TOGETHER WITH

It’s Friday and 19 million channels have grabbed YouTube by the Handles—and set up usernames in 74 different languages in the process.

Today’s News

SWIFTIE NATION

Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris drove 406K fans to vote.gov in 24 hours

The endorsement: Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump had plenty to say during last week’s debate, but it was Taylor Swift who got the last word. The pop sensation took to Instagram shortly after the showdown to issue a formal endorsement of Harris and encourage fans to make their voices heard.

The response: The impact of Swift’s endorsement was immediate and striking: within twenty-four hours, the Midnights singer had driven 405,999 visitors to vote.gov—a major bump for a URL that averaged 30,000 daily visits in the week leading up to the debate (per the General Services Administration).

The context: This isn’t the first time a piece of social media content has directed U.S. citizens to a federal website. In 2014, the media company Funny or Die became the top referrer to Healthcare.gov following President Obama’s appearance on Zack Galifianakis‘ Between Two Ferns interview series. The impact of online content has grown by leaps and bounds since that episode hit the web—which is exactly why candidates on both sides of the political aisle are eager to get face time with influencers.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

From celebrity endorsements to UGC, Clicks Talent turns brand objectives into viral TikTok campaigns

TikTok marketing has exploded over the last five years as younger generations turn their attention to content creators and digital media. But how can brands ensure that TikTok campaigns reach the right audiences?

The first step: partnering with the world’s top TikTok marketing experts.

As the very first agency to offer TikTok influencer marketing services, Clicks Talent combines unparalleled expertise with a comprehensive suite of offerings, including access to the largest in-house influencer network in the world. 

Here are just a few of the white-glove services provided by Clicks Talent’s global team:

• User-generated content

• TikTok ads

• A network of 5,000+ influencers from 40+ countries

• Page management

• Custom jingle campaigns

• Cross-platform social media marketing

• Celebrity endorsements (Check out some of our previous campaigns, which feature Wian Van Den Berg, South Africa's #1 most followed TikTok star)

Hit the link below to find out why Dell, Sony Pictures, Amazon Music, Lord of the Rings, and other global brands and properties turn to Clicks Talent to create viral campaigns:

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• YouTube has officially begun showing ads when viewers hit ‘pause.’ Will the platform’s new “pause-vertising” strategy go over well with users? (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Meta plans to make its “AI Info” labels less visible on Facebook and Instagram content that is “only modified or edited by AI tools” rather than entirely AI-generated. (The Verge)
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• TikTok, Snap, and Meta have joined forces to found Thrive, a new program that will allow platforms to “share signals about violating suicide or self-harm content.” (The Verge)
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• The White House has announced voluntary pledges from Adobe, Anthropic, Cohere, Common Crawl, Microsoft, and OpenAI to help curb the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes. (Engadget)

TALKING POLITICS

The shutdown of a Russia-backed media company is raising questions about political influencers

The shutdown: In just a few short days, Tenet Media has shut down, YouTube has deleted the media company’s account, and co-founder Lauren Chen’s contract with Blaze TV has been terminated. So, what happened? A Department of Justice investigation and an alleged Russian influence campaign.

Last week, an unsealed federal document revealed Tenet Media’s purported ties to state-backed Russian media. A DOJ indictment claimed that two employees of the controversial outlet Russia Today invested $10 million in Tenet, a U.S.-based company that produces political content. (Russia Today was one of several YouTube hubs demonetized due to the “extraordinary circumstances” created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.)

The influence campaign: With its options on YouTube limited, the state-backed Russian outlet reportedly created a fictitious investor profile named Eduard Grigoriann, who coordinated with Tenet and its stable of influencers. Tenet’s co-founders have yet to comment on the veracity of those allegations, but some of the company’s creator partners—including political commentator Tim Pool—are speaking up:

The context: It’s difficult not to wonder how a news organization and multiple journalism-oriented creators could have overlooked such a blatant influence campaign, especially when Griogriann had no public presence. That oversight joins several recent incidents (including the discovery of an influencer network spreading misinformation about Vice President Kamala Harris and the greatly increased presence of influencers at the Democratic National Convention) that have raised questions regarding the growing role of political creators in news.

Concerns over journalistic integrity are likely to continue building as the 2024 presidential election approaches. While members of traditional media continue to sound alarm bells, Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and Harris have all taken steps to court both influencers and viewers on platforms like TikTok.

ONE TIME ONLY

60% of OnlyFans creators’ revenue comes from single purchases—not subscriptions

The stats: OnlyFans might be known for subscriptions, but monthly fees aren’t the only source of income padding creators’ wallets. According to public documents from parent company Fenix International Limited (which were analyzed by advisor/angel investor Matthew Ball), 60% of OnlyFans revenue actually comes from single-time purchases.

OnlyFans splits revenue 80/20 with creators, with 80% in favor of the creator. That share is much higher than any safe-for-work platform in our industry (aside from Kick), and the numbers behind it are growing fast:

• Of the $6.3 billion OnlyFans made in 2023, the platform paid out $5.3 billion to creators (up 19% from $4.5 billion in 2022).
  
  

• A serious chunk of that annual revenue came from single transactions. While subscriptions grew 9% (roughly $227 million) from 2021 to 2023, single-purchase revenue grew by 70% ($1.6 billion) across the same timeframe.
  
  

• Single-purchase revenue outpaced subscription revenue for the first time in 2022 (with a split of 52/48%) and that gap has since widened to 59/41%.
  
  

• In total, Ball says the increase in single-purchase revenue is responsible for nearly 90% of OnlyFans’ growth over the past three years.

Why it matters: That rising interest in digital creator products isn’t limited to OnlyFans. Platforms like YouTube and Patreon have introduced digital storefronts to meet a similar demand for merch like ebooks, songs, online courses, bonus videos, and more. At their core, those digital products are the same as those offered by OnlyFans creators. They’re special pieces of content that let fans experience more of their favorite influencers—and their financial growth on OnlyFans is a clear indication that demand for that content is growing.

WATCH THIS 📺

It’s about flapping time: The buzziest game of 2013 has (finally) been resurrected

The revival: Flappy Bird is flying back to a screen near you. The decade-old game—which was downloaded over 50 million times before disappearing mere months after its debut—has officially been resurrected by The Flappy Bird Foundation.

According to a new trailer (which features clips of OG Flappy Bird players like YouTuber Pewdiepie), the 2024 version of the game will allow users to “travel to new worlds,” unlock new characters, and even hatch an egg or two. Check out the full teaser here.

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