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More IG Changes, Using AI to Mimic Your Voice, & Breaking Into Long-Form

a roundup of updates on social media

Author

Grace Lemire
September 03, 2024

Hey.

We’re back…with more Instagram updates (yes, they released yet another feature we didn’t ask for). We’ve also got some insights from a cool interview we had with SoupTimmy on transitioning from short-form to long-form.

If you’ve got a topic you’d like to see us cover, or if there’s a creator you want us to interview, hit Reply on this email and let us know.

In today’s newsletter:

  • Tips for expanding to long-form content

  • IG’s new updates

  • TikTok’s new AI of your voice

Transitioning from Short to Long-Form

If you’re a creator who got your start on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, short-form content is likely your bread and butter. It’s wise to expand to other platforms and content formats, but long-form is a whole other ballgame.

Making the transition can be difficult, so we brought in Timmy of SoupTimmy (4.7M subscribers) to our Discord community. After building an audience on TikTok, Timmy made a seamless transition to long-form content on YouTube.

Here’s how he did it:

us & SoupTimmy :)

Timmy started posting on TikTok in 2020, simply to get comfortable on camera. He challenged himself to post 1 Rubik’s Cube video every day for 30 days. (that’s his niche)

@souptimmy

Throwing a Rubik’s cube at a baseball game! ⚾️ @Minnesota Twins @Rubik’s Cube #rubikscube #firstpitch #MLB #pitch

A few highlights from Timmy’s conversation:

  • Timmy said to view it like this → Short-form brings in new people, long-form tries to retain them.

  • But you should think of every scene in a long-form video like a short-form video…What’s the hook? What’s the ending?

  • Despite being super niched down, Timmy never runs out of ideas. He shared a list of tactics in the Discord, but one of our favorites was using a random word generator.

Check out the rest of the conversation and hear from more talented creators like Timmy inside the Discord community.

IG Releases More Changes

Have you ever looked at a photo you’re about to post on Instagram and thought…this needs words?

(us either)

Well, you’re in luck! Instagram just released a new update—the ability to add words to static photo posts. You’ll also be able to layer photos on top of one another. (crazy stuff)

source: Instagram

They’ve also released new fonts for Stories and Reels, along with text animation for both. Plus, you can now add up to 20 photos in a carousel (10 more than it’s been in the past).

TikTok’s New Voice-to-Text Feature (Using Your Voice)

If you’ve ever used the text-to-speech feature on TikTok, you know it’s got some funky options. From high-pitched, to old man, to jokester—there’s a wide variety of voices to choose from.

And they just added one more—yours.

TikTok just released a feature allowing creators to create an AI voice for text-to-speech. It seems like it might be in beta though since we don’t have it quite yet.

👩🏻‍⚖️ Creator behind “very demure” trend enters trademark battle.

😬 YouTube under fire for violating content policies.

💰 Are brands investing less in brand deals?

📈 YouTube algorithm insights released.

Quick Financial Reminder

If you’re self-employed, the next quarterly tax payment is due September 16th (a little less than 2 weeks from today!).

See ya next week,

Karat