TikTok “Joy”

This Week: Notable from the Information Summit, plus TikTok and Oracle speculations, Big Bad AI and much more.?

TikTok Shop Adopts Joy as USP:? Enjoyed Kaya Yurieff ’s interview with TikTok Shop exec Marni Levine at The Information Summit last week.? Although Levine mostly deflected Yurieff’s probing questions, a few insights emerged. My biggest takeaway – TikTok differentiates Shop through its “joyful experience”. ? Levine used variants of that phrase at least four times, touting their “new, unique and joyous type of commerce”.? It’s not about price, quality or convenience.? It’s about the Joy Of Shopping. Alas, for most of us, there’s no joy in Mudville – which is what my FYP has become.? Don’t expect less shopping ads, though, Levine promised.? Surprisingly, higher-cost goods, mostly collectibles, are popular on TikTok Shop.? I’d be scared to buy a 6 figure Pokémon card there, personally.? Well, I’d be scared to buy one period, but you get the point.

• Related: TikTok Shop, Lazada and Shopee dominate “Shoppertainment” in Southeast Asia.

Twitch is all about Money, Fame, and Love, said Twitch’s Chief Revenue Officer Mike Minton at the Summit, “and that’s the secret to creator sustainability”.? Minton also explained that “We have a plan, and we are executing on that plan”, when asked if layoffs were over.? He touted Twitch’s new AI that tools “make content creation easier and less work” for creators by “managing redundant tasks (including) engaging with the audience and social”.? Looking forward, Minton said that in 10 years Twitch would still be part of Amazon and still have its own CEO.? Not if they can’t fix those huge losses stat.

Other key takeaways from the summit:

• Whalar co-founder Neil Waller ?? insisted that we’d have the Summit afterparty next year at his new Lighthouse in Venice – a cross between YouTube Spaces and The Soho House - due to open before Halloween.? He also shared that “it’s less shameful to be a creator” today as the industry professionalizes and predicts that creator collectives will help amplify their power.
• Surprisingly, there was only one session focused on AI. Mighty Networks CEO Gina Bianchini gave a passionate defense of “People Power”, where GenAI brings people together, rather than isolating them. Optimism abounded, as none of the three speakers seemed concerned about the overweening power of the AI Industrial Complex: NVIDIA, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.

More Fallout from YouTube’s Creator Partnership Layoffs: Chilling story from my friend Leslie Morgan , who had her kids storybook channel shut down by YouTube for unspecified reasons – and no recourse.? This is just one of many stories I’ve heard recently from creators, as their partner managers were fired and support vanished.? Could this be an AI mistake?? Less knowledgeable underlings flailing?? Doesn’t matter.? As platforms move to cut costs and find profitability, overhead teams supporting creators increasingly get the axe.? Might look good on a McKinsey deck – but in practice it pushes your product (aka creators) away from you forever.

• Related: The Information’s Sahil Patel and Kaya Yurieff explore cost-cutting at YouTube ($) .

Beware AI in Wolf’s Clothing:? Last week we discussed a survey purporting to show a rise in generative AI content from creators.? Marketers were spending more, and 81% of creators found more favorable engagement on their “generative AI content compared to traditional content”.? The language in the survey – and in breathlessly packaged stories like this one from Digiday, implied a binary use of AI that simply isn’t true.? Diving into the study revealed a more nuanced picture, as anyone who creates knows.? Tools like Descript, Opus Clip, ChatGPT and VidIQ are being used for inspiration, time-saving and better headlines and thumbnails.? But it’s a spectrum.? The lesson here: read the survey data for yourself.? I always try to include a link for you to download the results (and feel free to ask me for it if you can’t find it).? Because sometimes the headlines – and survey packaging - can be misleading.

