groups allow anyone to reply, Broadcast Channels only allow the person who owns it to post) and if reach goes down if lots of people mute you (reach doesn't go down in that scenario!)

Today on the show, the Head of Instagram explains how they've fixed Instagram Stories, and the YouTube team rolls multi-language audio. Additionally, Ashley Coffey and I talk AI news, including an AI Podcast company that's going to make podcasts for $1 and a California bill that would regulate AI chatbots.

Today, the Head of Instagram explains what metrics to focus on for analyzing Reels performance - it's average watch time, then likes. Additionally he explains why it took so long to make an iPad app, and gives some input on other feature requests, like the ability to send a message to everyone's followers.

Today's show features the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, talking about a feature request they have implemented - the ability to pin your own comment. Additionally Threads now allows up to 10,000 characters in posts to compete with Substack, Adobe is releasing Premiere for mobile so you can edit videos on your phone, and Jenn Hermann stops by to share some strategies around Reels.

After many years of not treating the iPad like a device that needed a good Instagram experience, the team is finally rolling out an iPad app, with a different experience - the Reels tab will be featured, and you watch videos while commenting and responding to messages. If you feel left out because you don't have an iPad, I explain how to use Instagram on other devices. Additionally we have some TikTok updates including new tools to help creators get on the TikTok shop, and the YouTube team shares an update on Communities.

Today on the show, Instagram gets filters for Story Replies, Unread messages, Unanswered messages, messages from Followers, and messages from Verified users. Additionally, the Instagram @creators account shares a strategy for using AI to write scripts with viral hooks, TikTok adds voice messages in the inbox, and Cyndi Zaweski stops by to share storytelling strategies.

Instagram has launched a new video series to explain how to get the most of out Edits, the Head of Instagram explains how to tell if someone has unfollowed you, and the YouTube Creator Insider team updates us on the YouTube Create app.

Today the Head of Instagram explains connected Reels, which is a new feature that's badly needed. He also explains trial reels, how to stop certain people from seeing your reposts, how long to wait in between posts, and what to do if you want to post a Reel longer than 3 minutes.

Today I interview Bella Rose Mortel, a social media strategist and creative copywriter known for building authentic, high-impact digital brands. Currently at beehiiv, she leads content + strategy across LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram and other platforms, blending strategy with storytelling to drive growth and engagement. With a background at Workweek and Morning Brew, plus her own Gen Z–focused newsletter The Personality Hire, she’s passionate about making B2B content feel human, relevant, and genuinely fun. In this interview, we discuss the critical importance for creators to "own their audience" through an email newsletter, as social media platforms can be unreliable due to algorithm changes or potential bans. Bella Rose highlights beehive's key differentiators from competitors like Substack, including its 0% cut on paid subscription revenue (only Stripe fees apply), a built-in ad network that offers sponsorship opportunities with no minimum subscriber count (even for those with as few as 100 subscribers), and a new fully integrated website builder. The discussion also covers beehiiv's tools designed to make content creation easier, such as AI writing assistance and various newsletter and website templates, emphasizing its role as an all-in-one platform to simplify growing and monetizing a content business. Bella Rose also shares insights from her dual perspective as a newsletter creator and social media strategist, explaining how newsletters foster a deeper connection with an intentional audience compared to the passive scrolling on social media, and offering practical advice on managing multiple social platforms.

Meta launches the ability to automatically have your Instagram and Facebook Reels translated and dubbed from English to Spanish (and vice versa!) but the AI will ensure your mouth matches the words. Also the Head of Instagram answers a question about how long Reels should be, the Buffer team shares some strategy and a new feature, the YouTube team is working on Effects for Shorts, and I do Wednesday Waffle.

Today we review the Head of Instagram's answers to questions like "Will bonuses for Reels be back?" and "Does putting no caption In a Reel affect it's reach?" and "If I quickly skip someone's Story, can they still see I saw it?", plus some Instagram feature suggestions.

How often should you post on Instagram? I pit the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, against the actual data. The Buffer team has done a masterful job of pulling all the data together into one place. There are also Edits app updates to talk about, plus AI news - turns out Meta's AI is doing some really bad things, and Chat-GPT has been updated but the old model is still available.

The Head of Instagram gives the latest on the reposts feature - how it works and where reposts appear. Additionally he explains how location sharing on Instagram works, and gives some updates on the Edits app. After the break we talk about how Instagram removes bots and fake followers, plus a feature suggestion for carousels.

Today's weekend edition focused on the Instagram Map feature - what it is, the backlash it's received and why. Lia Haberman of the In Case You Missed It newsletter stops by to explain what all the fuss is about and why it matters. Also Adam Mosseri busts an Instagram myth, and Ashley Coffey and I dive into AI news around Perplexity, Cloudflare, and Google's new AI model.

Meta made $46 billion dollars in Q2 alone. That's the important thing to know. It's 21% growth over Q2 2024. Instagram has added reposts - the ability to share content directly to your feed so others can see it. Also, they've added a map feature to see your friends and what they're sharing.

There are many ways to share content on Instagram - Reels, Carousels, Single Posts, Broadcast Channels, Stories, Going Live - when should you use each one? Today's episode explains. Also the Instagram team has been working on improving the available analytics - we'll discuss. And the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, answers questions about reach, engagement, Stories, and more.