TOGETHER WITH

It's Wednesday and TikTok is joining forces with the BBC to give 100 creators “a crash course in TV stardom.”

#BOOKTOK BATTLE 📖

And the winners of this year’s TikTok Book Awards are…

Don’t worry—we won’t make you solve a who-dun-it to discover the names of this year’s TikTok Book Awards winners. After revealing a shortlist compiled by a varied panel of judges—including TikTokers Coco Hagi and Ben Mercer and reps from publishing industry firms like Bloomsbury—TikTok doled out awards to seven U.K. and Ireland-based authors, publishers, critics, and bookshops.

The biggest winners among that literary bunch include A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder writer Holly Jackson (Author of the Year), reviewer Eden Victoria (Creator of the Year), and Bolu Babalola‘s Honey & Spice (which snapped up Book of the Year).

Other categories were a little less traditional.

TikTok’s inaugural Book Awards also included inventive superlatives like “Best Book to End A Reading Slump” (Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know About Love) and “Best Book I Wish I Could Read Again For The First Time” (Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper: Volume One). Some nominees even predated the internet itself, including one particularly proud (and prejudiced) 210-year-old winner.

#BookTok devotees can check out the full list of winners here.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

Women Won The Summer. Here’s How Viral Nation Talent’s Top Female Stars Run The World:

From Barbie mania to sold-out Beyoncé concerts and the FIFA Women’s World Cup, this season is undeniably the Summer of Women. The female creators at ​Viral Nation Talent​ demonstrate that stunning power every day—both by drawing massive audiences and by making tons of money along the way.

In fact, these Viral Nation Talent creators have dominated the creator economy all summer long:

⚽ Lisa Zimouche is a world champion footballer, social media superstar, and gender equality advocate. She reaches 4 million followers worldwide, and has scored lucrative partnerships with SONY Playstation, EA Sports, and Adidas amongst many others.

📸 Brooke Ashley Hall shares her fabulous life as the wife of boxer Marco Hall and a mother of three with 20 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Their family’s joint channel, the Beverly Halls, is a viral sensation.

🌟 Yuri Lamasbella has become one of the most beloved talents on social media. Her Kardashian parody skits have even earned the approval of the famous family itself—including Kim Kardashian, whose Skims brand teamed up with Yuri for a collaboration.

Ready to ​join the ranks of top stars​ like Lisa, Brooke Ashley, and Yuri? Hit the button below to link up with Viral Nation Talent.

​Visit the website to learn more →​

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• According to Apptopia, Triller’s user numbers are 87% lower than its S-1 form claims—but the short-form app is standing behind its self-reported sign-up stats. (Tubefilter)
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• As of yesterday, Twitch has officially begun rolling out its TikTok-esque Discover Feed. (The Verge)
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• TikTok users across the world can now expect to see ads alongside non-sponsored search results. (Engadget)
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• YouTube is shaking up its desktop design by rounding the corners of videos on YouTube.com. (The Verge)

DATA • U.S. TOP 50 📈

This toilet-centric channel is flush with views—and it’s not the only one

In case you were wondering, skibidi toilets are still ridiculously popular on YouTube Shorts. Animated clips of the porcelain thrones have made channels like DaFuq!?Boom! some of the most-viewed in the world—in fact, that particular toilet-happy hub currently sits at #5 in our U.S. Top 50 chart.

Now, another Minecraft-style channel is taking the skibidi scene by storm.

TinyCraft has only been following in DaFuq!?Boom!’s footsteps for a few months, but the U.S.-based account is already nearing one billion lifetime views. Its secret: skibidi toilet humor isn’t the only trend beloved by Shorts viewers. TinyCraft has also tapped into other online sensations, like McDonald’s oft-memed Grimace Shake. Riffs on the purple drink have earned TinyCraft more than 200 million views since the beginning of August.

A good chunk of those views streamed in over the last week:

• During our last seven-day count, TinyCraft snagged a whopping 183.9 million weekly views.

• That massive total represented a week-over-week increase of 91%.

• The result: TinyCraft now occupies the #21 slot in the U.S. Top 50.

POWER STRUGGLE

Surprise: A leaked document shows that U.S. regulators want a lot of control over TikTok

Between state bans and the proposed RESTRICT Act, TikTok’s relationship with the U.S. government has been strained for some time now. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is a big part of that power struggle—but until recently, the intricacies of TikTok’s CFIUS negotiations haven’t been common knowledge.

Now we’re getting a look into the Committee’s demands.

A 100-page draft was obtained by Forbes, which says the in-progress agreement was written in the summer of 2022. It’s possible that the terms of TikTok’s CFIUS pact have changed since then—but even so, Forbes’ report indicates that U.S. regulators are taking extreme measures to keep the ByteDance-owned platform in check. Among other requirements, Forbes says the drafted agreement would give federal regulators the ability to…

• Oversee TikTok’s U.S. terms of service

• Veto new hires on local data security teams

• Require third-party oversight from multiple parties

• Dictate security-related policy decisions in the U.S. (via an executive committee)

Those powers aren’t written in stone. According to Forbes, TikTok officials are lobbying for codified checks on Washington’s power and are also looking to prevent sudden changes to the agreement, which could jeopardize the platform’s relationships with advertisers and ecommerce partners.

WATCH THIS 📺

Paramount Plus is bringing Frasier into the 2020s

The twentieth century’s grumpiest radio shrink is entering a new decade. At least, we hope that Paramount Plus’ big revival will take place in the current day—mostly because we can’t image the litany of complaints Frasier Crane would have about the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a teaser posted this week, fans can tune into Frasier 2.0 (our title, not Paramount’s) starting October 12.

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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.