The back-to-school season is upon us. But for shoppers, it actually started months ago.
According to the National Retail Federation, 62% of back-to-school and college shoppers started buying items by early July. About one-third had started their shopping already in June.
The change in shopping habits coincides with retailers moving their sales periods earlier this year. Amazon, for example, shifted its annual Prime Day sale from mid-July to late June—and extended it from two to four days.
But it’s also because consumers, especially students, are online all the time and are being bombarded with shopping and back-to-school content.
During the past year, people watched 1.6 billion hours of college move-in videos and content titled with college or back-to-school hauls racked up over 800 million views, per July data from YouTube. (For context, 1.6 billion hours is over 180,000 years worth of videos.)
A lot of back-to-school content is also coming from creators. Creator commerce app LTK told us that back-to-school content from creators appeared three to four weeks earlier this year on its platform compared to last year. Dorm and school supply posts hit June engagement levels that weren’t seen until mid-July in 2025.
Zooming out, back-to-school sales are expected to reach nearly $150 billion in the US this year, with college shoppers spending over $100 billion for the first time, according to the NRF. That’s a striking sum, especially given how affordability is a major challenge for many Americans: 47% of respondents in NRF’s survey said they were buying only “the essentials” needed at the start of the school year.
But essentials don’t just mean traditional school supplies anymore. That’s thanks largely to the rise of sorority rush videos and product hauls on social media that have broadened the back-to-school category.
Items like water bottles and skincare products are also now considered back-to-school must-haves for both K-12 and college students. And when consumers are shopping for binders, lunchboxes and backpacks, they want those items to make a statement, like buying matching sets.
Another trend that’s accelerated this year: over-the-top dorm makeovers. They’re costing families upwards of $20,000, which is more than in-state tuition rates for many public universities across the country.
Still, much of the back-to-school spending growth is being driven by rising prices. And even as some people are spending exorbitant sums on extravagant dorm decorations (including wallpaper!), many more are being wary of their budgets.
Despite all the early scrolling and buying, the NRF found that the top reason shoppers hadn’t yet finished their back-to-school shopping by July was simple: they were still waiting for the best price.
We share more of our thoughts on over-the-top dorm makeovers and debate whether cell phone bans in schools could actually hurt social platforms’ bottom lines on Thursday’s episode of Scalable. Plus, we dive into the affiliate marketing scandals rocking the industry and go deeper on the rise of employee creator programs.
Meta’s Big Settlement
Meta on Wednesday settled a landmark case that argued the company knowingly designed its apps to be harmful to young people. At $18 billion, it’s a whopping sum, but it’s not as bad for Meta as it might seem.
For one, $18 billion is only about a month’s worth of the revenue Meta made in 2025 (~$200 billion).
The agreement also requires the company to make changes to its apps to protect minors, including two-hour time limits and the ability to switch to a non-algorithmic feed.
On the surface, agreeing to these restrictions feels like a tacit admission of wrongdoing from Meta, which has repeatedly argued that its apps are safe and not harmful to young people. These are also meaningful changes that could hurt Meta’s ability to make money in the longer-term if they result in decreased engagement.
But the settlement also allows Meta to pass on some of the responsibility to parents, which could help shield the company from potential lawsuits in the future. For example, parents are able to turn off two-hour time limits on their teens’ accounts.
Plus, it cleverly puts pressure on two of Meta’s biggest rivals. The company won’t pay the final 30% of the settlement until TikTok and YouTube implement their own one-hour daily limit, night mode and age assurance measures. TikTok and YouTube also must pay an amount matching the 30% figure. This could increase the pressure to hold those other platforms accountable as well, handicapping them or forcing them to pay.
TikTok and YouTube would be two of the biggest beneficiaries of reduced teen screentime on Instagram. And Meta is making clear that it isn’t going to feel the pain alone.
Tune into our recent conversation with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who co-led the case against Meta. We discuss everything from school social media bans to whether AI regulation could cause the US to fall behind other countries.
⛳ Good Good Golf, Bad Bad Behavior
Good Good Golf, a sports media company that started on YouTube, and golf equipment brand Callaway are facing major backlash over an ad that shows Good Good’s co-founder Garrett Clark shoving female golfer and Good Good star Alex Miestowski to the ground. CEOs for both companies have apologized, including a nine-minute personal apology video from Clark.
But Good Good’s blunder is costing more than just its reputation. Golf retailer Golf Galaxy reportedly pulled out of a sponsorship deal for a new iteration of a golf reality series co-branded with Good Good. Meanwhile, Golf Galaxy, Dick’s Sporting Goods and PGA Tour Superstore have removed the brand’s merchandise from their stores.
We want to know who thought this ad was even remotely a good idea?
