đ©ïž A social storm is brewinâ
Shifting ground in social habits, more social media bans, and a Staples Baddie FIT check follow-up!
Hi friends!
Obligatory New York weather report â we have had two IMMACULATE days. The kind of weather that puts a spring in your step (pun intended). I feel like a burly bear emerging from hibernation â sights, sounds, and sun that I havenât seen in months. The melting tundra has revealed some unfortunate trash that has been stuck in the permafrost, but we are ignoring that.
Getting down to business!
This weekâs social headlines were less monumental than weeks past, but subtle shifts in the social landscape have been inching like a tectonic plate. Iâm personally bracing for âthe big one."
So whatâs changed? Since TikTok changed ownership in the US, its user base has temporarily dipped. After some ups and downs, it finally landed at 90 million, 2 million less than before the sale. Another red flag is that ad spending on the platform is down 48%, while generic social spending is up 133%.
Pair this with an incoming social media ban in Indonesia, the 4th most populous nation in the world, an upcoming suit against the current administration for the TikTok sale, and the biggest viral moment of the week actually being a clunker of a post from McDonaldâs being memeâd to death, you have a weird-vibe sentiment happening in the social marketing space.
Weâve been covering this week over week, but all signals point to one of Outfit and CreatorCartâs operating theories, that âmacroâ isnât as strong as it used to be, and a more targeted approach yields better results for conversion.
Especially as new agencies emerge to serve the creator economy. Take Cami TĂ©llez, founder of the Gen-Z underwear brand Parade, who recently launched a new agency, Devotion, to help creators capitalize on the rise of niche-casting as a viable monetization model.
Letâs get into it.đ
(March 10th)
Daily active TikTok users in the US temporarily dropped from 92 million to around 86 million to 88 million following the transition, according to SimilarWeb data, before recovering slightly to 90 million.
The up-and-down could signal a pullback from the platform: TikTok-heavy campaigns fell48% YoY, while platform-agnostic content campaigns surged 133% on Collabstr, according to Collabstrâs 2026 annual influencer marketing report.
Instagram maintained a higher overall median engagement rate than platforms like TikTok (4.6%) and Threads (3.6%), but saw the sharpest declines in 2025. Engagement on Instagram was down 26% YoY, falling from 7.3% to 5.4%; engagement on Meta platform Threads, meanwhile, fell 18% YoY to 3.6%, indicating fragmentation within Metaâs ecosystem.
đźđ© Indonesia to implement sweeping social media ban
Indonesia has announced a nationwide restriction that will prevent children under the age of 16 from opening accounts on major social media platforms, a measure the government says is aimed at protecting minors from growing risks in the digital space.
With the announcement, Indonesia becomes the second country to introduce restrictions specifically aimed at limiting childrenâs access to social media platforms.
Australia passed a similar law in December, widely described as the first of its kind globally.
đ Read more
đ đ McDonaldâs CEOâs Big Arch video gets memeâd into oblivion
What was meant to be a laid-back introduction of the Big Arch, a new âpremiumâ burger, turned into a cringefestâthe lighting, the windowless room, the hostage-video vibe. It didnât land.
That said, McDonaldâs did go viralâjust not in the way they intended. No doubt the marketing team is spinning it that way to the C-suite.
đ Read more
đïž Trump, Bondi Sued Over TikTok Deal, Investors Allege ByteDance Retained Prohibited Control
Two California investors filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit on March 5 challenging the Trump administrationâs handling of TikTokâs court-mandated divestiture. The petitionersâsoftware engineers Zhaocheng Anthony Tan (an Alphabet shareholder) and Garrett Reid (a Meta shareholder)âname President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi as respondents.
They argue Trump violated the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act by issuing five deadline extensions between January and September 2025âover 450 days totalâdespite the law allowing only one 90-day extension with certification to Congress that binding agreements were in place, which they say never occurred.
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đ Academia continues to embrace content creation
Valkyrae visited NYU with Squeex to announce a scholarship named after him. Students learned âwhy you should drop outâ at an NYU Game Center guest lecture organized by Valkyrae and delivered by her fellow variety streamer. Squeexâs scholarship will include professional development funds, travel stipends, and more.
Academia has been introducing the creator economy into the classroom for the last couple of years. Syracuse University has created a specific path for content creation, and Alix Earle created her own scholarship at the University of Miami in 2025.
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đș Niche-casting is growing, while traditional broadcasting wilts away
This week, Warner Bailey, creator of the popular Assistants vs. Agents account, will launch a livestream talk show about Hollywood.
As traditional broadcast audiences shrink, a new format is emerging online: ultra-targeted livestream talk shows built for specific industries and communities. Instead of chasing mass audiences, creators are launching shows about highly niche topicsâfrom trucking logistics to advertising and startup culture.
The shift reflects broader changes in media economics and viewing habits. Broadcast morning shows now draw roughly half the audience they did 15 years ago, leaving space for smaller, specialized formats to thrive.
đ Read more
đ FIT check of the week
Kaeden Rowland, known as the Staples Baddie, has been dominating social feeds. We decided to analyze her FIT score to understand what kind of partner she might be.
Unsurprisingly, sheâs highly promising! While not quite reaching unicorn status, she's a strong converter with growing visibility. Her posts don't reach huge audiences yet, but her followers show strong buying signals, indicating they are ready to make purchases.
We love Kaedenâs content as much as anyone and will definitely be getting a custom mug at Staples this week.
Ok, see you next week. In the meantime, Sell! Sell! Sell! đ«Ą