Spies target the U.S., and the NSA warns: Shut down your phone. AI Hitler speeches go viral on TikTok, ChatGPT isn’t your secret keeper, and friendship apps are booming as more people look for new connections.
The folks trading retirement for influencer status
TikTok.com/@therealirvinrandle, Instagram.com/trainwithjoan, Instagram.com/grandmajoysroadtrip
Who do you imagine when I say “social media influencer?” I’ll bet a young, hot model or a chiseled guy into cars. It’s time to expand your horizons.
I love that Joy Ryan didn’t even get her passport until she was 91. At 94, she’s on a mission to visit every continent with her grandson. So far, she’s at four out of seven. Joy is also the oldest person to visit all 63 U.S. national parks.
She’s posting “Grandma Joy’s Road Trip” on Instagram. She’s part of the trend of “grandfluencers” (“grandparent” and “influencer”) racking up millions of followers and fans of all ages. Maybe this is your sign to get this idea going with your grandparents, parents or even yourself.
Defying stereotypes
You probably think grandfluencers’ fans are older adults, too, right? Nope, most are young adults.
Take 94-year-old Lillian Droniak, aka “Grandma Droniak.” She went viral by laying down the three rules she wants people to follow at her funeral: Cry, but not too much (don’t embarrass yourself); Bertha isn’t invited (Who’s she?); and get drunk afterward.
Her 14.6 million TikTok followers love her sass, and I do, too. After she was hospitalized for breaking her leg, she shrugged it off, saying she “slayed too hard.” Love her.
Then, there’s 78-year-old Joan MacDonald. She was overweight and struggling with health issues. With the help of her daughter, a fitness coach, she now deadlifts 175 pounds for her 2 million Instagram followers and sports a bodybuilder’s physique, along with crop tops. She’s proof it’s never too late for a glow-up.
Offering up wisdom
Navy vet Kenny Jary, or “patriotickenny,” tells stories and tries out new tech with his 2.7 million followers. The 82-year-old has a chronic lung condition and gets around with a mobility scooter.
When Kenny’s last scooter broke down, his followers raised money for a new one. He’s since paid it forward and helped 119 other vets with their mobility needs. How awesome is that?
Be yourself
Clever election scams targeting you
© Cammeraydave | Dreamstime.com, © Anatoliy Kidun | Dreamstime.com
Fake political calls, texts and videos are nothing new. They’ve been flooding Americans’ phones for months. Some have a simple goal: Steal your money. (I’ll pass along a few tips for spotting those below.) Others are looking for detailed personal info, like a text scam warning there’s a problem with your ballot.
☕ Me espresso: Carol Chapman, aka “Grandma C,” is an 81-year-old TikTok coffee reviewer. She hit 1.1 million views trying pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s Brown Sugar Shakin’ Espresso at Dunkin. Even Sabrina responded with, “i love you grandma C 💋.” In a follow-up video, Grandma C was bopping to Sabrina’s music for the first time. Love her.
No. 1 free app
Drumroll, please … It’s Temu. That’s two years in a row for the most downloaded free app. In second place is Meta’s Threads, followed by TikTok at No. 3. I know Temu is super cheap, but that comes with its own cost. Here’s why I’d never buy the toys there for the kiddos in my life.
Red Note is No. 1 in the App Store: It’s kind of like Instagram but with a Pinterest-style layout and 300 million monthly active members. Why is it suddenly so popular? TikTok creators who are worried their audiences will evaporate with the possible ban don’t realize this app is also Communist China-owned, too. D’oh.
🦈 Sink or swim: “Shark Tank” judge Kevin O’Leary and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt are trying to buy Communist China-owned TikTok before the possible ban on Jan. 19. O’Leary says the big goal is protecting 170 million American users from Chinese surveillance. They’ll need at least $100 billion to get this done.
Can AI save Facebook? Meta hopes so. They’re rolling out AI avatars (paywall link) to pull in younger people. Robo-influencers are all the rage. Snapchat and TikTok are jumping on the bandwagon, too. It sounds strange, but I’ve read some of these AI-based virtual influencers make $10,000 per post. Maybe I’m in the wrong business.
Kim Komando's 2025 tech predictions: part 1
Will TikTok face a ban? How will AI reshape our lives? Here’s my take on what’s coming this year.
Talk about heartwarming: Brianna Cry surprised her grandparents with a trip to Paris for Christmas. The TikTok video of the surprise has over 600,000 views. The couple adopted Brianna, so she wanted to give back. They’re headed for the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles and a ballet at Palais Garnier opera house.
TikTok in limbo: President-elect Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to delay TikTok’s ban, set to kick in on Jan. 19 — just a day before his inauguration. He wants more time to try to save the platform. No word yet on what that deal might include, but it’ll likely involve ByteDance selling a big chunk of its TikTok ownership to a U.S. company.
That escalated quickly: TikTok Shop is pulling in more customers than retail giants Shein and Sephora. It launched in September of 2023, and 45% of Americans have already bought something through it. Fashion and beauty items pitched by influencers are the most popular.
Winning over Americans one check at a time: An Indiana mom raked in $95,000 in five months promoting fashion, beauty and kids’ products on TikTok. Unlike other social platforms with steeper entry requirements, TikTok Shop lets folks with just 1,000 followers start monetizing. Is it worth it for how much data they collect? Up to you. Here’s the signup link.
Another dangerous, dumb TikTok trend: The “Superman Challenge” has kids tossing each other into the air to look like a flying superhero, with many ending up in the hospital with broken bones and contusions. Talk to your kids about it.
Social media as a news source
A TikTok video falsely accused Sephora of donating to Trump’s campaign, gaining millions of views and fueling boycotts. I’ll break it all down in this quick podcast.
Carmaker accidentally hires a North Korean spy
Think you know your coworkers? North Korean spies have managed to slip into dozens of U.S. companies. Here’s the scoop on how they pulled it off. Plus: TikTok stars hyping testosterone boosters, Apple’s new AirPods hearing test, and AI Tom Hanks bombing at the box office.
TikTok addicts kids in 35 minutes
Just over half an hour. That’s all it takes for kids to get hooked on TikTok, according to leaked internal documents. Plus, why being nice to chatbots might benefit you, and what’s going on with Sam Altman’s mysterious orb device. Kim also talks to Darius Belejevas, head of Incogni, about how data brokers collect your personal info — even if you never gave it to them.
TikTok’s addiction trap exposed
It causes mood swings, depression, and screen addiction. Fiction? Nope. Your kids are already hooked.
October 19th, 2024
Leaked TikTok docs show how teens can get hooked in just 35 minutes, and it gets worse — over 4 million people are using ‘nudify bots’ to undress people with just a photo. Plus, QR code scams are on the rise, Tesla’s Optimus bots are serving drinks, and the FTC’s new ‘click-to-cancel’ rule could make subscriptions easier to manage.
TikTok’s parent company is on a data grab
25X faster than OpenAI. That’s how fast ByteDance scrapes the world’s online data. What for? Plus, data breaches hit Comcast and Truist Bank, Google’s impressive NotebookLM, and Amazon’s Rufus chatbot.