It’s Friday and LinkedIn is saying the quiet part out loud with a new reporting button bluntly titled “Seems like AI slop.”

GAME ON

The ecosystem: With more than 250 million users worldwide, Chess.com has become the most popular destination for online chess matches.

Chess.com’s official YouTube channel reaches nearly three million subscribers, with popular videos featuring notable personalities from the chess world—including Hikaru Nakamura, Levy Rozman, and Anna Cramling—and top creators like Mark Rober, Moist Cr1TiKaL, and xQc.

By pitting influencers against one another in a tournament called Pogchamps (and turning their blunders into teachable moments), Chess.com is growing the game of chess while improving the average viewer’s rating. The most recent edition of Pogchamps was noted for including Jynxzi in the midst of his journey to become a better chess player.

The new hire: The rising profile of chess among gamers—and especially streamers—creates opportunities to develop new esports events and competitions. Chess.com wants to be at the forefront of that era, and it has made a key hire that will invigorate its programming arm. Chris Roberts, formerly of Riot Games, has come on board as Chess.com’s VP of Media and Content.

In his new role, Roberts will oversee channels like video production, social media, editorial, and broadcast by operating as the “connective tissue” between content, partnerships, and events (per a press release).

If Chess.com wants to do more events like Pogchamps, Roberts is the right man for the job. As Riot Games’ Global Head of Marketing Events, Roberts led fan experiences and campaigns for popular esports titles like League of Legends andValorant. Now, he’ll apply that expertise to the world of chess.

MODERN PARENTING

The conundrum: As a professional streamer, AboFlah spends much of his day in front of a screen; he even earned a Guinness World Record by hosting a 268-hour marathon charity stream.

But AboFlah doesn’t want the same experience for his future children. While he has no immediate plans to become a dad, he told Wired that his progeny would have to wait for access to phones and social media—and he isn’t the only creator thinking seriously about screen time.

Fizah Nizam found a winning strategy by directing her kids toward creative uses of their screens, while Ms. Rachel advocates for a balanced approach to screen time. Some influencers, like Erin Loechner, are so concerned about the issue that they’ve chosen to quit the creator lifestyle altogether.

The industry perspective: Platform execs have weighed in, too. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has imposed screen time limits on his children, especially during weekdays. And when Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian had his first child with tennis legend Serena Williams, he said that he and his wife want their daughter Olympia “to be bored.”

Dr. Garth Graham is the latest industry figure to discuss screen time. The Head of YouTube Health is a father of four, and strives for balance by doing his best to ensure that his kids use their screens for high-quality activities.

As part of his family’s plan, Dr. Graham makes use of the YouTube Shorts timer, which puts a 30-minute time limit on short-form scrolling. The timer is one of several products YouTube has unveiled to help viewers take regular breaks. But as much as YouTube wants to promote its mental health suite, the issue of screen time is ultimately a parent’s job to resolve. As AboFlah told Wired, “the family’s responsibility toward the child is to make him aware once he grows up.”

DA COMEBACK

The platform: With our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports, Tubefilter is always keeping an eye on which companies are sponsoring creators on YouTube. And sometimes, surprises pop up—like this deviantART-sponsored video from Chilean illustrator/YouTuber Fran Meneses.

As we wrote in April, deviantART is in a weird spot right now. After losing nearly 50% of its traffic between 2013 and 2019, it revamped with a focus on becoming part of the modern digital content creator economy. It introduced monetization with Patreon-like subscriptions, the ability to sell physical and digital products, and a system for accepting and delivering art commissions on-platform. Usership began to climb.

But dA also embraced generative AI, leading to backlash from some artists. Despite those protests, CEO Moti Levy remarked earlier this year that the platform was “100% right” to embrace AI.

The sponcon: When it comes to creator marketing, though, dA is still relying on the human touch. Meneses’ two-minute ad spot is her personal rundown of why she uses deviantART’s subscription tool—and how other artists can use it, too.

She noted that dA lets artists and creators keep “up to 97.5% of your earnings every month,” compared to the 30% cut YouTube takes of Channel Memberships, and the up to 12% Patreon takes.

dA’s goal with this partnership is obviously user growth, and specifically artist user growth. Its advantage lies with its slim revenue cut…but artists who accept that split will have to be okay with their work being promoted alongside AI pieces.

WATCH THIS 👀

The reality show: What happens when you gather six college-aged creators in a shared house and challenge them to compete for a $100,000 brand deal? Xfinity is hoping the answer involves increased awareness—and it’s bringing ESPN personality Katie Feeney on board to find out.

The Comcast-owned telecom company is behind Best in Class, a short-form reality competition series hosted by Feeney. Across seven episodes, the sports creator will ask participating co-eds to compete in a number of social media-related challenges.

Check out a trailer for the show here and tune into the premiere on August 5.

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