SOcial media/ai/: 1)Camp Tech Articles: Do AI Notetakers record or transcribe business conversations – without explicit consent?; 2)Social Media Examiner: Social and AI updated; 3) THRIVECART NEWS (THIS IS NEW)
1)Camp Tech Articles: Do AI Notetakers record or transcribe business conversations – without explicit consent?
Wispr Flow, a popular AI dictation tool, has released a live notetaker that transcribes and summarizes meetings. It joins others, such as Granola, that don’t necessarily announce their presence. This means many people now assume business conversations will be recorded or transcribed by AI, sometimes without explicit consent. Read more about the implications in WIRED: The AI Notetaker Has Been Invited to All the Meetings: https://zwdgzgl.clicks.mlsend.com/ty/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjE5NTYwODIsXCJsXCI6MTk1MTY2OTA0NTYwNjUwMTc2LFwiclwiOjE5NTE2Njk1NTI4MTMxOTU4M30iLCJzIjoiMTYyMTY2M2FkMjA5ZjViOSJ9
Google’s Pixel 11 Event (August 12th): Android phone users, take note. Google’s Pixel event is next week (on Wednesday August 12). AndroidCentral has details on how to watch and what to expect from the Pixel 11 Made by Google 2026 launch event: https://www.androidcentral.com/phones/google-pixel/how-to-watch-made-by-google-pixel-11-launch-event-live
A Sask. artist’s phone fell 1.1 km from a plane. They found it in a canola field in ‘pristine’ condition, Courtesy of Alexander Quon · CBC News · Posted: Jul 21, 2026: Excerpt: “I was just sick. I was like, ‘Can you even get insurance for dropping your phone out of a plane?’ Like, what do you say on the claim? ‘I’m an idiot?'” Cline said. Full article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/artist-plane-iphone-9.7277046
2)Social Media Examiner: Social and AI updated, Courtesy of Michael Stelzner, Founder and CEO, Social Media Examiner
A)YouTube Viewer-to-Buyer Funnel; B) How to Grow on Instagram Without Reels; C) News
A)YouTube Viewer-to-Buyer Funnel
Is your YouTube content mix off-balance?
The core limitation of search-based and how-to content is that it solves an immediate problem for your customer, but it doesn’t build a returning audience for you. Too much bottom-of-funnel content and not enough awareness content creates a problem with YouTube’s algorithm. If every video drives viewers off the platform, YouTube’s recommendation system reduces the channel’s reach.
Liz Germain’s approach ensures that your awareness content brings viewers in, your connection content keeps them coming back, and your conversion content captures them at the right moment. Her funnel uses a three-stage content framework built around the 3 Cs:
Capture Content: Top-of-funnel content attracts new viewers to the channel through reach and discovery. This includes trending Shorts, search-targeted videos, broad audience topics, and collaborations with other creators.
Connection Content: Middle-of-funnel content educates viewers on the main problem they’re looking to solve and builds trust. Reviews, comparisons, tutorials, how-to videos, numbered list videos, and case studies all serve this stage.
Conversion Content: Bottom-of-funnel content consists of strategic lead-generation videos designed to move viewers off YouTube and onto your email list. These videos address a specific, urgent problem and include a clear call to action pointing viewers toward a free or low-cost opt-in.
Apply Optimized YouTube Funnel Content Mix Ratios
To build your funnel, map roughly 20-30% of your content to each stage. Then, make sure 80% of your videos route viewers to other related videos on your channel to build the relationship. Finally, use the remaining 20% of your videos to strategically send viewers into an off-platform funnel.
This tip was shared by Liz Germain at Social Media Marketing World. Get access to the full presentation now, with a post-conference Virtual Ticket.
B) How to Grow on Instagram Without Reels
The biggest misconception about Instagram growth is that Reels are the only path forward. Katelyn Rhoades built a following of more than 217,000 and a six-figure revenue stream by leaning heavily into educational carousels, and her agency has replicated the approach across multiple niches with consistent results.
The advantage comes down to how Instagram’s algorithm measures engagement. When someone watches a Reel, they keep scrolling. Carousels demand a different kind of interaction: people stop, read, swipe through slides, go back to earlier slides, save the post, and send it to friends.
