Up with Crypto, Down with Gatekeepers, and WTF, Reddit?!

SPONSORED: Gen Z has the power to create new marketplaces, dictate cultural trends, and upend the consumer-brand relationship. Coming 12/15, Edelman will unpack the future according to Gen Z.

How Crypto Will Save Media: Long-time tech journalist Brian Morrisey pens an insightful essay on why Web3 and crypto technologies really matter –– even if they are headed for a dotcom meltdown-style crash next year. Brian writes with a media industry filter and sees the emergence of “media brands as collectives.” I hope he’s right! For more on gatekeepers and crypto and why gatekeepers will go down in flames, check out Rex Woodbury’s latest piece “Down with the Gatekeepers ”!

Evaluating a Creator’s Direct-To-Consumer Brand Effort: Seems like every creator these days is coming out with a merch lineup, products, and/or services for their fans. But how do you know which ones will be successful? And if you’re building one for a creator, how can you improve the odds of success? This latest piece from McKinsey on evaluating an investment in a digital native brand is also ideal for creators, their teams, and their investors, too.?

Reddit Pivots Video Direction (Again): Alas Dubsmash, we hardly knew ye. Reddit just shuttered the TikTok clone it bought less than a year ago while adding video features cribbed from the app to its core platform. What does this mean for Reddit? Hard to say, but the popular social news app has a huge video opportunity… if only they could figure out what it actually is.

Best Bits from Epic VidCon Abu Dhabi: We’re a bit late on the newsletter today as we’re just wrapping four fascinating days here in the Middle East. Highlights ahead.??

• YouTube’s keynote focused entirely on the Middle East in a celebration of local creators. In a shot at Double-T, they staked a claim to trend-based videos on Shorts and beyond. Speaking of Shorts, Big Red also announced that its $100M Shorts fund would immediately be available in MENA –– good news for everyone here.??
• TikTok took a different approach, making a compelling case for how their “content graph” has turned relevance into the new reach. They also leaned into “comments as the new creative brief” and highlighted “reaction-based creativity.”??
• If you want to save on Ethereum gas, trade at 10 PM ET.

Now that we've wrapped VidCon Abu Dhabi, we've got our sights set on the next VidCon US happening June 22 – 25, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center!?Take advantage of our Early Bird pricing and buy your tickets here !

QUIBIS:?

• DAO Dung: fallout from the Web3 org that tried to buy the $40M Constitution .
• Squid Games, MrBeast, and how big is too big ?
• Jack’s out , and Parag’s in at Twitter.
• Short-form video consumers follow more influencers than brands (news from VidCon Asia!).
• Philip DeFranco was named Chief Creative Officer at website/merch start-up Fourthwall .
• TikTok TV is now even more of a thing in the US and Canada!
• Spotify trials a TikTok-like vertical feed for discovering new music.
• TikTok is testing a new “business registration” option to confirm business information in the app.
• NIL deals abound as this recent report on U of Minnesota athletes shows.

Tip of the Week:?

This week’s tip comes from Gwen Miller , Senior Director of YouTube Strategy at Hearst (and awesome VidCon Abu Dhabi speaker):

Try it yourself. You may work with a full team who shoots, edits, uploads, and optimizes videos, but whatever your role, you will do it better if you have at least some hands-on experience with the other steps in your process. Start your own personal channel for a hot second, craft a concept, shoot your own content, edit it yourself, upload it yourself. It doesn’t have to be great. You never have to tell anyone you did it (not telling you how to find mine, lol). But it will change how you think about digital content.

What We’re Watching:?

• This is the most touching Thanksgiving dinner speech you’ll ever hear.
• Have you ever seen brunch toast ASMR on TikTok?
• MrBeast produced a $456,000 Squid Games video in real life.

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."

Jim