• McDonald’s is selling t-shirts that camouflage your McFlurry in Portugal.
• Pics or it didn’t happen? X wipes out pictures and links tweeted before 2014.
• SMMs rejoice! Threads is on the web now.
• Brace yourself: Google announced its second core update of 2023.

Monday: The UX Cookbook has whipped up a quick guide for web writing, which is especially handy because it’s written precisely following its own rules.

Tuesday: Search intent is the reason behind a user’s query. Here’s how to improve your content to match what users are searching for.

Wednesday: Podcasting is a relatively new channel with complex and often opaque data collection, interpretation, and discrepancies across platforms. Here are 5 myths of podcast analytics debunked.

Thursday: Despite explosive initial growth, engagement on Meta’s Threads app has slowed dramatically with a 79% decrease in active users this month. SparkToro surveyed marketers to gauge early sentiment. Here’s what they found.

Samantha asked, “Does anyone have advice for creating a portfolio?”

Maeve asked, “Can someone confirm for me that you can post an Instagram reel over 90 seconds—if you post it as a feed post, it just gets converted to a reel?”

Brianne asked, “Has anyone been able to get around the glitch where it won’t let you confirm the connection between a Facebook page and Instagram account?”

Christopher shared, “Facebook removed its location targeting options in Ads Manager. Anyone else reallocating their digital spend to other platforms?”

Packaging kudos: Kick Cases is stepping up with sneaker-inspired phone cases that come in little shoe boxes. 

Fun with typography: Designer Robin Cédric Kiesel made an interactive typography project that lets you play with disruptive fonts. Check out his heady interview with It’s Nice That, too.

Delicious content: Private chefs working in the Hamptons over the summer aren’t just part of a hot niche subculture on TikTok — they’re basically reality-show stars.

Chew on this: UX Collective writes about why inclusive language matters in coding.

Ooh, cool OOH: These static LED billboards transform from day to night.

Ingredients

• ½ to 1 oz brown sugar simple syrup
• ½ large peach , diced
• 3 to 4 mint leaves
• 2 oz bourbon
• Splash ginger beer or seltzer water
• Ice

Steps

1. Add peaches, mint leaves, and simple syrup to the bottom of a cocktail shaker. Gently muddle to release the peach juices and mint oils. (Over-muddling the mint will cause it to become bitter.)
2. Add bourbon, fill the shaker with ice, and shake until well-chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
3. Top with ginger beer or seltzer water. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and a peach slice.

Recipe by The Striped Spatula

Answer: Instagram is NOT adding a “Friends of Friends” feed.

That would be BeReal, actually.

ICYMI:

• Job search and matchmaking is coming to X.
• YouTube is testing a Shazam-like feature for music discovery.
• LinkedIn heard your criticism about its newsletter UI and made some changes.