Unpacking a Wild Weekend in the Creator Economy – SVB, TikTok, Reddit, Meta-don and More

This Week: The implications of the shutdown (and rescue) of SVB Bank loom large, but also the latest on yet another TikTok data-sharing scandal, the US Congress's efforts to ban the app, and TikTok's new EU charm offensive. Plus, two new studies that attempt to frame the creator economy, and Reddit's effort to (finally) figure out video. It’s mid-March and here’s what you need to know now!

TikTok Whistle Blower Turns up the Heat on TikTok:? This letter from US Senator Josh Hawley to Treasury Head Janet Yellin is a must read.? Hawley recounts an internal whistleblower, who claims members of the Chinese national party “can switch between Chinese and U.S. data with nothing more than the click of a button using a proprietary tool called Dorado.”? The US congress also moved closer to giving President Biden unilateral rights to ban the app if he sees fit.? 46 of the 50 US states filed an amicus brief urging a Tennessee court to force TikTok to release internal data to help determine whether “deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable conduct” from Double-T resulted in mental health problems for children and teenagers. ? And in Europe, TikTok kicked off “Project Clover”, a charm offensive designed to ratchet down the heat, similar to “Project Texas” in the US. Oh, also, Mr. TikTok goes to Washington – with some of his creator besties (HT Kaya Yurieff). ? Aside, what’s with the code-names here - Clover, Dorado and Texas.? Is there an inner meaning?? Comment if you think you know!

First Bank of Startups Fails:? The creator economy dodged a bullet over the weekend as the SVB bank failure was ameliorated by the US government banking authorities.? What could have been a disaster for startups, customers, suppliers, employees and creators is now just a footnote.? But the creator economy will still feel ripples of change.? Expect a larger bank to pick up the pieces, which could be a negative for startups.? I used SVB while building MCN startup Revision3 ten years ago, and they were great partners, had wonderful advice and their venture debt saved us during the 2008 financial crisis.? Don’t expect that to return.? And as cash management becomes more important at young companies, risk taking could well decline across the board due to recency bias.? Finally, many companies will end up with new shareholders.? SVB typically took warrants as part of its venture debt product, which offer tangible value to new owners.? I talked to one CEO last night who shared concern about who their new investor might be.? The cash loss was worrying, but SVB’s ownership stake dwarfed the cash value.

Two New Studies Attempt to Frame the Creator Economy:? First up, from Citi.com, a look at how the creator economy will grow over the next two years.? A few interesting conclusions:? YouTube is not charging creators enough (don’t tell them), but Roblox is charging too much.? There is no middle class.? And if you want to make money, head to a platform with comparatively less creators.? The second, from Gen.Video, leans into social shopping in q4 2022.? Again, lots of interesting data, a few TLDR stats:? YouTube is the #1 site for product research, trailed by Google at 20%.? And TikTok is just 5%.? Evergreen content also rules, with 39% of sold products coming via videos older than three months.? And 62% of buyers surveyed buy based on creators they like – and nearly 20% don’t even comparison shop after discovering the creator’s recommendation.??

Will Reddit Be the Next Big Video Thing?? Reddit’s been trying to figure this video thing out for a while with middling success, particularly when it comes to creator-first videos. But that’s about to change as? Reddit separates feeds into reading or watching.? This will either kill Reddit Video or make it huge and I can’t decide which. And I can’t help but assume it will also look like TikTok – and be just another case of media carcinization.

QUIBIS:?

• Meta is working on a mashup of Twitter and Mastodon – perhaps with a splash of Whatsapp.
• Also Facebook head Tom Alison blogged about “Facebook Today and Tomorrow”, specifically calling out their plans to support creators – and their 140 Billion daily Reels views.
• Instagram is working on a new revshare model, pauses Reels Play Bonus scheme.
• The carcinization of media continues, as Spotify adopts a TikTok like feed.
• TikTok launches paywalled video.? It’s either going to become Netflix, OnlyFans, or a complete bust.
• You can now swear on YouTube and sell pot on Twitter.? It’s the end of the world as we know it.
• Harry McCracken explores the quiet history of Linkedin.
• YouTube puts the spotlight on five internal partner managers looking to build the future of Shorts.
• Ezra Cooperstein reports on the creator-curious trend at natural foods convention Expo West.

CRYPTIS:?

• Update on WorldCoin, Sam Altman’s global identity startup.? We need this, not sure it’ll happen soon though.
• Opensea claims we are confused about whether they abandoned creator royalties – interesting interview from Peter Csathy and The Wrap.
• Interesting company update from Roll CEO Bradley Miles that gives a good overview of where Web3 is today.? Hint: Web2.5

GENIES:

• GPT4 is coming, perhaps as soon as this week.? Hype train says it will be HUGE.
• Kajabi officially rolls out its AI creator hub.? Techcrunch has more on the company’s growth.
• LLaMA taboot taboot spotted in the wild on 4Chan.
• Speculative story on new media formats created by GenAI.? Full disclosure, I used to create “Second Person” shows in my head while binge-reading The Bobbsey Twins when I was 10.
• More imaginary friends!? This time it’s Clyde from Discord.

Tip of the Week: I love what Video Creators has to say about integrating community into your YouTube audience efforts, including video ideas, community tab management and headline tips.

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What I’m (not) Watching:?Kevin Rose and Justin Mezzell released an hour and a half video about the future of their Moonbirds/Proof project and “humanity’s handprint on the world”.? Heck, that’s longer than any Diggnation episode we produced back at Revison3. I lack the patience, but if you watch it let me know what you think.

Thanks so much for reading and see you around the internet.? Send me a note with your feedback, or post in the comments!? Feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested, and if someone forwarded this to you, you can sign up?and subscribe on LinkedIn for free here!??

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And don't forget to listen to The Creator Feed - the weekly podcast Renee Teeley and I produce.? This week’s episode is awesome!? Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher!