TikTok Banished!

This Week: Excited for Creator World in Singapore May 8/9.? Lots of TikTok, YouTube, MKBHD and much more!

TikTok Ban Should Happen Tuesday:? The US divestiture/sale noose tightens around TikTok’s neck.? The house passed the reformed bill bundling TikTok in with aid to Israel and Ukraine.? Senate leader Fritz Schumer says the Senate will look at it Tuesday, and Biden will sign if it passes.? The updated bill gives TikTok a year to divest - more doable than six months and it gives creators more time to adapt as well.? Who gains? Savvy creators that move quickly to other platforms, along with YouTube and Meta. Losers include TikTok-focused influencer agencies and brands, creators who stand pat, and other apps from Bytedance and its China peers, including Lemon8, Capcut, Notes – and perhaps even WeChat, Temu and Shein too.

• Related: See you in court, says TikTok.? But here in the US national security eclipses even free speech.
• Related:? TikTok failed to insulate data from China.
• Related: US apps banned from Apple’s China store.
• Related: Soon this won’t be the loneliest page on the internet.

So Much for Double Secret Probation: TikTok will restrict FYP access for creators who repeatedly violate its community guidelines – and will also launch an updated way for creators to check their standing.? DoubleT also just released a TikTok Creator Code of Conduct that clarifies the things that can get you banned from FYP, from revshare programs and other “Creator Activities”.? Interestingly, one prohibited behavior focuses on excessive solicitation – or manipulation – to drive more diamond gifting.? Transparency is good – and stands in contrast to some of YouTube’s capricious and seemingly random bans that have popped up recently.? The devil, though, is in the execution – and whether TikTok can truly build a comprehensive and impartial organization to enforce these codes and guidelines.? And it all might be too late - at least in the US.

Blame the Messenger?? Lots of chatter about Marques Brownlee’s Humane AI Pin review, headline, and description.? I’ve been reviewing tech products since 1992 for some of the biggest outlets (ABC, MSNBC, PC Magazine, TechTV) – and on my own.? Reviewers are beholden to one thing – their readers/viewers/community.? Yes, Brownlee’s audience of 18 million is vast.? But that doesn’t mean he has any responsibility to prop up companies that deliver bad products. Read my take here – along with Stratechery’s here.? The good news?? Even more evidence that creators are eclipsing traditional media, and the world is waking up to their immense – and well deserved -- clout in the market.

• Related: Garbage Day excoriates Airchat.

• Related: New research from Izea shows that 60% of social media users have bought products after seeing them used by an influencer.??

Meta AI Arrives With a Splash:? Lots going on here.? First Meta.AI launches.? The free web tool includes text prompting and image generation.? The image generator falls behind DALL·E 3, Bing Image Creator and Midjourney in quality.? To its credit, it does deliver 4 images per prompt like Midjourney and is super-fast.? BUT there’s at least one breakthrough feature.? Using the “Imagine” function you can type in a narrative – and as you type, Meta AI delivers almost instant images.? Type enough and each of those instant images becomes a frame in a movie.? To get the movie, simply type “Make a video of all the images that appeared when I typed”.? I told a quick tech-bro story here, and then posted my “dog chasing a ball on the moon” standard AI video test on Instagram.? Now all we need is AI to interpolate these key-frames into real animations. Check out Phil Ranta ’s review in his weekly “Generative Phil” newsletter for more.? This is going to be fun to watch - and use.

• Related: Remember Tom Brady as Bru, Mr. Beast as Zach or LaurDIY as Dylan?? Me neither.? These dumb Instagram chatbots have become zombies on Instagram.? Soon creators will be able to make their own clones which I hope will be better.
• Related: Ben’s Bites explores how Meta’s Llama3 AI engine stacks up against OpenAI and other models.

• Related: Meta.AI will roll out on Facebook and Instagram.? I asked both Meta.AI and Tom Brady’s Bru chatbot who would be picked #1 in Thursday’s NFL draft.? Bru: “I’ve got my money on a quarterback…? but maybe a defensive player will surprise us and go number one!”.? Meta.AI tagged Caleb Williams and added another quarterback and wide receiver to the top list.? A defensive player is 100% not happening.? Bad Bru.? Bad, Bad.

