Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry. This week, one platform is getting a substantial investment while another gets an influx of “colonizers.” Oh, and iShowSpeed is hobnobbing with celebs (again).
Platform headlines
BuzzFeed’s $10 million BFIsland hub is taking shape. BuzzFeed wants to build a social media platform that replaces divisiveness with harmonious discourse. During a recent earnings call, Jonah Peretti said that his company is allocating an eight-digit pool of resources to its ambitious project. Here’s hoping we can all be friends.
TikTok is doing it for the kids. Amidst a flurry of new security features, TikTok announced that it would start pushing out Amber Alerts on the For You Page. Between that partnership and the app’s spate of March Madness commercials, TikTok is clearly working to generate as much positive PR as possible.
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Instagram is experimenting with AI-generated comments. If you’re a proponent of the “dead internet theory,” brace yourself. The internet is only going to get deader from here.
Creator commotion
iShowSpeed’s new friends are Tom Brady and Kevin Durant. Speed captivated viewers across the globe with a worldwide tour and enjoyed a starring role in the Sidemen charity match. Now he’s the star of a Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial that features a few all-star athletes. Speed may not match his co-stars in terms of athletic ability, but he makes up for it with unbridled moxie.
Alex Cooper stays busy with new Unwell signings. The Call Her Daddy host announced her media company’s first reality series last week. Now, Unwell is souping up its influencer roster through climate activist Sophia Kianni and Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe Gates.
Ubisoft assembles star-studded lineup of Siege X streamers. Twitch content has helped tactical FPS games become more popular than ever before, so it makes sense that Shroud, Ludwig, and HasanAbi are helping Ubisoft promote the next chapter in the Siege franchise.
The ad world
TikTok ad prices are way down. Uncertainty about the app’s future in the United States has led some advertisers to reallocate their budgets. As a result, TikTok CPMs fell 80% year-over-year over the period beginning in January 2024, according to one estimate.
Substack is the hot new marketing hub. The newsletter boom has brands wondering about the value digital periodicals can have for advertisers. Women’s wear brand M.M. LaFleur is one of those brands, and it’s making a big push on Substack.
Note to platforms: consumers want to shop on their TVs. A study published by LG showed that 70% of connected TV viewers would save items to a wishlist if given the chance. When the 2025 holiday season rolls around, look for this trend to impact high-level platform strategies.
Movers and shakers
Twitch vet Mike Aragon revs it up at Ford. Aragon, the former Chief Content Officer at Twitch, got experience with integrated technology during his stint at Lululemon. Now he’s heading to Ford to lead a team that will install digital services in cars.
YouTube strategists are in high demand. The latest data from digital hiring board YTJobs shows that demand for YouTube content strategists has more than doubled year-over-year. If any of those creators are interested in a journalist’s perspective, they’re welcome to hit me up. I’m full of ideas.
The internet is a strange place
TikTokers are on the march to “colonize” YouTube Shorts. The plan is to flood YouTube Shorts with brainrot content on March 25, thus resulting in a TikTokification of the vertical video feed. If TikTokers think YouTube Shorts needs more brainrot, they’re clearly not paying attention to the videos that already exist there.
Social media stylists are going fishing this summer. Hot girl summer is so five years ago. In 2025, the fisherman aesthetic will be in, so brace yourself for trout boy summer.
Is that a gun in that judge’s pocket, or is he just happy to see me? Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke took to YouTube to provide a visual aid for his opinion in a case related to the Second Amendment. Are justices about to be the “reply guys” of the 2020s? They might be too impartial to pull it off.
