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Today’s News

STREAMING BIG

iShowSpeed got 1M concurrent viewers in one of Asia’s most creator-obsessed countries

The stats: iShowSpeed just hit a massive viewership milestone amid his tour of Southeast Asia. Shortly after smashing his personal record by attracting 600,000 concurrent live YouTube viewers in Thailand, the creator (aka Darren Watkins Jr.) held a live stream in Indonesia—and brought in more than 1 million concurrents.

The context: The location of that career milestone makes sense. Indonesia is a hotbed of creator content (especially on short-form platforms like TikTok) and often makes appearances in Tubefilter’s Top 50 YouTube charts thanks to Shorts creators like Virola_Chan. iShowSpeed’s next Asian destination, however, could prove to be more of a challenge. While high-stakes stunts and crowd-drawing streams have served him well thus far, the creator will need to be careful if he plans to stay within the bounds of Singapore’s strict laws.

The record books: Watkins might want to consider expanding his tour itinerary, too. While Indonesia has generated plenty of buzz on Shorts, it hasn’t yet been the setting for one of YouTube or Twitch’s most-watched live streams.

The top spot on YouTube goes to a moon landing streamed by India’s national space agency, which attracted an audience of more than eight million concurrent viewers. On Twitch, the current holder of the equivalent record is Spanish streamer Ibai Llanos, who welcomed 3.85 million concurrent viewers to the fourth edition of his influencer boxing event, La Velada del Año.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Twitch has announced The Glitch, a game world inside Fortnite that will be filled out through partnerships with sponsors. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• A new report from the Federal Trade Commission found that large social media platforms have “engaged in vast surveillance of users with lax privacy controls and inadequate safeguards for kids and teens.” (The Verge)
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• Conservative influencer Christopher Kohls is suing the state of California in response to the passage of two laws banning malicious deepfakes of political candidates. (Ars Technica)
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• Brazil’s Supreme Court has threatened X with daily fines following what the platform characterized as an “inadvertent and temporary service restoration" among Brazilian users. (Engadget)

SHOP TIL YOU DROP

This creator commerce platform is set to drive $5 billion in 2024

The problem: Making content full-time is a dream for many creators—but the reality of that career path isn’t always as palatable. Creators who rely on one or two platforms to sustain their livelihoods have dozens of potential liabilities to contend with, from revenue-affecting policy changes to nationwide bans. That’s where creator commerce platforms like LTK come in.

The solution: LTK helps 300,000 creators mitigate the risk of financially relying on social media platforms by providing tools for setting up their own affiliate commissions, brand collaborations, and digital storefronts. Those perks are expanding, too: At its 12th annual LTK Con, the company announced a suite of time-saving AI features and a community-building tool called Power Gifting, which allows creators to request free items and promo codes from the 8,000 brands within the LTK app.

The context: Those tools could be a valuable resource for creators who don’t yet have the connections to get ahold of brands on their own, as well as a boon for the upcoming holidays. LTK recently released an internal study showing creators “are set to make a significant impact this holiday season,” with the buying power of viewers who purchase products from their affiliate links, brand deals, and digital storefronts up 38% year-over-year, “while the buying power of the general population decreased 8% from last year.”

The numbers: That increase could mean major gains for LTK, which is set to drive nearly $5 billion in sales this year. That’s almost double the $2.8 billion in sales the company saw leading into 2021, when LTK received a $300 million investment at a $2 billion valuation from SoftBank.

TIKTOK TALK

U.S. Gen Zers have mixed feelings about TikTok—but 54% still plan to hit up Shop for the holidays

The studies: Two recent studies have proven something you probably already suspected: being born between 1997 and 2012 doesn’t mean all Gen Zers share the same thoughts on topics like social media and spending.

That fact was hammered home by findings from Fiverr (which discovered that Gen Z’s TikTok Shop usage is set to rise during the holidays) and The Harris Poll, which revealed that many Gen Z respondents wish apps like TikTok, Snapchat, and X had never been developed. Here’s a snapshot of those two studies:

1. Gen Zers are watching their spending habits (but they still plan to hit up TikTok Shop for the holidays).

According to Fiverr, only 43% of Gen Z respondents plan to spend more on gifts this year than they did in 2023 (meaning 57% intend to spend the same or less). But that don’t mean Gen Z will be abstaining from online shopping for the holidays:

• In total, 54% of U.S. Gen Z respondents indicated that they would only use TikTok Shop to find gifts this holiday season.
  

• Approximately one-third of respondents plan to shop through Facebook and Instagram ads.
  

• 24% claimed they will consult their favorite influencers for purchasing advice.

2. Shopping aside, zoomers aren’t thrilled about their reliance on social media.

As some zoomers turn to social media for holiday shopping, others are limiting their screen time. The Harris Poll found that half of Gen Z respondents wish X had never been invented, while 47% said the same thing about TikTok and 43% about Snapchat. That regret seems to inform some zoomers’ online habits: 83% of Harris Poll respondents said they were limiting their social media usage in some way, with 42% unfollowing accounts and 40% deleting apps.

WATCH THIS 📺

Should YouTube introduce revenue-sharing for reaction content?

The context: Reaction content has long provoked controversy within the creator community. Video makers often take issue with reaction channels that use their original content to generate engagement—especially when the resulting response videos seem to monopolize viewers’ attention.

The sitch: Video essayist Zackary Smigel is currently contending with that exact situation. After fellow creator Asmongold reacted to his latest video (linked above), the YouTuber says its view count stalled at just over 300,000—while Asmongold’s reaction soared to nearly a million. Smigel’s proposed solution: the creator says he doesn’t have any issue with “transformative” reaction content—but he does “feel like YouTube should have a system similar to quote tweets or a kickback system for reaction videos.”

So, what do you think? Is it time for original creators to be compensated for reaction content?

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.