Change is in the air! This week has us X-ing out all birds, double-checking our Terms of Services, buying "comfort barbies" and everything pink, and impulse spending on TikTok.

Bird is no longer the word

Elon has us, once again, befuddled over the recent change at Twitter Headquarters. If you haven't heard yet — Twitter is now X, as Musk said the company will eventually "bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds." This isn't the first time we've seen a social channel rebrand with a name change (hello Snap and Meta!), but Twitter X's change has been clunky and leaving many confused on how the name change will affect a site that has already seen many alterations (what many would consider downgrades) in the past year.

Pink Fever

It's official. Barbie is changing the world. The blockbuster hit $1 billion in sales (Yes, B as in billion… and Barbie), making Greta Gerwig the first female director to do so. All that marketing really paid off. But aside from dollar signs, brand collabs — Barbie has women everywhere getting in touch with their inner girl. One could say we're experiencing a Barbie Renaissance, a sincere moment where girlhood is both inspirational and cool.

From my nail technician telling me that they've never painted so many toes pink, to my cashier at Trader Joe's asking me what my favorite part was, to the "Comfort Barbies" purchased by adults — we're all gushing about Barbie and what the movie means to us. I absolutely can't wait to see all the different Barbie costumes on Halloween, and to greet each one with a "Hi, Barbie!"

All the AI

Every week, we see more and more ways that AI is shaking up the way we live and work — for better or worse is highly debatable (¿porque no los dos?). While fast food joints like White Castle aim to amp up their automated drive thru game, outdoor enthusiasts may have found the perfect travel planner in Chat GPT. At the same time, we wait with bated breath for the outcome as artists, writers and actors fight for their right to not be replaced by artificial intelligence. The New York Times updated its terms of services to forbid the scraping of its content to train a machine learning or AI system, while Zoom's recent ToS update had the internet buzzing with worries that they would now be listening in on work calls to train their own AI. Experts say that's not quite the case, but it has us thinking hard about what companies are allowed to do when it comes to privacy and security amidst the rise of this new technology.

Evolution of the Creator Economy

It's no secret that we are an "influenced" population. The rise of digital creators has become an integral part of commerce, as people continue to make purchase decisions based on Amazon hauls on Tiktok and brand collabs with their favorite creators. This year, the creator economy has seen remarkable growth with over 207 million creators, and platform features like Tiktok Shop and YouTube Shopping are making monetization even easier.

Social strategist and Tiktoker, Nicky Reardon, predicts that the next generation of creators will be "curators" rather than "informers" — culling down a vast amount of options for their audience to save them time and money. As audiences flock to these creators for the value and insight they provide, expect to see brands link up with them as well, as they will want to be included in their recommendation. I mean, if it helps me find the perfect pair of jeans, I'm all for it.

Channel Roundup

Instagram tested its new collaborative posting options in Reels & Collabs. You can also add music to photo carousels now.

TikTok Launched its global #BookTok Challenge to encourage literacy engagement.

Spotify and Patreon integrate to enhance listener discovery.

Snap launched 'After Dark' to encourage participatory sharing.

YouTube is done with clickable links in shorts.

Pinterest released 2023 Holiday marketing tips.

̶T̶w̶i̶t̶t̶e̶r I MEAN X lowered its ad sharing requirements from 15M to 5M impressions in 3 months.

LinkedIn added new features so that job seekers can better highlight their professional skills.