YouTube Stories to be Removed from Platform in 2023

Remember when YouTube tried to jump on the Stories bandwagon back in 2018? Yeah, me neither. It was supposed to be a full-screen engagement option for creators to connect with their audience. But it never really caught on and never even saw a full launch to all users.

Now, with Shorts and Community Posts gaining more traction, YouTube has decided to cut its losses and focus on these elements instead. According to YouTube, there are many ways to create on the platform - from Community posts to Shorts, to long-form and Live. So, they’re giving Stories the boot.

Starting on June 26th, 2023, you won’t be able to create a new YouTube Story. And any Stories already live on that date will expire 7 days after they were originally shared. It’s not a huge loss though - Shorts are YouTube’s fastest-growing content format and Community Posts are far better at driving engagement and interaction.

So, no more YouTube Stories. It’s following in the footsteps of Twitter’s fleets and LinkedIn Stories. Do you think all social Stories options will eventually go the way of the dodo?

Rapid Rundown

• 📹 YouTube launched Stories in 2018 but it never caught on.

• 🚫 YouTube is discontinuing Stories on June 26th, 2023 to focus on Shorts and Community Posts.

How Nathan and Taniera Turner Built a Real Estate Empire after Losing Their Jobs

When life gave Nathan Turner and his wife Taniera lemons in the form of job loss due to the pandemic in March 2020, they made lemonade. They filed for unemployment benefits and used their free time to explore real-estate opportunities.

Nathan and Taniera started cleaning Airbnb properties and learned about the hosting side of the business. They moved to Houston in 2021 and started doing “Airbnb rental arbitrage,” where they rent a property and sublet it on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.

They spent about $6,400 setting up their first Airbnb. It took about six months to recoup the money they put into setting up the unit, but over the course of the final six months of the lease, they started profiting between $1,000 and $1,200 per month. They now have 25 total units in three different markets: 18 in Houston, six in Des Moines, and one in Louisville. Turner’s goal is to expand to 100 units and hit $1 million in annual revenue.

Rapid Rundown

• 🏠 Nathan and Taniera Turner lost their jobs in 2020, explored real-estate opportunities, and started doing Airbnb rental arbitrage.

• 💰 They now have 25 units in 3 markets and aim to expand to 100 units with $1 million in annual revenue.

Amazon Abandons Climate Pledge and Removes Blog Post Announcing Initiative

Amazon just hit the "undo" button on their Shipment Zero initiative. They recently backed out of a commitment to make 50% of their shipments net-zero carbon by 2030. They even deleted the blog post announcing its initiative. Instead, they rolled this goal into a broader Climate Pledge to reach net-zero carbon across all their operations by 2040.

Amazon said that it no longer made sense to have a separate Shipment Zero goal that applied to only one part of their business. Investigative reporter Will Evans uncovered this information and tweeted about it. Last year, Evans also uncovered a study that said Amazon had drastically undercounted its carbon footprint.

Dropping the specific shipment pledge is noteworthy because Amazon’s e-commerce operation relies on vast fleets of vehicles and aircraft to deliver packages quickly. This activity consumes vast quantities of fossil fuels and emits greenhouse gases.

However, fast delivery is a key selling point for shoppers and the main reason millions subscribe to the company’s Prime program. I guess Amazon’s motto is “Save the world… but not if it means slower delivery.”

Rapid Rundown

• 🌍 Amazon backed out of a commitment to make 50% of its shipments net-zero carbon by 2030.

• 🚚 Instead, it rolled this goal into a broader Climate Pledge to reach net-zero carbon across all its operations by 2040.

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A guide to prompting AI (for what it is worth) – Mostly practice with a little bit of magic.

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Programming with Natural Language Is Actually Going to Work—Stephen Wolfram Writings – Stephen Wolfram writes about AI, computational science and thinking, data science, education, and more.

An Exact Breakdown of How One CEO Spent His First Two Years – Sam Corcos, co-founder & CEO of Levels, tracked how he spent the first two years since founding the company.