Instagram measures all of that activity, including how long someone stays on a post, how many slides they swipe through, which slide they leave on, and whether they share it. The algorithm rewards attention. Carousels naturally generate more of it.
The benefits extend beyond follower counts. Katelyn’s carousel-first strategy has attracted clients, earned features in Forbes, and led to a partnership with Meta. But carousels also solve a practical problem: they eliminate the need to appear on camera. Creators who are stronger at writing or graphic design can lean into those strengths and stay consistent, rather than skipping posts because they don’t feel like filming a Reel.
Before building a single carousel, though, one foundational question needs an answer: What’s the goal? Growing a following, making sales, and inspiring an audience each require different approaches. That single objective shapes everything from the hook to the call to action.
Writing the Text Hook for the First Carousel Slide
The text hook is the most important element of a carousel after the visual. If the first slide doesn’t stop someone’s scroll, the rest of the content never gets seen.
Two questions should come before writing a single word: Who is this for, and what should they feel after reading it?
Negative hooks consistently outperform positive ones. People naturally pay more attention to mistakes they might be making, myths they’ve believed, or things they’re doing wrong. “How to grow on Instagram today” is easy to scroll past. “You are killing your Instagram reach if you don’t fix this one thing” creates immediate curiosity because readers wonder whether they’re making the mistake. Similarly, “5 ways to get more clients” becomes “This one thing is what’s keeping people from buying from you.”
Readability matters as much as the words. Katelyn recommends clean, simple fonts, big text, and plenty of white space. If the text is hard on people’s eyes, they’ll keep scrolling regardless of how compelling the words are. Black or white text provides the highest contrast, though yellow text has been performing unusually well recently, likely because it breaks the pattern most creators default to.
One critical rule: the hook must create a curiosity gap without resolving it. If the first slide answers the promise, there’s no reason for the viewer to keep swiping. Katelyn sees this mistake constantly. The hook’s only job is to stop the scroll. Everything after that delivers on the promise.
Katelyn uses ChatGPT to refine hooks through multiple iterations, asking it to “make it spicier,” “make the call-out stronger,” or “make it more Gen Z coded.” That last prompt tends to produce attention-grabbing language like “diabolical” or “completely unhinged” that resonates on the platform.
Pro Tip: Instagram recently introduced a native text overlay feature that lets creators add text directly on top of photos within the app, without needing an external design tool.
Writing the Call to Action for the Final Carousel Slide
The final slide is where most creators miss out. After working to stop the scroll, hook the reader, and deliver valuable content, many carousels end without telling the viewer what to do next.
These three types of calls to action serve different goals:
General Comments Improve Reach: Ask viewers to comment by answering a question or responding to a prompt. Each resulting comment signals to the algorithm that the content is worth distributing. More comments mean more reach.
Shares Leverage Engagement: Shares have become the most important engagement metric on Instagram, surpassing saves, which dominated the previous year. “Share this with someone who needs to hear it” or “Tag your best friend in the comments” delivers more algorithmic value than asking for a save.
Sales CTAs and DM Automation Drive Revenue: This is the approach that turned Katelyn’s carousels into a direct revenue channel. Tell viewers to comment with a specific keyword, such as “starter kit,” and use a DM automation tool like ManyChat or Stan Store to automatically send anyone who comments that keyword a message with a link to your offer, freebie, or sales page.
For creators with smaller followings or those not ready to invest in automation tools, the same keyword approach works with manual replies. Ask viewers to comment with a keyword, then personally DM each commenter with the relevant link. The engagement benefits are the same; only the delivery method changes.
Other Topics Discussed
• Planning the Story Arc for your Carousel
• Designing and Assembling the Carousel Visuals
• Two Ways to Animate Carousel Slides
Want to Learn More?
• Watch on YouTube
• Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music
• Read the show notes on Social Media Examiner
Today’s advice is provided with insights from Katelyn Rhoades, a featured guest on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.
