This week felt like the wild west… Cowboys everywhere! If you need some easy wins to calm down your nervous system, I got you:

CEO COMEBACK: Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd is returning to the dating app mid-March as CEO as the numbers are steadily declining

VC MONEY: female founders just took in their smallest share of VC deals in 5 years as the numbers dipped down to 1.8% for all female founders

RAISE: Teal Health raises $10M to create at-home cervical cancer screenings (YES!)

INVESTMENT: Kim Kardashian’s Skky Partners takes a “significant” minority stake in UK-based skincare brand 111Skin

RETAIL LOVE: Elavi pulled off a record 1 MILLION brownies for their Costco order with protein brownies that launched just 6 months ago

REMEMBERING CECILE: We’re all in huge debt of gratitude to Cecile Richards and her work as the president of Planned Parenthood and beyond

Our inboxes have been bursting with social media news this week, and tbh, it’s giving drama, drama, drama. From Instagram’s latest updates to TikTok & CapCut’s near-death experience (ikr) there’s no shortage of chaos to unpack. Whether you’re here for the tea or just trying to keep your brand afloat I thought I’d jump into a one-stop overview of everything that went down:

💡 Btw, if this week taught us anything it’s the importance of owning your customer data (your email list stays golden) thank you for being here🩷

• Instagram’s Glow-Up: (or glow-down?) A new grid layout is rolled out is being dubbed a “crime against aesthetics” and our curated feeds are the victim

• In House Video-Editing: Oh, and they’re also launching a video editing app called “Edits” to rival CapCut in a couple of weeks (divine timing?)

• TikTok’s Whiplash: First, it’s banned (kinda) then it’s back (but for how long?) and now iPhones with the app installed are selling for $50,000 and Trump is floating the idea that Musk and Ellison might be potential buyers

• Creator Gold Rush: IG is throwing literal cash bonuses ($10k to $50k/month) at TikTok creators to post exclusively to Reels with the catch being a six-month non-compete clause (not to post elsewhere) sneaky, but effective?

Let’s not sugarcoat it. The platforms we used to love are looking a little... conservative. The question I’ve asked myself over and over this week: are we entering a social media hellscape. Last week, Zuck’s Meta introduced new policies that nix fact-checking and reduce content moderation (hiiiii playground for misinformation 👋). Meanwhile Trump saves TikTok (after once trying to ban it). And don’t get us started on Elon Musk turning X (fka Twitter) into his political soapbox. I could be wrong - maybe this is the sign of a new gold age for creators, but it sure seems messy out there for this hot minute. How are you feeling about it?

If all this platform chaos has you spiralling, here’s the good news: alternatives exist. Diem (!!!) is the super cute social search engine (“think Reddit meets ChatGPT, but for the girls, gays, and they’s”). Pinterest is just about the most unproblematic app I’ve ever come access. Or, y’know, you could just hit unfollow from the drama lama and lean into what’s always worked - owning your audience [more here] and Groopie!!! Groopie’s gonna glow in the new era 🫶

✨ It feels so good to be in your inbox, bestie! Let me know what you thought today 💗