TOGETHER WITH

It's Sunday and here’s a handpicked selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

But first, is a viral sweet treat causing a worldwide pistachio shortage? Some sources say yes, others say no. The only thing we know for certain is that TikTok has a “Dubai chocolate” obsession.

CREATOR COMMOTION

Creators are sparking nostalgia, taking Minecraft IRL, and rebranding

The throwback: MrBeast’s Aaron Judge collab reminded viewers about his high school baseball career. Did you know that the individual behind the most subscribed channel on YouTube used to be a slugger? His fans are rediscovering his MaxPreps profile from his time at Greenville Christian Academy. Even though he hit .424 during his high school career, he gave up the game to pursue a career as a creator. The man just loves YouTube that much.

The IRL adventure: Switch to the gaming side of YouTube and you’ll likely see Socks recreating Minecraft in real life. The YouTuber with 1.4 million subscribers turned his backyard into a blocky playland complete with a Technoblade tribute.

The makeover: Speaking of Minecraft…Dream is rebranding. The man who led the Dream SMP—which saw its popularity spike during the height of the pandemic—wants to start a “new chapter.” His plan is to debut the new Dream at the start of May. No word on whether Minecraft will still be involved.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Pro YouTubers don’t pull video ideas from thin air—they study what works. Here’s where they get the data: 

Between YouTube’s algorithm and rapid-fire internet trends, content creation has become a science just as much as an art. That’s why pro YouTubers consult cold hard data before committing to video titles and thumbnails.

But where does that data actually come from? And how can you apply it to your channel?

To answer those questions (and solve the underlying problem), pro YouTubers like Dude Perfect teamed up with Spotter to create Spotter Studio. The result is a suite of brainstorming tools powered by real-time YouTube data and personalized channel insights—including these must-use features:

1. Idea Bank: This feature organizes and ranks your video ideas based on their potential YouTube performance.
   
   

2. Thumbnail Generator: By conceptualizing and optimizing new thumbnails in Spotter Studio, creator Kinigra Deon has grown her video revenue by 34%. (Pro tip: check out the Spotter Studio website to find out exactly how top creators engineer virality.)
   
   

3. Title Generator: This tool analyzes both top-performing YouTube videos and your own content to suggest the strongest titles for your videos.

UPDATE ALERT

This week in platform news…

The image update: TikTok is adding alt text to still images. Lengthening descriptions on image posts will provide more flexibility and new creative options for creators, while also encouraging posts with more keywords in them—all of which could reinforce TikTok’s status as a legitimate search engine.

The AI feature: Meanwhile, YouTube is bringing AI summaries to some types of travel content. If you search for things to do in San Francisco, for example, the platform will provide you with a video carousel filled with AI-influenced suggestions. Google is clearly content with the growth of AI overviews in its search business and is eager to expand those summaries to other platforms.

THE BIZ

From advice columns to Netflix series, creators are going way beyond online video

The Netflix series: The Liver King is the subject of a new Netflix docuseries. The bodybuilder’s unusual diet and alleged fabrications will go under the microscope in Untold: The Liver King, a program due to hit the streamer on May 13. You do not need to be on a raw meat diet in order to watch.

The memoir: Dylan Mulvaney wrote a book. The transgender TikTok star describes herself as a “late bloomer,” and she will use that point-of-view to explore her personal girlhood in the memoir Paper Doll. The book just came out, but it’s already a New York Times bestseller.

The advice column: Tefi Pessoa is getting into business with The Cut. New York Magazine‘s pop outlet has looked to TikTok to find its next cultural commentator. Pessoa, a host, creator, and comedian, will begin her Cut collab with an advice column before launching a podcast due out this summer.

The product line: CaseOh’s Starforge Systems build paid tribute to his cat. The popular streamer got the chance to design a product line for the OTK-affiliated systems integration firm Starforge. He chose to introduce the KITTY bundle, and if you have a feline friend of your own, you’ll probably think that this product is the cat’s meow.

WATCH THIS 📺

Is Trisha Paytas’ baby a reincarnated religious leader? Social media seems to think so.

The internet theory: The internet is obsessed with a theory that links Trisha Paytas to the Pope. The social media star’s first pregnancy coincided with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and her third child is due to arrive shortly after the death of Pope Francis. The idea that her children are cosmically linked to world leaders is so silly (even Paytas thinks so!), but we could all use a little levity these days.

Want to introduce your brand to Tubefilter’s audience? Sponsor the newsletter.

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.​

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