CREATOR WORLD! So excited to announce our Creator World lineup in Singapore May 8 and 9.? I’ve been programming the best Creator Economy content, and along with music industry and AI sessions it’s going to be amazing.? See the lineup here and buy your tickets today!? 30% off for readers of Inside the Creator Economy – and I will see you there.? Meetup details to come next week! Can't wait to explore the future of the creator economy with Dylan Harari , Anthony Brown , Ricky Ray Butler , Esther Nguyen , Mohamad Fattal and so many more amazing creators and execs. Plus, there's a free music festival at night too, check out this lineup!

QUIBIS: ???

YOUTUBE

• YouTube vs. Ad Blockers Round 2 – Big Red turns up the heat – which is great news for creators.
• Mike Shields calls traditional media’s unwillingness to accept YouTube’s dominance the “YouTube Derangement Syndrome”.? He’s not wrong.
• YouTube testing “most relevant” filters for subscribers on mobile.
• Pins and needles – when will Mr. Beast surpass T-Series? (H/T Tubefilter)

TIKTOK

• TikTok loves Australia and Canada – it’s now testing a new Instagram slayer there.
• TikTok clarifies its stance on “unoriginal content”.

OTHER CREATOR ECONOMY??

• Venture funding for creator economy starts begins to rebound – but don’t celebrate yet, it’s coming off a very small base.??
• Related: Congrats to Kaya Yurieff for the well-deserved promotion.
• The incredible blandness of social continues – Twitch will push its TikTok FYP feed to everyone in a week.
• Twitch DJ’s will have to share revenue with musicians.
• Great essay on the joy of creation – and implicitly why creators are truly different from influencers – from cartoonist, musician and artist Lennie Peterson.? Don’t be dissuaded by the trombone lesson at the top – read to the end for how Picasso and a 3rd grader both embody the joyful core of a being creator.
• Taylor Swift shows us how to leverage social for her new album, with custom TikTok profile frames and challenges – and a Threads debut to boot.
• Related: Bustle says fangirls run the economy.
• Selling Indonesia’s new capital city via creators.
• Job hotness, John Deere is hiring a “chief tractor officer”.? Seems you might get to work with US football QB Brock Purdy too.
• LinkedIn testing premium company pages as a way to boost engagement.? It might not be worth it.
• Melissa Laurie takes aim at beauty filters in her weekly newsletter.? Excited to have her speak at Creator World!

CREATOR TECH – AI, WEB3, VR, MORE

• I loved Sudo a few weeks ago, but now everyone’s raving about Udio’s ability to generatively make compelling music.? Here’s a song I made about missing Phish at The Sphere this past weekend.? Pretty good.
• My headshot will likely sing better than I do – if Microsoft’s new AI tech VASA-1 has its way.
• Next up – replace any character in a video with another using Viggle.? So you could, uh, dance with Pokemon (H/T Benedict Evans ).
• Roblox opens up its Marketplace to more creators – with restrictions.
• Fascinating post from Adobe CPO Scott Belsky talking about the personalization and localization of LLMs (which I totally agree with) and the rise of luxury software.? He sees designers and brands, but I think it’s a fantastic opportunity for creators to experiment and build on as well.

TIPS:

• Want to be a successful creator?? Dan Mace released an almost 3-hour tutorial about “How I Make MrBeast’s Videos”.? It’s a tour-de-force on everything from idea generation to packaging and posting.? A must watch.
• OG Luke Himmelsbach releases “The Professional Creator Handbook”, a free ebook to help you build a creator brand and accelerate your business.

RESEARCH:

• Nike, e.l.f. and TikTok still tops with teens, according to Piper|Sandler
• Accenture explores how traditional media can reinvent themselves in a new study. But with more than half surveyed trusting creators as much as traditional media talent, it’s a bit late.? The full report is available to download at the end.
• Izea explores the intersection of creators and Amazon – finding that more than half of social media users have made an influencer-inspired purchase on Amazon.??

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