TOGETHER WITH

It’s Monday and Google is saying goodbye to Google Assistant and hello to Gemini. Rest in peace, Assistant—we’re sure the powers that be at Alphabet are hoping your 85+ million users in the United States won’t mind the switch.

Today’s News

MONEY MOVES

Creators earned over $2B on Facebook in 2024. Stories monetization will take earnings even higher.

The update: Meta is giving Facebook creators a new way to make money. An expansion of the existing Facebook Content Monetization program will enable earnings on the platform’s disappearing public post format, Stories.

Facebook revealed that update in a Stories post hosted by creator Keto Snackz, who said he’s already made $5,000 from the beta version of Facebook’s Stories monetization program. During that announcement video, the cooking star noted that Reels creators can cut clips from their vertical videos to profit from those snippets on Stories.

The context: Stories have been available on Facebook since 2017, when Meta brought Snapchat’s signature format to several of its properties. (Since then, Snapchat has harnessed the potential of its own Stories by steadily progressing creator monetization opportunities for the format.)

With the introduction of Stories monetization, Facebook is once again following Snapchat’s lead—and it’s not difficult to guess why the platform is making that move now. The timing of the update suggests that Meta is still looking to win over any TikTokers who choose to leave the app (or are forced to do so via federal decree) to any of its platforms.

But there’s also another factor at play: On both Facebook and Instagram, Meta is making serious investments in the formats that let ordinary users communicate with one another. Instagram’s DMs have gotten a major glow-up, and now Facebook Stories is being revamped as well.

Perhaps, as Meta contemplates whether to launch a new app focused entirely on Reels, it’s thinking about what monetization would look like on Reels-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. In that scenario, Stories may play a key role.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Golden Visas are this year’s hot topic. Creators HQ is bringing creators into that conversation—and into the heart of Dubai.

“Golden Visas” have become a hot topic in recent news cycles—but many creators don’t know how to claim the access provided by those golden tickets. Creators HQ aims to change that.

Backed by a $40.8M fund, the initiative plans to equip creators with everything they need to grow, from state-of-the-art facilities to applications for UAE Golden Visas—a type of long-term residential visa that doesn’t require applicants to have a sponsor and makes accommodations for family and employees.

Creators HQ also plans to provide relocation support and advice for creators looking to set up companies within the UAE. According to the initiative, creators from various fields—including filmmakers, influencers, photographers, writers, and digital storytellers—are all encouraged to apply.

Find out more on the Creators HQ website →

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• Following a wave of backlash, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has stepped in to explain why issuing bans (and unbans) on live content is so “tricky.” (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Reddit is reportedly introducing a new feature that will allow users to hide ads from specific advertisers “for at least a year.” (Ars Technica) 
  
  

• Bluesky has responded to concerns from its community after proposing a system that would allow users to select preferences regarding “reuse of their public content” for purposes like AI training. (TechCrunch)
  
  

• An arbitrator has ordered Sarah Wynn-Williams—a former global director of policy at Facebook—to temporarily stop promoting her tell-all memoir amidst a legal battle with Meta. (TechCrunch)

THE ULTIMATUM

TikTok is negotiating with burned-out employees as executives jump ship

The ultimatum: TikTok is reportedly giving some of its U.S. staff an ultimatum. According to Business Insider, the platform has required multiple employees to choose between a performance improvement plan (PIP) and a severance package.

That order comes after TikTok advised U.S. managers to grade their staff more harshly, despite the fact that the app’s performance reports are already infamous among its workforce. One staffer told BI that they “have never met somebody who’s passed a PIP.”

The context: News of TikTok’s ultimatum follows a previous BI report that revealed widespread feelings of burnout among the app’s U.S. employees. Amid threats of a national ban, some TikTok teams have reportedly seen as much as 20% of their workers go on mental health leave at the same time.

That fatalism may have spread beyond TikTok’s middle and lower ranks. Eight executive have already left the platform since the start of the year, including music head Ole Obermann and North American ad sales chief Sameer Singh (per The Information).

Ironically, that executive exodus (and the general doomsday vibe haunting TikTok’s workforce) comes at a time when the app’s U.S. operations seem to be turning a corner. The national divest-or-ban law is on thin ice, and TikTok has established relations with the Trump administration—but that doesn’t mean its employees will stick around to see how things turn out.

VIDEO VS. AUDIO

Turns out Gen Z doesn’t like video podcasts. Now what?

The study: YouTube and Spotify are on a mission to make video podcasts happen—but should they? The push makes sense from a financial standpoint: podcasting in general has experienced a boom since the start of the pandemic, and video ad spots are more lucrative than audio-only ads.

The problem is Gen Z isn’t buying it. Although both YouTube and Spotify have gained some traction with video podcasts, a recent study from Transistor suggests that the format hasn’t quite taken off—even among one of the internet’s most video-friendly generations.

According to the podcast hosting/monetization platform’s report, Gen Z “overwhelmingly chooses audio-only formats” when it comes to podcasts:

• Of the Gen Z’ers involved in Transistor’s study, 76% said they primarily listen to audio podcasts.
  
  

• 18% said they listen to a mix of audio and video.
  
  

• Only 6% said they primarily watch video podcasts.

The details: There is some variation in that data. Among the 58% of Gen Z who use Spotify as their primary podcast-listening app, 88% said they primarily listen to audio-only. That leaves only 12% of Gen Z Spotify users watching video podcasts some or all of the time.

However, of the 21% of Gen Z that said YouTube is their primary podcast app, 52% said they watch video podcasts some or all of the time. That difference isn’t too surprising. YouTube is still known as the internet’s video destination, so it tracks that young users who go there are more likely to embrace video.

The takeaway: So, should YouTube and Spotify abandon their visions of video podcasting supremacy? Transistor’s data isn’t necessarily an indication that platforms should hit pause altogether—but they might want to temper their expectations when it comes to making video podcasts the next big thing.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

“Creators Go Upfront”: Creator Upload host Lauren Schnipper is back from SXSW (with news of a new role!) and ready to spill all the details on the creator front of the conference. Also on the discussion board for this week’s episode: creators are usurping TV ad dollars via their own version of Upfronts, and MrBeast's investor deck has revealed additional detail about his various businesses.

Tune in on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to find out more (and learn all about the biggest creator charity event of the year).

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