The Round Up
YouTube is offering more than a dozen creators, including Brittany Broski and “Subway Takes” host Kareem Rahma, deals ranging from low seven-figures to as much as $10 million to keep them off rival platforms like Netflix, The Ankler reported. We wrote more about YouTube finally fighting back against Netflix here—and why it should bring original content back here.
Threads is testing a feature that lets podcasters share audio clips from their shows with text transcribed over the clip. That way, people can follow along even if their audio is off. The move comes as more social networks roll out podcasting tools. See our chart comparing features here.
TikTok Live launched a newsletter on Substack to share best practices and tips for livestreaming from TikTok Live creators. The move comes as more companies are launching their own newsletters. More creators and brands are also trying to figure out their livestreaming strategies.
CAA launched Frame1Games, a new initiative that provides game developers with funding and support to build their own businesses.
ICYMI: Patreon launched a slew of updates and features, including algorithm changes that make it easier for smaller creators to get discovered and a tool for iOS that automatically clips moments from longer videos.
🎾 Creators Serve Up Aces
The US Open has approved credentials for about 100 creators, nearly double from last year, when it first launched a dedicated creator program. Another 15 to 20 creators will produce content directly for the US Open, according to Front Office Sports.
It’s not just sports creators who the US Open has credentialed: Last year, the creator cohort included lifestyle, food, fashion and family creators. For the first time, podcasters will also be given credentials this year and some will record on the competition grounds in Queens, New York.
We’re not surprised to see the US Open double down on creators. Despite complaints from some die-hard tennis fans about influencers being in the stands, the strategy seems to be working: Content from credentialed creators reached over 5.5 million engagements in 2025, per the USTA. That’s on top of the 3.1 billion engagements the US Open generated on its own accounts during the tournament, up from around 1 billion a few years ago.
Meanwhile, sales of the US Open’s signature Honey Deuce cocktail reached $17.2 million last year, up from $12.8 million in 2024, when the drink’s price went up to $23. A big part of the increase must have come from influencers and creators, as well as ordinary fans, posting content with the Instagram-worthy drink, which features three honeydew melon balls, on social media.
We recently went deeper into why it’s important for sports leagues and teams to partner with creators, especially those whose audiences aren’t just core fans, with Toni-Cowan Brown, a Formula 1 commentator and editor of Esses Magazine.
Commerce Corner
Amazon is joining YouTube’s affiliate program. US creators will be able to tag Amazon products in their Shorts, long-form videos and livestreams and earn commissions from purchases.
It’s a a big move to see two of the world’s most powerful platforms team up this way, but it makes a lot of sense: Amazon’s social and creator shopping efforts never really took off (remember Amazon Inspire?) and YouTube gets better shopping tools and inventory to offer creators without having to build its own. We’re curious what this might mean for Amazon-owned Twitch…
Levanta, an affiliate and creator platform for e-commerce brands, announced $22 million in Series B funding led by Volition Capital.
LTK, the creator shopping app, launched a new agentic AI offering to help brands build and launch creator campaigns. The tool can identify creators, structure campaigns and suggest next steps based on a business objective.
🔊Soundbite: Dolly Parton Edition
From rags to rhinestones. I’ve been blessed with a life full of stories.
That’s how Dolly Parton started the final Instagram Reel posted to her official account before she died on Tuesday at age 80.
We’ve been struck by the outpouring of emotion both on social media and IRL for the country music icon. Our feeds have been filled with video after video of Parton. It’s a sad but fitting end to a summer full of monocultural moments, which united people in a way that feels increasingly rare these days.
We go deeper on the summer of monoculture and how creators fit in on next week’s podcast.
Creator Moves
Hannah Berner, a comedian and podcaster, will host Paramount+’s new dating reality series “Making Love.” How many more creator-led dating shows can we expect?
Emma Chamberlain launched a rollneck sweater with J. Crew. This new edition of the sweater, which has been a staple for the clothing brand since the late 1980s, is cropped in an effort to better appeal to Gen Z.
Talent Tracker
Mikaely Drake is now director of social and influencer at Slack. Most recently, she was director of social media at Salesforce, which owns Slack.
Audrey Eatherly joined the Susan Wojcicki Foundation as head of creator and community partnerships. Wojcicki, the former CEO of YouTube, died in 2024 after a battle with lung cancer. Eatherly spent more than nine years at YouTube, where her work included leading top creator partnerships globally.
Mike Muney is now vice president of creator partnerships at Big Shot Pictures, a new family entertainment company from former Paramount co-CEO Brian Robbins. He previously worked in creator roles at companies including Spotify and Yahoo.
Ponte Firm, a talent firm representing lifestyle creators such as Audrey Peters and Kit Keenan, hired Jenna Bissonnette as managing director and Jenna Galan as director of talent and partnerships in New York. In Los Angeles, the company hired Roy Peters as senior vice president of talent and partnerships and named Matthew Bojanic director of talent and partnerships. Annie Leggett was also promoted to senior talent manager.
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