C) NEWS
Edits Adds Faster Story Publishing and New Audio Tools: Instagram’s Edits app has introduced several workflow improvements aimed at streamlining content creation. The update adds direct export to Instagram Stories on iOS, expanded audio discovery through mood- and interest-based search filters, and a new adjustment layer that applies video effects across an entire timeline. Audio editing tools have also been centralized, making it easier for creators to find and use the features they need while editing videos. Creators via Threads
LinkedIn Expands AI Creative Tools for Advertisers: LinkedIn has launched a new suite of AI-powered features in Campaign Manager designed to help marketers create, personalize, and optimize advertising campaigns more efficiently. The updates include Brand Kit for maintaining consistent branding across AI-generated ads, Draft with AI for generating campaign copy from business inputs, and Ads Personalization to tailor messaging for specific professional audiences. LinkedIn also introduced AI Ad Variants and Flexible Ad Creation, enabling advertisers to rapidly test multiple creative combinations while automatically optimizing delivery toward the highest-performing ads. LinkedIn
LinkedIn Expands Measures to Combat AI-Generated Content: LinkedIn has announced a series of updates designed to reduce low-quality AI-generated content while preserving authentic professional conversations. The platform is expanding automated detection systems, introducing new classifiers to limit AI slop in recommendations, and giving members a button to report inauthentic content. LinkedIn is also replacing its AI-powered post enhancement feature with a proofreading tool that maintains each user’s writing style, while providing creators with private feedback if their posts are perceived as overly AI-generated. LinkedIn CPO
Meta Introduces Holiday Resources and AI Tools for Small Businesses: Meta has unveiled its Holiday Insights Center, a free resource designed to help small businesses prepare for the peak shopping season with consumer research, platform benchmarks, and practical marketing guidance. Alongside the launch, Meta introduced the Holiday Playbook: Small Business Edition, which walks businesses through setting up data, running Advantage+ campaigns, and optimizing holiday advertising. Meta
Pinterest Introduces AI Tools for Smarter Campaign Management: Pinterest has unveiled Business Assistant and a new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to help advertisers integrate AI directly into their marketing workflows. Business Assistant combines Pinterest’s unique trend data, Taste Graph, and campaign insights to deliver actionable recommendations and visual analytics tailored to each brand, while the MCP server enables approved partners to connect their own AI assistants directly to Pinterest’s advertising platform through a standardized integration. Pinterest
Fully AI Videos No Longer Eligible for Spotlight: Snapchat is updating its Spotlight recommendation system to favor authentic, human-made content by making wholly AI-generated videos ineligible for recommendation. The move is intended to preserve Spotlight as a destination for original storytelling and creativity as AI-generated content becomes more widespread online. Snap emphasized that AI-assisted content created with Snapchat’s own creative tools will continue to qualify for recommendations when appropriately labeled, highlighting its approach of supporting AI as a creative aid rather than replacing human creators. Snap
Snapchat Integrates with HubSpot to Streamline Lead Generation: Snapchat has launched a new integration with HubSpot that allows advertisers to create native lead generation campaigns on Snapchat and automatically sync new leads into HubSpot’s CRM. The integration also supports Conversions API (CAPI), enabling businesses to send downstream conversion events back to Snapchat for improved campaign measurement and ROAS optimization. By connecting Snapchat’s lead generation tools with HubSpot’s customer platform, the partnership simplifies lead management while helping brands more effectively convert Gen Z and Millennial audiences into long-term customers. Snap
Meta Brings AI Assistant to Threads Direct Messages: Meta is rolling out Meta AI within Threads DMs, giving users a private way to chat with the assistant without leaving the app. The integration supports sharing posts, images, videos, and links directly with Meta AI while enabling follow-up conversations and deeper exploration of topics. The update extends Meta AI’s presence across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and now Threads, reinforcing Meta’s strategy of embedding AI throughout its ecosystem. The feature is launching globally, while Meta continues testing AI interactions in Threads’ public feeds before a wider expansion. TechCrunch
TikTok Unveils Q3 2026 Product Updates for Advertisers: TikTok has announced a comprehensive suite of new advertising, commerce, and AI capabilities designed to help brands maximize reach, streamline campaign management, and improve performance. Highlights include premium ad solutions such as TopReach Max Reach and self-serve TopView, AI-powered creative tools like Symphony Agent and enhanced Symphony Avatar, expanded commerce features through GMV Max Pro, and the launch of Agentic Hub, which enables advertisers to build AI agents for campaign management. The update also introduces stronger automation across Search Ads, Lead Generation, creative optimization, and performance measurement. TikTok
YouTube Expands Creator Tools Across Shorts, AI, Memberships, and Communities: YouTube has announced a series of updates aimed at helping creators improve content presentation, audience engagement, and monetization. YouTube Partner Program creators can now upload custom thumbnails for Shorts on desktop, while Ask Studio introduces AI-powered thumbnail generation tailored to each creator’s content and branding. The platform is also testing one-month free Channel Membership trials to encourage paid subscriber growth and rolling out new Community features, including exclusive community-only posts, improved moderation tools, expanded fan interactions, and broader access to Communities across YouTube surfaces. YouTube
Courtesy of Michael Stelzner, Founder and CEO, Social Media Examiner
3) THRIVECART NEWS (THIS IS NEW):
Hello there: Here’s what’s worth knowing this week.
