🫤 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.

Can you solve this puzzle? 🤑

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.