Dissecting Underperforming Communities and Amazon’s Unfortunate Creator Crossroad

8/23/2022: Here’s what’s new and what caught my eye last week

Why So Many Communities Fail To, Well, Commune:?If you’re reading this, you are very likely in the community building business.?But what is a community??Troy Young writes that it’s the antithesis of the algorithm, and lays out 6 different types.?The subtext – explored later in the piece – addresses an issue we talked about last week: why high-profile NFT projects fail to build long-term value.?Worth a read for anyone building, optimizing or leveraging community, from YouTube creators to brands and DEFINITELY for media companies foisting NFTs on their mostly imagined communities.

亚马逊 at a Creator Crossroads:?The mega-huge ecommerce company wants to do better by creators.?It just launched a new way for brands to reach and partner with creators, including increased commissions.?However, creators care about more than cash.?A group of TikTokers have started boycotting Amazon over the company’s union-busting policies.?Amazon’s history with creators has been uneven at best – although the opportunity is immense.?Perhaps the company needs a more centralized – perhaps even C-Level – creator lead.??Also it looks like WalMart will begin seriously courting creators too.

Fascinating insights on Link-In-Bio Usage:?If you use a link-in-bio service you are not alone.?The Influencer Club analyzed 100M Instagram profiles and found that about 15% of creators use one of an amazing 62 different tools. Not surprisingly Linktree is the overwhelming leader.?Lots of other revealing insights inside and a TikTok user analysis is forthcoming.

QUIBIS:

• YouTube adds watermark to downloaded Shorts.?Watermark-erasing tools should follow along “shortly”.And Instagram is making it harder to share Reels to TikTok and Shorts as well.Ben Thompson’s Stratechery weighs in on the Instagram/TikTok transmogrification.It’s a start: TikTok takes a stand on election integrity.
• For all of us that STILL haven’t gotten into the DallE-2 beta, TikTok now has a text to image generator too!
• Lil Miquela is now the spokes…, er, something for PacSun.
• OG Podcast host Libsyn buys German podcast network Julep.
• Oracle starts auditing TikTok algorithms for potential Chinese interference.?I'd love to see those results!
• New @LinkedIn post templates could unintentionally add to the trivialization of the platform (but no one in my feed is using them yet, thankfully).?Other stuff is underway too.
• Applications for the 2022 TikTok Accelerator Program for Black Entrepreneurs are now open – but hurry, they close Wednesday.
• TikTok creators are burning out – just like their OG YouTube forbearers.
• Jake Paul raises $50M to build the next Barstool Sports.
• ?Congrats to the Collab Crib crew on opening their new creator-first studio in Atlanta.
• LinkedIn sleuth uncovers more than 300 TikTok/Bytedance employees who used to work for Chinese state media.
• Expected but still remarkable – Nielsen says streaming surpassed cable for the first month ever in July.?Still only a third of overall TV viewing when you add in broadcast and “other”.

CRYPTIS:

• How Hollywood is reacting to and embracing Web3.
• Readers Digest explains Web3 for great-grampy.
• NFT art going open source??Here’s why it’s happening.

What We’re Looking At:?Can’t stop looking at Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse avatar.?It’s just so, well, creepy.

Sorry this is late. Been trying to get from Massachusetts to California for the last 36 hours. Posting from JetBlue somewhere over Nebraska (aside, JetBlue is great when everything works, but not so good when SNAFUs arise).

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