TGIF! It’s only been a little over a week since Threads’ landmark launch, but Meta’s Twitter-like app is already facing a few knock-offs of its own.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE

Deestroying is expanding his 1ON1 series with a little help from the NFL

Fans of Deestroying’s viral 1ON1 series have seen the YouTuber face off against everyone from random strangers to NFL All-Pros like Tyreek Hill. Now, the former college football star is teaming up with the world’s most-watched sports league to deliver another round of intense battles. An NFL-backed version of 1ON1 will begin during the week of July 17.

That upcoming series will bring Deestroying (whose real name is Donald De La Haye) to visit five NFL cities: Denver, New Orleans, Washington, Buffalo, and Minneapolis. There, the creator will give local wide receivers and defensive backs a chance to show off their skills through “multistage competitions.” The action will intensify once the NFL regular season kicks off, with De La Haye heading to Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Nashville, and Seattle before crossing the pond to London.

Four victors will be crowned in each city.

At each of his ten stops, Deestroying will select two wide receivers and two defensive backs as 1ON1 winners. Those 40 victors will then come together for an epic grand finale: “the ultimate 1ON1 competition” at the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl.

Fans will be able to find each episode of the NFL-backed series on Deestroying’s YouTube channel.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• A new beverage brand from YouTubers Eamon Fitzgerald and Rebecca Maroney (aka Eamon and Bec) encourages tea drinkers to express their feelings through conversation prompts. (Tubefilter)
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• A new lawsuit argues that Texas’ decision to ban “public university faculty from studying and teaching with TikTok” violates professors’ First Amendment rights. (Gizmodo)
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• r/malefashionadvice—a popular Reddit community with over 5 million subscribers—has begun encouraging users to leave the embattled platform in favor of Discord. (The Verge)

DATA • CREATORS ON THE RISE 📈

This vlogger has posted a video every day for ten years. Here’s why he does it:

When Enzo Knol was twenty years old, he hit a rough patch. The Dutch creator knew he “wanted to break free from it,” but he wasn’t sure how. That’s when his brother suggested he check out YouTube. It wasn’t long before Knol uploaded his first video: ENZO KNOL VLOG #1. 

That two-minute clip kicked off a full decade of daily videos.

Knol’s vlogs now reach nearly 4 million subscribers, but his channel didn’t amass a loyal viewership right off the bat. In fact, the creator posted a grand total of 184 videos before the 185th—a vlog about his broken arm—took off. Live meet-and-greets and TV interviews followed soon after. Knol has been navigating life as an influential YouTuber ever since.

It’s a responsibility he takes seriously. Despite suffering injuries and enduring his parents’ divorce, the creator has remained unflinchingly honest about the hardships he’s faced.

That commitment to honesty and positivity has carried Knol through ten years of videos, and he doesn’t plan on breaking that record anytime soon. Rain or shine, viewers can look forward to seeing a new vlog on the YouTuber’s channel every day at 4 PM CET.

TIKTOK X FIFA

TikTok is teaming up with FIFA to bring a short-form perspective to the Women’s World Cup

YouTube may have been at the center of the action during the 2022 World Cup, but TikTok is keeping its eye on the ball this time around. The video platform is joining forces with FIFA to bring official Women’s World Cup content to soccer fans. Come July 20th, viewers will be able to find exclusive videos under TikTok hashtags like #FIFAWorldCup, #FIFAWomensWorldCup, and #FIFAWWC and see match scores and schedules through the FIFA Womens’ World Cup Hub.

Fans are already gearing up for the big day. Although the Women’s World Cup won’t arrive in Australia and New Zealand for another week, FIFA says TikTok’s themed hashtags have already picked up more than 38.2 billion views.

A select group of TikTokers will have front-row seats to the action, too. (Or at least pretty good seats.) In a recent announcement, FIFA said that it was “working together” with the short-form video app to send creators to matches in Australia and New Zealand. For more details, be sure to check out TikTok’s upcoming Newsroom post on July 18.

WATCH THIS 📺

Chipotle’s latest innovation has arrived. Meet the Autocado.

Chipotle is embracing the future one innovation at a time. From chip-making robots (aka Chippy) to TikTok-inspired menu items, the restaurant chain is all about keeping up with the cool kids.

Its latest investment: the Autocado.

Chipotle’s new robot is engineered to speed up the guac-making process by peeling and coring avocados before human employees smash them to bits. (There’s no word yet on whether that time-saver will make your burrito order any cheaper, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.)

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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.