The White House's Creator Economy Conf, Top Social Media For US Adults and Gen Alpha, New TikTok's Incentives for Creators

The White House Hosts its Inaugural Creator Economy Conference

This past Wednesday, the White House invited over 100 content creators and creator economy specialists to attend its first-ever Creator Economy Conference. The event was spearheaded by President Joe Biden’s Office of Digital Strategy which reached out to the diverse creative attendees for discussions on artificial intelligence, mental health, privacy, and fair pay. Some noteworthy attendees include Jackie Aina, Jon Youshaei, Erik Wei, and Jim Louderback.

Creator economy expert and educator Lia Haberman shared a thorough overview of the monumental conference in her hit newsletter, ICYMI. Haberman highlighted several key events from the conference including creator Joel Bervell’s discussion on mental health for influencers and social media users, creator Hannah Williams and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo’s fireside chat on embracing creators as entrepreneurs and SMBs, and discussions on recent legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act.?

President Biden spoke at the conference, emphasizing the significance of responsible reporting on social media in today’s age of rampant misinformation. “When you go around the world, as many of you have, they look at America like, ‘These guys can do anything when they set their mind to it.’ It’s a nation of possibilities and change,” he said. “You are the new possibilities. You are the new breakthrough in how we communicate. And it matters.” President Biden also took a moment to bring awareness to the Inflation Reduction Act and how he hopes that creators will leverage their influence to spread the word about its purpose and benefits, particularly its intention to lower out-of-pocket prescription costs.?

To learn more about the inaugural Creator Economy Conference, check out the White House’s Briefing Room for a complete transcript of President Biden’s remarks and The Information reporter Kaya Yurieff’s official recap.

Top Social Media Platforms for U.S. Adults and Gen Alpha

In a recent report from eMarketer, Facebook reigned supreme as the top social media platform utilized by U.S. adults over 18. The June study conducted by eMarketer revealed Facebook to have the highest average daily time for adults in the U.S. at 20 minutes per day with TikTok at a close second. Although only 53.9% of Baby Boomers ages 58 to 76 regularly tap into social media, compared to the active 87.9% of Gen Zers, Facebook is a viable channel for marketers to connect with them digitally.?

Additionally, eMarketer reported that both TikTok and Instagram use have reached saturation among Gen Z users with 72.1% of Gen Z on TikTok and 72.5% on Instagram. According to eMarketer’s June Study, older Gen Z users between the ages of 18 and 27 spend an average of 42.5 minutes per day on TikTok and 36 minutes per day on Instagram. eMarketer projects that Gen Z users will eventually outnumber Millenials on Instagram by 2025.?

Beano Brain recently released a report highlighting YouTube as Gen Alpha’s coolest, most favored brand and social media platform. The 2024 Coolest Brands list by Beano Brain delved deeply into Gen Alpha’s favorite brands, the top 25 consisting of mainly food and beverage brands. YouTube took the number one spot on Beano Brain’s 2024 Coolest Brands list, replacing Netflix which was number one in 2023. Beano Brain noted a significant increase in Gen Alpha’s passion for skincare brands and brands that champion self-care. YouTube serves as a core channel for Gen Alpha users to engage with such brands and explore the content of their favorite influencers, many of which specialize in beauty and entertainment content.

TikTok Launches New Incentives for Creator Monetization Programs

According to a recent report from The Information, TikTok is looking to utilize special incentives for creators to push its 1 Minute+ Growth Program. As depicted by screenshots shared by Lia Haberman, creators now have the opportunity to earn $300 in Promote Coupons or $100 in Amazon Giftcards per “eligible invitation” to other creators.?

TikTok detailed that new creators must have more than 10,000 YouTube subscribers or 100,000 Instagram followers to be considered eligible for invitation to the 1 Minute+ Growth Program. Once an eligible creator joins the program with a unique reference code and verifies their YouTube or Instagram Account, the original creator will pick their preferred reward. Tubefilter noted that TikTok’s decision to offer three times the credit in Promote Coupons than Amazon Giftcards may be a move to direct creators towards premium ad products like Pulse Premiere.

Similarly, TikTok has also kickstarted a TikTok Shop Referral Program. Creators have access to special coupons that make TikTok Shop products only $0.01 with free shipping if they refer new, eligible creators to the social commerce platform’s affiliate program. New Shop creators must adhere to TikTok’s creator and Community Guidelines plus fulfilling its standard requirements for TikTok Shop for Creators.

Although TikTok Shop dominates social commerce, ByteDance looks to strengthen TikTok as an overall platform and recruit the best creators to engage its diverse user base. Creators may check out TikTok Studio to learn more about each new program from TikTok and better understand growing monetization opportunities on the viral platform.?

Twitch Introduces New Video Stories for Mobile and Desktop

Following its successful launch of short-form content, Twitch is introducing new video stories for both mobile and desktop. Previously, stories were only available on the Twitch mobile app and consisted of only photos, text, and clips that disappeared after 48 hours. Now, Twitch fans can keep up with all the latest from their favorite streamers, including 60-second vertical videos, on their preferred device.?

In addition to introducing video stories for mobile and desktop, Twitch now allows creators to further customize their stories by individually setting them to expire after 1, 12, 24, or 48 hours. Twitch noted in its official announcement on Stories updates that creators may set their stories to expire after 1 to 12 hours for more time-sensitive announcements like events and streaming updates, while longer settings are best suited for “ICYMI” content and project updates.

The opportunities for user engagement with Twitch Stories are limitless. Users may view, like, and react to their favorite Story content on the web and mobile for increased accessibility and improved user experience. Although Story creation is currently limited to mobile, Twitch is actively working on improving the Story experience for both its creators and beloved users.