How to Train Your Dragon...er, Your TikTok!

Here’s what’s new and what caught my eye this week:

Teach TikTok What You Want: If you haven’t used TikTok much, it seems almost impenetrable. Who are all these dancers and singers, magicians and memeticians? (I totally just made up that word.) With a little bit of training, though, you’ll end up with hours of mindless fun every day. Confused on how to train your dragon? First, watch every VidCon TikTok on our account. Then, read this Verge article for details on how to prime the AI pump. You’ll be liking and following in no time!

Oh Fleets We Hardly Knew Ye: Seems like every big platform keeps throwing dross against the wall in hopes of driving more usage, but at least one is honest enough to admit that some of them just don’t work! Props to Twitter for killing off Fleets — the Stories clone that evidently didn’t replicate the same kind of success that befell Instagram and Snapchat. Experimentation is good; killing off the losers is better. Perhaps Twitter should experiment with an “EDIT” feature next? (Don’t hold your breath.)

Cheap Legal Advice for Creators: Signing a sponsorship contract with a brand can be stressful — especially for young creators. Lawyers can charge nearly a thousand bucks or more to look at it, which really eats into the profit. But predatory brands often prey on unwary creators: I still remember that early MCN that signed YouTubers to lifetime deals (which is patently illegal). But now, influencer marketing agency Famepick has an alternative. For just $25, they’ll review your contract and give you advice. They won’t advise you on what to charge, according to VP of Marketing Matt Zuvello, instead focusing on “the deliverables, non-compete clauses, revisions, etc., [rather] than the actual price point.” Not only do they get good market intelligence out of it –– and maybe a few new clients too –– but it’s also great service for creators overall. Hats off!

When One Billion Dollars Just Isn’t Enough: Mark Zuckerberg just announced that Facebook and Instagram will give out $1B to creators over the next 18 months. That’s a lot of money, but when you consider the fact that those companies will likely make $150B over those same six quarters, $1B comes out to about .67% of total revenue. Compare that to the 50% YouTube returns to creators, or even TikTok’s 7% disbursement. Is it any wonder that creators are starting to go direct? Don’t let the big number fool you –– Facebook needs to do better if it wants to remain relevant to the creator economy.

QUIBIS: 

• Longish but insightful piece on how NFTs, DAOs, and DEFI will work together to create value for creators.
• Perceptive Twitter thread on how to invest in creators from Jellysmack exec Hugo Amsellem.
• Congrats to Flymachine and Rick Farman for raising $21M to reinvent the live music experience.
• Welcome news: Discord leans into battling hate and abuse by acquiring Sentropy.
• Mmhmm raises $100M to make video conferencing less soul-sucking. CEO Phil Libin will be speaking at VidCon in Anaheim on Oct 22.
• Congrats to ex-Facebook exec and frequent VidCon speaker Fidji Simo for landing the CEO job at Instacart!
• Unpacking that weird way creators talk.
• Will creators advertise themselves? Niel Robertson thinks so.
• TikTok will start automatically removing offensive videos. What could possibly go wrong?
• Live-streamed shopping is just Home Shopping Network 2.0.
• YouTube’s ‘Bucket List Family’ has raised $10 million to establish a next-generation animation studio.

This Week at VidCon Now:

• TUESDAY: Eugene Lee from Channel Meter and Creator Cash is cooking up something fun! Watch it live at 12 PM (PT) at live.vidcon.com.
• TUESDAY: Now that the world is back to traveling, travel vloggers are also back on the scene — but are things going to change? Tune in to learn from traveling duo Louis Cole & Raya! Watch it live at 3 PM (PT) at live.vidcon.com.
• WEDNESDAY (ASIA): We sit down with popular YouTuber Wengie to talk about her reinvention on Roblox, as a musician, and as a multi-platform creator. Watch it live at 5 PM (SST) at live.vidcon.com.

Deep Thought of the Week: 

Something a little different this week. Journalist Chris Stokel-Walker speaks regularly at VidCon. His latest book, TikTok Boom: China’s Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media, is due out Thursday. 

 TikTok’s user base constantly defies expectations. When it inherited Musical.ly’s user base, it was thought of as the teenager’s app, yet TikTok has managed to recruit many older users during the pandemic, successive Christmases — and now its sponsorship of the European soccer championship, which ended July 11th. Two-thirds of its audience are now over 25. Other surprises? TikTok is growing much faster than YouTube in its early years. And it's starting to replace TV and other video content: 30% of US TikTokers said they watch less of other platforms since joining TikTok. All of which makes for a captive audience — especially since they’re mostly watchers, not creators themselves. 91% of users never post on the app but instead throw themselves into the endless stream of content.

It's worth a read for sure –– get 20% off the book here (discount is automatically applied at checkout)! 

What We’re Watching:

Singer Tori Kelly covers Doja Cat and SZA’s “Kiss Me More” on TikTok. The SlimeTok is deep and wide on Double T. –– watch Snoop Slimes “make” a Key Lime Pie. Or should that be a Key Slime Pie?

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