It’s Friday and you might be more predictable than you think. According to the Wall Street Journal, TikTok can suss out your interests (and everybody else’s) in under two hours.

WHAT’S IN YOUR BOWL? 🥣

With 100,000 boxes sold, the Sidemen’s two-week-old cereal brand is already living up to its name

The product: It’s been just two weeks since the Sidemen introduced their new Mornflake-produced breakfast brand, Best. In that brief period, the British YouTubers have sold more than 100,000 boxes of Choco Crunch and Caramel Gold cereal.

• Sidemen manager Jordan Schwarzenberger revealed that stat in a LinkedIn post uploaded March 20—but the announcement probably didn’t come as a surprise to fans. Thanks in part to the Sidemen’s 23 million YouTube subscribers (many of whom live in the U.K.), Best products have been flying off the shelves in major outlets like Tesco.
  
  

• That promising start is good news for more than just the Sidemen’s bottom line: per Dexerto, a “significant portion” of Best profits will go to Magic Breakfasts, a charity that provides morning meals to children.

The context: Best isn’t the Sidemen’s first food-and-beverage brand. The YouTube septet has also launched XIX Vodka and a fried chicken venture called Sides. The second of those concepts has experienced a recent launch of its own; the Sidemen announced last May that they plan to open ten brick-and-mortar Sides locations across the U.K.

The big picture: With the release of their “school-approved” cereal brand, the Sidemen are venturing into a niche that has become popular with creator entrepreneurs: healthier alternatives to artificially-delicious snacks. Products in that category include Ryan Trahan’s “all-natural” Joyride sour strips, MrBeast’s gluten-free Feastables chocolate bars, Danny Duncan’s “cleaner” Matador energy drinks, and Pokimane’s “feel-good” Myna cookies.

• As those and similar products hit major retailers like Walmart, Tesco, and Spencer’s, their continued success demonstrates creators’ ability to turn online followers into IRL consumers—and not just for brand partners, but for their own companies.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• YouTube TV subscribers can now access the streamer’s multiview feature on their iPhones. (Sorry, Android users). (Tubefilter)
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• According to TechCrunch, Reddit ended its first day as a publicly-traded company with shares valued at $50.31—a nearly 48% increase from its IPO price of $34. (TechCrunch)
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• Dozens of research groups have signed an open letter asking Meta to hold off on shutting down its research tool, CrowdTangle, until the 2024 U.S. elections have come to an end. (Engadget)
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• Threads has announced the beta launch of a fediverse integration that will allow users in the U.S., Canada, and Japan to cross-post content to federated platforms like Mastadon. (The Verge)

COLUMNS • STREAMERS ON THE RISE 📈

This cozy gamer loves a little collaborative lurking

How it started: Like many people, Sheilur emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic with a nagging feeling of loneliness, a series of derailed academic plans, and a life-changing love for Animal Crossing.

• The creator knew she wanted to find a community that shared her passion for cozy gaming, so she decided to tune into a few streams on Twitch. The platform’s “smaller, little cozy communities” were exactly what she was looking for—and it wasn’t long before she began to wonder if she “could do this too maybe, as a pastime.”
  
  

• By 2021, Sheilur’s channel was a haven for parallel play. Viewers dropped by to spruce up their Animal Crossing islands, chat a bit, and generally chill out. Then, towards the beginning of 2023, the creator decided to shake things up.
  
  

• Sheilur was “trying to problem solve” while finishing up university, so she decided to start studying on Twitch—an unexpected pivot that her community absolutely loved. By the end of the year, Sheilur’s coworking streams had become a go-to for good-natured lurkers.

How it’s going: These days, Sheilur is a full-time content creator and Twitch partner with a thriving (and productive) audience of nearly 10,000 followers. She’s been nominated for LGBTQ Streamer of the Year at the upcoming Gayming Awards, and also “recently became co-founder of a stream team called the Gremlin Grove.”

What’s up next: For Sheilur, 2024 is all about tapping into YouTube and leveling up her team:

ALL ABOUT THE BAN

Will a public hearing help TikTok supporters and U.S. legislators find common ground?

The ban: Last week, the House passed a bill designed to ban TikTok if its Chinese parent company, Bytedance, doesn’t pass ownership to a business without “ties to a foreign adversary.” Now, the Senate is dealing with the fallout of that decision—and preparing for an upcoming vote of its own.

The opposition: In the aftermath of the House’s decision, disgruntled TikTok users have rallied against legislators like Jeff Jackson (who lost more than 200,000 followers after voting for the bill), while TikTok itself has issued in-app messages prompting users to call their representatives.

The plan: The Senate is looking to head off that kind of opposition (and any legal escalation) before its own vote takes place. Several Senators, including Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Mark Warner (D-VA), have suggested that U.S. legislators hold a public hearing to discuss TikTok’s threat to American consumers.

• Warner in particular has argued that Americans deserve access to classified documents that have informed Congress’ decisions. Cutting through that much red tape would probably take time—but the Senate isn’t in any rush. While the House was quick to approve the bipartisan bill (which was co-authored by Congressmen Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi), Warner noted that he’s “not sure the Senate has got that same kind of timetable.”

Why it matters: As Time points out, the sale or “disappearance of TikTok would further empower media monopolists like Google and Meta” while putting hundreds of thousands of jobs in peril. If the Senate hopes to convince Americans that TikTok’s handling of U.S. data makes those risks worth taking, it will need to host one heck of a public hearing.

WATCH THIS 📺

Is this the first video of someone playing telekinetic chess?

Meet the patient: Eight years ago, Noland Arbaugh became a quadriplegic following a “freak diving accident.” Now, the Neuralink brain chip recipient can play chess with his mind.

• 17.5M people tuned in this week to watch Arbaugh demonstrate those telekinetic powers. During a live stream posted on X, the 29-year-old explained his story and played a quick game of chess on his laptop—all without moving a muscle below his neck.
  
  

• Arbaugh described his new thought-powered abilities—which are made possible thanks to his implanted chip—as “using ‘The Force’ on a cursor.” Check out the full stream here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.