Random Thought on TikTok:? So TikTok might have to sell itself in the US.? The last time divestiture hotted up – in 2022 - Larry Ellison’s Oracle was all set to take over.? But Oracle appears to be on the sidelines this time.? However, Ellison’s son David has built a media empire with Skydance and is poised to acquire Paramount . Could Skydance emerge as a TikTok destination if the US forces a divestiture?? Paramount already owns VidCon, Awesomeness and WhoSay – and a May - December media hook-up could be (as they say in the MBA biz) both accretive and synergistic. ? No inside information here, btw.? Just speculating.

• Related: However, the belief in DC is that the Senate will pass an updated TikTok ban/divestiture bill – according to my beltway insider.? It might take a while .??

SPONSOR:?

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QUIBIS: ???

YOUTUBE

• Google might buy HubSpot .
• Neal Mohan warns OpenAI to keep Sora away from YouTube .? Looks like that ship has already sailed .
• YouTube on TV is testing an AI feature to skip ahead to key moments in a video .? Presumably to let you watch Season 23 of Skibidi Toilet in, say, 45 seconds.

META

• Instagram makes more ad revenue than YouTube – according to court documents.? So why doesn’t it share more with creators?
• Meta working on a program to pay top Threads creators .
• As Meta begins to de-emphasize news , an opportunity emerges – and creators begin to fill in the gaps .
• Meta expands its labelling of AI derived content .
• Facebook becomes more like TikTok - Lindsey Gamble explains what it means (also congrats Lindsey on the new baby!).
• Followers not as important as likes or views says IG chief Mosseri.

TIKTOK

• Bytedance founder steps down as CEO .
• Pew resurfaces six facts about Americans’ use of TikTok – we love it, but we think it’s a security risk too.
• Wondering how Effect House creators make money ?? TikTok highlights what works for four top creators.

OTHER CREATOR ECONOMY

• Great story on the rise of smaller creators from Worth – sourced in part during last fall’s Web Summit – you’ll find a quote or two from me in there.?
• We’re nearing the end of the third “pivot to video” says Garbage Day.??

• Yahoo continues to build the intersection of creators and news by acquiring Artifact – founded by Systrom and Krieger.
• Mainstream media discovers “Glorb”. ?You read about it here back in January.? You’re welcome.
• Hey UGC Creators – and anyone doing sponsorship videos – time to add an NIL-type clause to your contract before you get AI cloned .
• Sending best wishes to Zaria Parvez as she navigates extreme burn-out from building an amazing social brand at Duolingo.
• Discord’s April Fool's joke inadvertently spawns the most viewed video on YouTube .? I wonder if Big Red will send them a bandwidth bill?

CREATOR TECH – AI, WEB3, VR, MORE

• Roblox seems to acknowledge it has a kid safety problem, announcing support for California legislation and new safety and civility programs – while simultaneously embracing child labor globally.
• California court allows moms to sue Roblox for allowing kids to gamble illegally on platform.? Not a problem unique to Roblox, as other kids have gambled on other gaming platforms for at least the last 10 years.
• Now you can make 3 minute free “songs” with Stability AI.
• Roll announces a new Layer2 Blockchain called “FORM” designed to jump start projects at the intersection of social networks and distributed finance.? Interoperability is built in, and you can start building today. ? It’s Friend.tech – but far more useful and open (full disclosure, I’m on Roll’s board).
• Check out the fun and insightful podcast I did about NVIDA’s GTC with Berit Anderson from SNS.

TIPS – Want to see the lovely town where I live?? My pal Jefferson Graham came down and we shot a Photowalk TV episode in my little coastal city.? Give it a watch and stop by for coffee at Soul Grind Coffee Roasters anytime.? Say hi to Eddie for me!

VEGAS MEETUP NEXT WEEK: I’m headed to Las Vegas to host Creator Lab at NAB !? Four days focused on building the infrastructure for the creator economy.? But we’ve got more than that in the works!? I’m hosting an official Inside the Creator Economy Meetup Tuesday April 16th from 5p-6p (or so) on the show floor of NAB at the Creator Lab.? Want a free ticket?? Use code CL11 for a free exhibits pass and come to the Creator Lab for a drink! South Hall, upstairs, towards the back.

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