🫤 Was this the worst year for Spotify Wrapped ever?

⭐ Take a look at TIME’s Best Brands of 2024.

🪩 This Black Friday, Shopify and the Las Vegas Sphere made history with the first real-time data visualization on the Exosphere.

🦋  Bluesky’s user surge spurs brand scrutiny — just in case it becomes ad-ready.

🤝 OpenAI hires its first CMO.

• ⏩ Btw, the results are in—our subscribers’ favorite ChatGPT-ism is “in today’s fast-paced world.”

✍️ Infographic: How to write engaging LinkedIn posts.

🚸 How brands are navigating Gen Alpha marketing.

💬 TikTok introduces Direct Messaging Ads.

🧵 Threads launched a Creator Hub for insights and resources.

• 💡 According to our poll, 40% of marketers won’t be moving forward with a Threads strategy in 2025.

⚡ YouTube shares top trends and takeaways from 2024.

👍 Meta added Google Sheets integration for Instant Form leads.

Monday: Users of assistive technology rely on alt text to accomplish a task, so usability is key. Here’s how (and when) to do it right.

Tuesday: Take a look at TikTok’s 10 tips for long-form video, starting with setups and punchlines.

Wednesday: Trade your frostbite for flip flops and join Digital Summit in Tampa, FL for 2 days of immersive marketing strategy from March 25-26, 2025. For a limited time, save $300 off any ticket tier + another 30% off with code CARNEY30 on all 2025 Digital Summit events!

Thursday: SparkToro analyzed 332 million Google queries to better understand how people use the search engine. Here are the key insights.

Here’s what’s hot on The Daily Carnage Facebook group this week.

“Hey social media marketers: Does your org issue you a phone for work-related use? A few months ago, I shifted back into being my company’s sole social media person and I am exhausted by the amount of time I’m on my phone.”

Our community of experts say…

• “The only thing worse than an employer not issuing a work phone is them issuing a work phone and then you have to juggle two phones.”
• “My company gives us the option. Either you get a work phone or you get a stipend for personal phone.”
• “No one at your job, besides your boss, should ever have your personal contact information if you don’t want to give it to them.”
• “It is nice to put away the work phone when not needed and not fearing that I am in the wrong account when I am scrolling for entertainment.”
• “Companies need to be more realistic about time investment and boundaries when in a 24/7 social environment.”

Place a Classified Ad in a Friday edition of The Daily Carnage for just $99.

What you get:

• 200 characters 📣
• An internal link 🔗
• Your ad lives on our site indefinitely 💛

Let’s get it on the calendar.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz cognac
• 1 oz dark creme de cacao
  1 oz cream
• Garnish: grated nutmeg

Head to Liquor.com for the instructions.

Answer: “Million Dollar Baby (VHS)” – Tommy Richman

Globally, though, the TikTok song of 2024 had to be the reggaeton hit “Gata Only” by FloyyMenor and Cris Mj.