TOGETHER WITH

It’s Friday and recent studies suggest that 16-30% of people have romanced an AI chatbot. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned dating apps?

Today’s News

PLATFORM HEADLINES

Instagram’s TikTokification is nearly complete

The redesign: How would you feel if the Reels feed was the first thing you saw when you opened Instagram? A “small group of people in India” are now experiencing exactly that: a redesigned Instagram app in which Reels and DMs are the first visible tabs (although a visit to the Home tab still offers access to friends’ photo posts).

That test feature marks the latest milestone in Instagram’s prioritization of Reels and DMs over content formats (like photos). The platform’s shifting focus to video in particular has been widely understood as an attempt to keep up with TikTok—and users have not been happy about it.

That’s why, after the launch of the experimental redesign, Instagram head Adam Mosseri took to Threads to get ahead of the inevitable criticism:

The context: This isn’t the first time Mosseri has defended the introduction of TikTok-style features by saying that Instagram is simply prioritizing the formats its users consume most.

It’s hard to say whether those claims are accurate, especially since Instagram has pushed Reels so hard that the format is difficult to avoid. But even after admitting that the platform has “overfocused” on videos in the past, Mosseri and his team are clearly doubling down.

🌟 SPONSORED 🌟

Coming to MIPCOM CANNES 2025: The MIP Creative Hub, Where Creativity Takes Centre Stage

The world’s largest global TV and streaming content market is bridging the gap between traditional entertainment and the creator economy. 

From October 13-16, MIPCOM CANNES will open a line of communication between digital creators, television producers, platforms, distributors, and brands with a series of unprecedented networking and biz dev opportunities.  

First up: The MIP Creative Hub.

Previously known as the Producer’s Hub, the MIP Creative Hub is a beachfront co-production destination where creators, digital studios, and brands will be immersed in four days of conferences and networking. Among this year’s visionary speaker lineup:

• Soraya Castellanos (TikTok, Head of Programs and Partnerships, EMEA)

• Justine Ryst (YouTube, Managing Director France)

• Nicole Morganti (Amazon Studios, Head of Local Originals, Southern Europe)

• Lucas Green (Banijay Entertainment, Chief Content Officer)

• Kate Phillips (BBC, Chief Content Officer)

• Joshua Barnett (After Party Studios, Managing Director)

• And many, many more…

Tickets to MIPCOM CANNES are available now. Visit the website to secure your spot:

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• After seven weeks of tracking YouTube viewership on TV screens with Nielsen-style ratings, U.K.-based nonprofit Barb found that the Peppa Pig hub consistently ranked #1 among 200 channels. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Threads is testing a new feature called Communities, which Meta describes as “casual spaces for you to see and share unique takes on topics like basketball or TV.” (Meta)
  
  

• After a tense negotiation process, NBCUniversal exec Matt Schnaars says the media conglomerate has “secured long-term access to our full portfolio of broadcast and cable networks on YouTube TV.” (The Verge)
  
  

• OpenAI has become “the world’s most valuable private company” after selling $6.6 billion in shares to investors at a $500 billion valuation. (Engadget)

20 YEARS OF YOUTUBE

20 Years of YouTube: 2023 made us say DaFuq!?Boom!

In February 2025, YouTube turned 20. The video site has gone through a lot over the past two decades, including an acquisition, an earnings glow-up, and multiple generations of star creators. In our 20 Years of YouTube series, we’ll examine the moments that have defined the world’s favorite video site—one year at a time. Click here for a full archive of the series.

The skibidi sensation: By 2023, many of YouTube’s OG Millennial stars had retired and several Gen Z icons had departed on self-imposed hiatuses. As a result of that power vacuum (and the advent of Shorts), YouTube became Generation Alpha‘s playground.

For as long as the Alphas have had cultural consciousness, they have identified the Google-affiliated video hub as their favorite platform—and bamboozled older generations with their bizarre taste in content. The creator who has come to exemplify that off-the-wall style is named Alexey Gerasimov (aka Boom). The Russian-Georgian animator appeared on our radar at the end of April 2023, when his DaFuq!?Boom! YouTube channel got 144.8 million weekly views and reached 33rd place in our Global Top 50 ranking.

At the time, Boom’s toilet-bodied, long-necked characters felt like yet another curiosity amidst a vast sea of Gen Alpha slop. But the animator’s Skibidi Saga quickly proved to be much more than a fleeting oddity. By May 2023, DaFuq!?Boom! was on top of our YouTube viewership charts. Boom’s viewership tally for the month of June neared three billion hits, and at the end of 2023, YouTube chose Skibidi Toilet as its biggest trend of the year.

The off-platform impact: Gen Alpha’s cultural leanings may be inscrutable to Hollywood decision makers, but that hasn’t stopped studios from coveting Skibidi IP.

A toy line featuring some of Boom’s characters has brought the short-form meme into the retail universe, and Michael Bay is helming a film and TV franchise inspired by the saga. In other words, bigwigs in multiple industries are now keeping a close eye on the preferences of Gen A consumers—even when they revolve around disembodied toilet heads.

THE BIZ

Creators marketers are in an “era of efficacy”

The study: As of 2025, influencer marketing spend in the U.S. is projected to be a $10 billion business involving over half of all U.S. advertisers. The latest trends defining that industry (aka “creator marketing”) are explored in the latest edition of CreatorIQ’s annual State of Creator Marketing report.

CreatorIQ teamed up with Sapio Research to query 1,723 brands, agencies, and creators about the strategies informing their current sponsored partnerships. Here are a few of the trends they identified:

1. Advertisers have entered an “era of efficacy”: Creator marketing is not the “wild west” it used to be, and advertisers are demanding more from their influencer spend even as those budgets skyrocket. The result, as CreatorIQ dubs it, is an “era of efficacy.”
   
   

2. Spending is up: 71% of surveyed organizations increased their influencer marketing investment year-over-year, and 98% of the brands said that they repurpose creator sponcon on other channels, such as company websites, social channels, and email campaigns.
   
   

3. Metric preferences are shifting: 51% of surveyed brands cited an “increased focus on ROI” as a primary result of adverse economic conditions. To that end, metrics like return on ad spend (ROAS) are becoming more common benchmarks compared to raw viewership. At the same time, accurate measurement continues to be a formidable boogeyman, with 26% of brand respondents dubbing measurement difficulties a “top roadblock.”

The future: Five years from now, CreatorIQ projects that 85% of enterprise organizations will increase their investments in creator marketing. But if the latest State of Creator Marketing report tells us anything, it’s that the titular industry is constantly in flux.

WATCH THIS 📺

Don’t underestimate the legacy of Dr. Jane Goodall

The legend: British conservationist Jane Goodall passed away on Wednesday after decades of furthering the field of primatology. Her contributions spanned multiple areas of science and philosophy, from anthropology to ethics—but even if you’re a lifelong primate enthusiast, Hank Green says you’re “probably underestimating Jane Goodall’s impact.”

In a new video, the younger half of the Vlogbrothers outlined the revolutionary nature of Goodall’s early fieldwork. As he explained, she not only expanded our knowledge of chimpanzees, but also forced scientists around the world to rethink the reigning view of human behavior—namely, whether we’re the only species capable of feeling complex emotions like grief and love.

Check out Green’s full overview here for more details on Goodall’s legacy.

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