TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and after several faked mascot deaths, we finally have some Duolingo news that isn’t totally unhinged: the language-learning app is adding chess to its course offerings.

Today’s News

META VS. BYTEDANCE

Instagram’s new Edits app is surging up App Store charts. Can it challenge TikTok’s CapCut?

The app: Instagram‘s CapCut copycat has arrived. Edits—a standalone app that mimics TikTok’s popular editing suite—is surging up the download charts on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play store.

With second-to-second controls, green screen tools, and video capture capabilities, Edits’ interface looks a whole lot like its TikTok-affiliated rival’s—a resemblance likely designed to lure away as many of CapCut’s millions of users as possible. The most noticeable difference between the two apps is a cosmetic one: videos created through Edits have no watermark.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri has also noted that Edits is more professionally oriented than CapCut, because it’s “more for creators than casual video makers. Not just video editing, but an inspiration tab, idea tracking, and insights built in.” Now that Edits is finally available after a months-long pushback, however, it’s clear that the app has also captured the attention off casual creators.

At the time of this post, Edits is ranked #1 among photo and video editing hubs on the App Store. On Google Play, the new app has already been download more than one million times.

The context: Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at, but Edits’ initial growth could stall if TikTok remains unbanned in the United States. When Meta initially announced its copycat app, CapCut had recently gone offline in the U.S. amid regulatory pressure—a scenario that put Instagram in a strong position to woo users looking for a backup. These days, however, TikTok’s operating status is looking a little more stable. If the ByteDance-owned platform stays available on U.S. app stores, Instagram will likely lose out on the influx of Edits users it may have been counting on.

🔆 PRESENTED BY OPUSCLIP 🔆

This is the story of how one creator grabbed YouTube’s algorithm by the horns—with help from OpusSearch:

Gone are the days when broad appeal equaled YouTube virality. Instead, today’s algorithms reward niche content for specific audiences. 

For one veteran YouTuber, that new reality meant a total overhaul—one made possible by OpusSearch.

This creator (who requested to remain anonymous) had built up 500K subscribers and a library of 800 livestreamed episodes on everything from news to sports. The problem: that variety format was actually working against YouTube's updated algorithm. 

So, the creator decided to launch a new channel focused on just one theme. Their strategy:

1. Search: The creator used OpusClip’s AI video search tool, OpusSearch, to scan their entire library for content fitting specific themes. Then, they used the same tool to create new clips from that content and post them at scale to test various themes. The winning niche: "sportscasting.”
   
   

2. Create: Next, the creator refocused their new channel entirely on sportscasting by using OpusClip to cut mid-form clips with seamlessly integrated ad reads.
   
   

3. Grow: Within 90 days, their new channel was raking in 400K monthly views and earning thousands in ad revenue.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Linguana CEO Shuki Merlis says his company has a “unique value proposition for creators”: full-service channel localization and dubbing that requires “zero effort” from creators themselves. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Max is the latest streaming service to crack down on password-sharing. Its strategy: giving subscribers the option to “add one person who does not live in their household” to their account for $7.99/month. (Los Angeles Times)
  
  

• ChatGPT Head of Product Nick Turley has indicated that OpenAI would be interested to buying Chrome if Alphabet is legally compelled to sell off the browser. (Gizmodo)
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• According to a recent report, Bluesky has ceded to a request from Turkish authorities by restricting access to at least 59 accounts on the grounds of maintaining “national security and public order.” (TechCrunch)

BREAK THE GAME

PBS pulled a documentary about a trans speedrunner. So the director put it on Twitch instead.

The delay: Speedrunning is a heralded gaming institution, and The Legend of Zelda is one of the world’s most beloved games—so it wasn’t too surprising when PBS jumped to snag a film about record-breaking Zelda speedrunner Narcissa Wright.

Break the Game was initially slated to air this month as part of PBS’ long-running POV series. Instead, the doc’s director Jane Wagner says PBS pulled the film because Wright is transgender. The network was apparently concerned about backlash due to the Trump administration’s anti-trans stance and threats against public media organizations.

According to Wagner, PBS later re-slated the film to air in June—but she wasn’t about to let the network’s indecision waylay Break the Game’s intended April debut. So, she brought the doc to Twitch.

The premiere: Wagner told Polygon that she always wanted to involve Twitch, but PBS said that would violate its licensing agreement. When the network reneged on the film’s original run date, however, Wagner says it “changed [its] mind,” giving famed Nintendo speedrunner Trihex the opportunity to host an April 21 premiere on Twitch.

Trihex aired both the full documentary and a Q&A with Wagner and several streamers about representation and cyberbullying. (Wright was the subject of regular online bullying, to the extent that she shuttered her Twitch channel in 2016. She later returned but was permabanned in 2022 after opening graphic content from a viewer on stream, and then tweeting that she wanted to “kill myself and shoot people at the twitch HQ.” She now streams on YouTube.)

Wagner says she’s glad the Twitch premiere allowed Break the Game to “directly engage our audience…without censorship”—but she still worries that PBS’s pull reflects the Trump admin’s “chilling effect” on legacy media. At the end of the day, Wagner says she hopes “speaking out about what happened will empower others” who experience censorship to “speak up.”

TIKTOK TALK

The #SkinnyTok trend is drawing scrutiny from E.U. regulators

The hashtag: Earlier this month, #SkinnyTok took off on TikTok, bringing attention to the thousands of videos that offer advice on controversial weight loss strategies—and prompting widespread concerns about the archive’s potential links to eating disorders.

Clara Chappaz, the Minister of State for Digital Affairs of France, raised the alarm in a video on her personal TikTok account. She referred the issue to regional authorities, who passed on her concerns to the European Commission.

European Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told Politico that his organization is “aware of the issue raised” in France and is “ready to cooperate” on an investigation. That probe could invoke studies regarding TikTok algorithm’s effect on body image, which have already been conducted by the E.U.

The context: As illustrated by those studies, this isn’t the first time authorities and prominent creators have voiced concerns about negative correlations between digital media and body positivity. Although TikTok has placed restrictions on some types of dieting content and reminds visitors to the #SkinnyTok landing page that “you are more than your weight,” toxic ideas about body image remain prevalent on the platform. Steroid-like drugs, for example, are touted in many videos as an easy solution for building muscle mass.

YouTube has already expressed concerns about the “imitable behaviors” that could result from idealized body standards—now it’s TikTok’s turn to take action. If it fails to do so, the Bytedance-owned app could face more than simple scrutiny from the E.U. The continental body recently announced that Apple and Meta will be the first two companies to receive fines as a result of the Digital Markets Act, which passed in 2022.

WATCH THIS 📺

YouTube’s latest Creator Roundup doubled as a birthday bash

The recap: Every month, YouTube releases a Creator Roundup video outlining the last few weeks of platform updates, initiatives, and milestones. April’s roundup coincided with a particularly special milestone: the 20th anniversary of the first-ever YouTube video.

To mark that big event, the platform announced the release of “new limited-time gifts to celebrate YouTube’s 20th birthday.” Also on the run-down for April:

• Creators in YouTube’s Partner Program now have early access to Auto Dubbing

• Subscriber lists are now viewable on mobile

• Combo gifting is coming to vertical livestreams

Check out YouTube’s full roundup here for all the details.

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