Tips Tuesday – Do Good, Amazon Shopping on YouTube, Meta Lawsuit Settled

Tips this week include:

• Reflections on Dolly’s passing
• Why we should keep doing good
• Amazon Shopping comes to YouTube
• Why we’re still not ready to update to WP 7.1
• Is Cloudflare’s new EmDash a real WP competitor?
• Will Meta be sued out of existence?
• What Meta’s changes mean for us

A Time of Reflection

The whole world was stunned last week by the news of Dolly Parton passing.

Even though she had a staggering array of musical accomplishments, nobody was talking about them.

Every comment I saw focused on her compassion and generosity.

She put as much good into the world as she could for as long as she could.

Doing Good

Of the many things Dolly’s passing has caused me to reflect upon, one thing stands out – and that’s you.

All of the clients and vendors I’ve had the privilege to work with are folks who put good into the world. 

And I am grateful to be a part of helping my clients and webmasters navigate the online world in so many ways in order to put food on your table so you can continue to serve all of your followers with content that benefits their lives, and your clients with services that make their lives easier.

I’m also grateful for the village of good people that make this possible – like our host, designers, plugin and theme devs, and those who maintain WordPress. While many of these people have made a living from what they do, there are also incalculable unpaid volunteer hours that go into it as well.

I wanted to take this moment to encourage you to be inspired by Dolly’s example and continue to put as much good into the world as you can.

What you do matters.

Video Tips

Amazon Shopping Comes to YouTube

Both vendors have teamed up to allow Amazon links in your videos.

A couple of years ago I verified my Heartwood Art YouTube channel on my Amazon store for link tracking purposes. And I’ve been sharing my Amazon product links in the video Description area ever since.

But now, we can put active product links in the video itself. So, folks can click on the link right there and not have to search for it in the Description.

This brings YouTube into alignment with how TikTok and Instagram drive Amazon purchases too.

Here’s a video that explains the connections you’ll need to make and how to add the links.

WordPress Tips

Not Quite Yet

I’ve done my preliminary testing for WordPress 7.1, but I haven’t finished checking it against all of our popular plugins. That includes checking for new PHP errors and warnings, not just the functions we see on the frontside of the site.

So, hold off a little while longer on your update.

Is Cloudflare’s New EmDash a Real WP Competitor?

The short answer is no.

You may recall me reporting some time ago that Cloudflare was building a new CMS (Content Management System) that they touted to be the “spiritual successor to WordPress”.

They got raked over the coals by the WP OG community for that statement.

Well, that didn’t seem to phase Cloudflare and now they are on the verge of releasing EmDash Version 1.0.

I think you’ll hear a lot of buzz about this because of the stack they are using.

But I wouldn’t worry about it making much of a dent into the WP ecosystem – at least no more than AI built sites are taking.

Social Media Tips

Will Meta Be Sued Out of Existence?

You may have already heard the news that Meta lost its lawsuits to states who claimed harm to children.

Meta will be paying $16.7 billion to these states over the next few years. And they have initiated new standards for child safety.

I have a few questions about this.

• How is it that just these states brought suits when children in all states were affected? Shouldn’t this be federal or class action?
• Is the way the states are using that money helping the issue, and will there be any monitoring to ensure that it does?
• What happens if more states sue for past damages?

FYI, Meta has agreed to pay for certain public health programs, such as “crisis intervention services, after-school programs, outdoor activities and youth mental health programming.”

I get that states have their own regulations to deal with regional issues. One that comes to mind is California having stricter emissions controls because they have a serious smog problem due to the volume of cars in that area. New York City is just as densely populated, but they have LOTS of mass transit options that offset smog issues.

But Meta is global. It doesn’t cause a regional issue. And child safety is not a regional issue either.

So, the whole lawsuit thing seems odd to me that only a few states get program funding that all states could benefit from.

Here are a few other changes Meta is making:

• Meta also agreed to limit under-18 users to 2 hours per day on Facebook and Instagram, block them from accessing the platforms from midnight to 6 a.m., and limit notifications to them during school hours.
• Youth will also be given the option to have a chronological feed, not an algorithmic one — and parents can make it the default option.
• Kids also won’t be able to see likes and other reactions on posts.

Will More Social Platforms Make Changes?

In the article linked above, it says that $5 billion of the money will only be paid if YouTube and TikTok make changes similar to the ones Meta is making.

And, those channels should also pay these states $5 billion each.

It’s worth noting that both of these conditions have to be met. Good luck getting Google to pay anything if it is not directly sued!!!

However, all social platforms may be scared enough now to voluntarily make changes to help protect kids.

Where Are the Parents?

Honestly, I can’t see most parents putting phone time limits on their kids while they lounge on the couch doom scrolling themselves.

So, I guess it does come down to lawsuits and social platforms regulating themselves.

What This Means for Us

I think more folks are waking up to the harm of constant connection and endless screen time.

That’s why you need to constantly ask folks to subscribe to any place you are online.

If they are going to see less stuff, then make sure it is your stuff.

And this is also why you need to repeat things.

Sure, it seems like you’re saying the same thing over and over and over. 

But trust me, folks need to be exposed to the exact same info 7-10 times online before they absorb it.