🧃 Back to the 90’s, Bluesky Buzz and Smarter YouTube Shorts
Happy Friday!
Ready for your weekly download of what’s shaking up the social and digital marketing universe? This week, we’re hopping in the DeLorean with Instacart for a campaign with a throwback feel. Meta’s Community Notes are balancing free speech and enforcement, but it could lead to a slew of unchecked misinformation, while Instagram is encouraging its power users with new comment controls.
Plus, we’ve got the latest on influencer migration patterns between Bluesky and X, the battle continues and a new development with YouTube Shorts could take your visual content to undiscovered heights.
Time to outsmart the algorithm one strategy at a time.
What’s catching your attention this week? Leave a comment or drop us a note at midwestdigital@finnpartners.com!
Angela & Mark
👀 This Week in Social
Instacart Brings Back the 90’s: Take a trip down memory lane with Instacart’s ‘Summer Like It’s 1999’ campaign that leans into nostalgia for its brand refresh. The throwback aesthetics, from the way the video is shot to staple moments like stabbing a Capri Sun straw through the tiniest hole or blowing into a video game cartridge, set the stage to highlight their present-day value proposition, offering lower prices on millennial food staples like Lunchables and Bagel Bites. Think about it: they're reminding us of a simpler time and turns out the 90s were long enough ago that this nostalgic campaign gives all the feels without any ick.
When a Brand Community Impacts the Menu: McDonald’s is giving the people what they want and they’re making it very clear it’s because they listened. After years of fan pleas (and even a 19,000-signature Change.org petition), the chain confirmed Snack Wraps will return nationwide July 10, with posts written from the POV of its social manager: “I made 486 decks on reasons why to bring back the Snack Wrap (I counted).” It’s a clever fourth-wall break, but also a reminder that community doesn’t happen by treating social as a place to post content. It’s what happens when brands foster a community and act on their feedback. McDonald’s is even archiving fan content on a new microsite, turning a product drop into a celebration of fan persistence. A great example in balancing content and community for both B2C and B2B brands.
💡 Need-to-Know Platform News
Meta’s Community Note Shift: Meta’s latest enforcement report says its Community Notes system is helping reduce enforcement errors by 50% in the U.S. The company is positioning this as a win for free expression and transparency, but a closer look at the data paints a murkier picture. Proactive detection of bullying, hate speech, and self-harm content is down, and Meta itself admits it’s scaling back some of that moderation to let Notes do the heavy lifting. That might be fine if the system worked perfectly, but we’ve seen how a similar approach on X often leaves major misinformation unchecked due to lack of consensus. Meanwhile, the Facebook algorithm continues to reward AI junk and gossip bait, and outbound link reach remains dismal as 97% of U.S. post views still don’t include a link. Despite Meta’s glowing self-report card, there’s no clear verdict yet on whether Community Notes improves the platform experience and brand safety. We’ll be keeping tabs on this.
Instagram Expands Comment Filters for Large Creators: Creators with over 100K followers now get access to new Instagram comment filters, letting them sort replies by top engagement, recency, and even the commenter’s follower count. Add that to existing filters like verified users or subscribers only, and it’s clear Instagram wants its most-followed users engaging smarter, not harder. While this update is squarely aimed at creators, it’s worth noting for brands and talent partners alike. If comment management is part of your engagement strategy, hitting that 100K threshold just unlocked a few new tools.
Bluesky Gains News Influencers, But X Still Dominates: A new Pew study shows that left-leaning news influencers are increasingly joining Bluesky but not leaving X. Despite ideological pushback against Elon Musk, most high-profile creators are still cross-posting and maintaining their X presence for reach. Bluesky saw a spike in activity after the 2024 election, but daily posters have dropped by a third since then, while Threads continues to grow. Even media-savvy users who support decentralization aren't ditching the big platforms. For brands and PR teams, that means Bluesky is increasingly worth monitoring, but Threads and X are still where the real-time conversation and audience are. The constant with platforms is change, so reevaluating Bluesky on the channel matrix is recommended with each of these shifts.
See It, Search It: YouTube is rolling out an integration with Google Lens and Shorts, leveling up discoverability and changing how users interact with content. This update allows users to pause a Short and use Google Lens to visually search for objects, landmarks or even text to translate within the video. As platforms move beyond traditional search, Shorts content just became a direct gateway to discovery allowing users to dive deeper into what they see and actively explore that brand seamlessly online. The shift is turning passive viewers into curious searches and opening up new avenues for engagement and organic discoverability.
📆 Don’t Miss It
LinkedIn’s New Guide to B2B Creators: LinkedIn dropped a 22-page guide on how B2B brands can tap into influencer marketing and while some examples (hi, Steph Curry) feel a little out of reach, the framework itself is solid. The big takeaway? B2B buyers don’t scroll passively, they rely on expert voices to inform decisions at every stage. That means the right creator partnership can move the needle, not just drive awareness. From thought leader ad tips to format preferences (yes, it’s still all about video), the guide offers a useful foundation for brands looking to build trust with a professional audience. Worth a scan for teams working on B2B campaigns.