A) 🤖 THE AI BACKLASH IS REAL, AND SO IS THE OPPORTUNITY;
Has AI gone from buzzword to curse word?
Based on a slew of new measures, major online platforms are sending a clear signal. LinkedIn has added a “Seems like AI slop” option that lets users flag posts that appear to be AI-generated. Snapchat says fully AI-generated videos are no longer eligible for Spotlight recommendations. Substack has partnered with an AI detection tool to help readers identify AI-written newsletters.
The shift also comes after some influencers faced backlash for attending OpenAI’s first influencer brand trip. The event drew criticism from people who felt the creators were helping promote AI without being clear about the relationship.
At the same time, new transparency rules under the EU’s AI Act took effect on August 2. The rules require certain AI providers and deployers to disclose when people are interacting with AI and to label certain AI-generated or manipulated image, audio, and video content, including realistic deepfakes.
The overall pattern is clear: AI doesn’t automatically create trust. But the jury’s still out on whether people are rejecting AI or simply rejecting content that feels empty, automated, or misleading (or both).
🎯 What this means for you: The lesson is not “never use AI.” It’s to be thoughtful about when, where, and how you use it.
AI can help you:
But your final content should still include your own stories, opinions, examples, and experience. Check the facts, add context, and make the advice specific to the people you serve.
The easiest test is this: Could someone replace your name with another creator’s name and the content still sound exactly the same? If the answer is yes, it needs more of you.
B)💡 50 BUSINESS IDEAS WORTH WATCHING
Thinking about starting something new? Start with a problem, not a trend.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has published a list of 50 business ideas positioned for growth in 2026 and beyond.
The ideas cover areas including health and wellness, sustainability, home services, education, AI, and automation. The concept is simple: look for problems people already need help solving, then build a business around making those problems easier.
The opportunity here is real. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 5M+ new business applications have been filed every year since 2021. In 2023, the number reached a record 5.5M. The total has stayed well above pre-pandemic levels since then.
🎯 What this means for you: You don’t need to invent a completely new industry to start a business. You may already have the foundations of one:
Before you spend weeks creating a website or course, ask three questions:
The best ideas aren’t always the trendiest ones. They’re often the ones that fit your experience and solve a problem people already recognize.
📖 Read more: → 50 Business Ideas Positioned for Growth in 2026 and Beyond: → 50 Business Ideas Positioned for Growth in 2026 and Beyond
C)📱 SOCIAL MEDIA IS GETTING LESS SOCIAL:
People are posting less, sharing with smaller groups, and using social media more for entertainment than conversation.
A new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that 55% of respondents post less than they did five years ago.
The shift is easy to miss because most people aren’t deleting every account. They’re simply becoming quieter. They’re sharing less, choosing smaller audiences, and using social media more for entertainment than conversation.
🎯 What this means for you: A useful value proposition isn’t always enough to stop the scroll anymore. People may need to be entertained, surprised, or emotionally pulled in before they’re ready to hear what you have to say.
That doesn’t mean you need to become a full-time comedian. It does mean your content may need more personality. Try opening with:
The goal isn’t to use gimmicks for the sake of it. It’s to make your useful idea feel worth stopping for.
💡 TOP TIP: Your email list, lead magnets, offers, and checkout are assets you have more control over. Use social media to earn attention, then give people a clear reason to join you somewhere you can reach them directly.
See you next week, The ThriveCart Team ❤️