If It Drops on the Internet, But You Can't Use It - Does it Really Exist?

Hi everyone! Here’s what’s new and what caught my eye this week:

Facebook Supposedly Launches Podcasts and Newsletters: Announcing stuff is easy. Making it actually work for creators is a different story. Facebook just announced its new newsletter service called Bulletin?and their new audio/podcast offering. But do they really *work* for creators? From my testing last week, it appears the answer is no. Bulletin has a couple of “fresh” voices (Malcom Gladwell, Erin Andrews, 8 others) that they call “Featured Creators”, but no ability for you or me to launch our own newsletters. And the ability to post your podcast to your Facebook page is either cunningly hidden in that special Facebook way — or just not available to most people. Heck, searching “Podcast” on Facebook's Help Center doesn’t deliver even a single result. So… if a big social platform releases new creator-first products — but they aren’t actually available to creators -- do they exist at all? Maybe, but not in any meaningful way. Spotify, Clubhouse, and Substack can rest easy — at least for now.

Why Can’t Other Platforms Pay Creators Like YouTube? VidCon founder Hank Green’s latest rant on TikTok shows — yet again — that YouTube dominates in compensating creators. In 2020 Big Red paid out about 50% of its $19B?in revenue to creators. Hank also notes that even though TikTok trumpets its billion-dollar creator largesse, that’s only 7% of Double T’s estimated 2020 revenue. Using Niel Robertson’s round-up of creator grants, the other platforms are also far behind. Facebook made $86 Billion, yet they likely still pay far less than a billion annually to creators (although they claim to be trying harder). Snap’s $365M payout is 18% of its $2B in 2020 revenue — much better but still not YouTube level. Pinterest is closer, giving creators 29% of 2020 revenue. LinkedIn, as usual, remains a big fat 0%. These figures — more than anything else — are exactly why creators are moving from platforms to Web3-style owned connections with their communities. They are tired of giving away their milk for free.

A Framework for Building the Metaverse: Someday we’ll all live much of our lives in wonderful VR and AR worlds. The Metaverse is all that and more — it’s really the logical successor to today’s mobile web. But what technology breakthroughs do we need before we arrive at the Metaverse? Matthew Ball understands this world better than just about anyone, and his new post serves both as a map and primer for this fascinating and amazing next step in technology’s inexorable advance.

Acer Concept D Perfect for Creators: Even if you’re an Apple fanboy, you owe it to yourself to see what the darkside is up to. And it’s more than just cookies — Windows-based computers deliver way more innovation than Apple, both in form factor and capability. I’ve been testing Acer’s latest Concept D Ezel notebook, designed for creators, and it’s truly innovative and powerful. It starts with a pop-out, super high-resolution, touch-enabled monitor that doubles as a sketch pad;?an inordinate amount of storage and memory, and speedy graphics. The beautiful 15.6” screen is also Pantone color validated for WYSIWG displays. It’s big and heavy, but it’s ideal for office, home, and on location creation, editing, and production. The new model 7 is available now starting around $2.2K. I love it.

?

QUIBIS:

• Zoom acquires a real-time translation startup from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, an amazing university in Germany.
• Creators hate?on the new YouTube Studio?icon.
• NFL star Tom Brady wants to be QB of crypto, partners with FTX.
• Y-Combinator founder wants to give a crypto coin to everyone in the world — he just wants your eyeballs in return.
• Rolling Stone profile of David Dobrik on the comeback trail.
• Startup Spore launches, aims to make it easy for creators to build fan-first websites.
• How DAOs let designers and fans build fashion brands together.
• Gibberish, or tomorrow’s headlines? You decide.
• My friends over at Channel Meter just launched a new version of Creator Cash.
• TikTok, Bytedance, and China.
• Vox Reporter Rebecca Jennings is tired of unpacking creator drama.
• For Studio Ghibli fans – five interiors rendered as actual 3D spaces!

This Week at VidCon Now:

• TUESDAY: Join John Hu, Founder of Stan, as he chats with Brendan Gahan about how Stan empowers creators to Make Money Creating. Watch it live at 12 PM (PT) at live.vidcon.com.
• WEDNESDAY: We’re shining a spotlight on Black African voices with the first-ever VidCon Now Africa segment! Learn about African talent that have used digital, innovative platforms to expand their careers and explore the digital hemisphere for growth and career success. Watch Recognising Black Excellence at 6 AM (PT) at live.vidcon.com.
• THURSDAY: Ask beauty enthusiast Alannized?from La Familia Metiche all your pressing beauty questions during his Super Q&A! Watch it live at 3 PM (PT) here

Tip of the Week:

This week’s tip comes from Jade Darmawangsa, a social entrepreneur and current CEO of X8 Media, an influencer marketing agency that works with tech platforms and civic movements.

There's a lot of ways to make money as a creator. All you have to do is promote merch on Instagram, right? Wrong. To create long term financial security, it's not enough to just create a product and post a swipe up link to promote.?We are going from an economy where creators monetize through selling merch to NFTs and social tokens. When this shift happens, it's not going to be easy. There's a lot of friction migrating your audience to new technology (Web2 to Web3). The #1-way creators can prepare to make the transition is by focusing on community first. At our agency, we encourage our creators to use platforms like Discord to launch a community outside of their social media content. Fans not only need peer-to-peer interaction with other members but also be able to have a say in the direction of the community. Once these fans are invested in a creator’s community, it will be a lot easier to convert fans into customers for life.

What We’re Watching: This heartwarming video from Alannized in which he gets matching tattoos with his mother! Top pop star Olivia Rodrigo takes the Hot Ones challenge. Ryan Reynolds joins TikTok! Singing along with the Sims (#SimlishSessions).

Hey Startups, Get a Free Booth at VidCon US 2021: Once again we’re excited to announce our Technology Innovation Showcase! It’s a great opportunity for startups to show off their products or services at VidCon in Anaheim this October. We’re giving away an Industry Track booth and stage time to 12 worthy companies as selected by our advisory board. Interested? Check out the rules and nominate your startup today!

See you around the internet, and feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested, and if someone forwarded this to you, you can sign up?on our website at VidCon.com?— scroll down and select “VidCon Weekly Industry Highlights”.