Tips Tuesday – Future of Foodie Content, Short Tips Win, Big AI Changes 

Tips this week include:

• Why doing variations on a theme is faster
• Talk about something super specific for more views
• Short tip ideas
• The future of foodie content
• Landmark social media addiction case
• How social media may change
• Sora is shutting down
• The future of AI video and us
• AI pricing and use changes

Happenings Around Here

2026 Goal Status

Welcome to the end of Q1, y’all.

How are you doing with your goals for 2026?

For the first time in a long time I’m on target with mine.

In the past, there was often some unexpected fire or opportunity that popped up that caused me to have to throw down what I was doing or had planned, and jump on that change instead.

But not this quarter!!!

So I’m thankful for that, and happy for all of us that there is no fire to put out or a thing to jump on in an unexpected hurry.

Content Creation Tips

Variations on a Theme

I’m also happy to report that my plan to toggle back and forth with making videos for the 2 YouTube channels I’m focused on is working!

The key to it has been doing variations on a theme.

Here’s an example from the new CAD tutorials on my Heartwood Art YouTube channel.

I modeled a simple bookcase.

Then I did a tips video on how to create dado and rabbet joinery.

Then I modeled a bookcase using that dado and rabbet joinery that has much the same dimensions and model order as the 2 previous videos combined.

The above strategy increases my SEO footprint and gives me 2 videos on bookcases and 2 videos on joinery.

And reusing dimensions and methods made creating these videos way faster too.

Talk About Something Specific

In the above example, I made a shorter tutorial that showed how to make dados and rabbets. That’s specifically something a person would search for.

And it’s best to not have that topic shared only in a long video, like the bookcase.

It pays to narrow the focus down to one specific thing, both with blog posts and videos.

You’re not required to write 1500 words on each post.

Make a shorter one that addresses just one thing that someone would search.

What Short Tips Can You Create?

Have a look at your longer posts and videos.

Focus on one thing in it and create a post/video that elaborates more on that thing.

For foodie bloggers, why do you prefer this oil over that one for each recipe?

Or maybe talk about why you use a certain spice and what it brings to the dish.

Here’s an example of something I might focus on.

Lately I’ve fallen in love again with parsley because it brings a bright, almost citrus flavor to my dishes. And then I’d share the recipes where I’ve added it.

See how that works?

The Future of Foodie Content

I bet you’ve heard of Tasty, which is one of the biggest foodie channels on the planet.

But did you know that it is part of Buzzfeed?

Rumor is that Buzzfeed is dying and they will likely be selling off Tasty.

Ahead of that sale, Tasty is pivoting. And you’ll want to read last week’s Publish Press for how they intend to remain “creator focused”.

They are looking to expand their contract creator network.

Visibility Tips

Landmark Social Media Addiction Case

Last week a jury awarded $6 million in punitive and compensatory damages to a plaintiff who claimed that the algorithms found in both Meta and YouTube were purposely addictive. She claimed this led directly to her mental health distress.

You can see more on the trial and the verdict in this New York Times article.

Here’s a brief on what’s happening.

This same type of trial was brought against both TikTok and Snap, which owns Snapchat. And they chose to settle out of court. And that’s basically an admission of guilt. But it doesn’t mean that they will be changing anything.

Both Meta and Google, which owns YouTube, will be appealing the judgement. So, they won’t be paying or changing anything either.

But, this judgement sets a precedent for all of the other suits that are waiting in the wings. And it will stop judges from throwing them out due to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects these platforms from liability for what their users post.

This case is not about what’s posted. It’s about how the algorithm chooses what to show a user.

How Social Media May Change

The lawyers for these cases are using the same strategy as the ones used to sue tobacco companies for making an addictive product.

The two big things that came out of that were a ban on advertising and warning labels posted on the products and in the windows of stores that sold those products.

For social media, I don’t believe the algorithms will change.

And I don’t believe we’ll see warnings.

But, I’m thinking there will be more parental controls or IDs, especially to restrict minors.

I think that because I’ve recently seen ads for TikTok with a parent talking about the new controls.

Bottom line, I’m not concerned about a disruption to our current visibility on these platforms now, or anytime soon.

AI Tips

Sora is Shutting Down

I told you so!!!!

Last week I reported that consumer AI is costing the big LLM companies way too much money and that they are going to have to make a change.

Even charging a subscription is not enough to cover how much money they are bleeding every month.

Well, last week, OpenAI announced that they are closing Sora, which is their AI video creator that they have burned $15 million/day on it since it released 6 months ago.

Plus, when they signed a contract with the Pentagon a few weeks ago, they have reportedly lost 1.5 million users. That’s on top of the steady decline in users that they’ve seen over the past 6 months.

At this point, OpenAI wants to shift their limited resources to focus on enterprise tools.

Anthropic has beat them to it by staying in its lane this whole time and focusing on better text and coding tools.

The Future of AI Video and Us

So, with Sora shutting down, will this be the end of AI Slop videos? Hardly.

There are still 4 well-established AI video creation tools available, including Google’s Veo. 

And we all know how Google does things – release it, make it hard to use, complain no one uses it, and then kill it. So, that one may drop out of the race at some point.

There are already a few that allow folks to create consistent characters and produce short films.

There have even been a few awards for them and channels dedicated to showing them.

So, we’ll see where this industry goes.

But I’m thinking it will stay in the entertainment lane.

And I’m not worried about it being able to replace the kind of how-to tutorials we can make and profit with.

This is your sign to get into making these types of videos.

AI Pricing and Use Changes

If you use AI regularly, listen up!!

A Bill has been introduced into Congress to put a moratorium on new data centers.

The new, powerful chips that run these data centers have already sold out for all of 2026 and into part of 2027.

That means all AI companies need to restrict access to the data center compute power.

Part of that belt tightening has come in the form of dropping Sora.

The next phase of it will be throttling compute hours during peak times.

Gizmodo reports that both Anthropic and OpenAI have new pricing models, but in opposite directions.

Anthropic will “limit sessions for users, regardless of what level of subscription they have, during the company’s busiest periods of the work week. “To manage growing demand for Claude we’re adjusting our 5 hour session limits for free/Pro/Max subs during peak hours. Your weekly limits remain unchanged,” he wrote. “During weekdays between 5am–11am PT / 1pm–7pm GMT, you’ll move through your 5-hour session limits faster than before.”

OpenAI has taken this announcement as an opportunity to get some of the users back that they lost to Anthropic over that Pentagon contract hoohaa, by removing the cap on usage. That decision might have also played a role in Sora’s demise. But uncapped resource usage can’t last.

The bottom line – it’s going to get more expensive for consumer users as the AI demands by enterprise and other pro entities grow, and the resources to deliver them are restrained.

So, if AI is a big part of your business or daily workflow, prepare to pay more, or adjust to using it in off-peak hours.