It's Thursday and Macy’s is entering the metaverse with the launch of a fashion-forward digital world where “style transcends reality.”

OUT OF PHONE

TikTok is heading into the real world for an “Out of Phone” media campaign

TikTok is going beyond digital marketing to meet consumers wherever they are, whenever they are—even if they’re just getting gas.

The platform’s latest product is “Out of Phone,” an IRL media operation that will bring vertical videos to airports, gas stations, billboards, movie theaters, and other physical locales across the nation. (A quick note for those of us outside the marketing world: “Out Of Phone” is a pun on “out-of-home” advertising, an industry that spans billboards and other physical media.)

TikTok has already recruited several location-specific partners to help bring its new marketing method to life, including ReachTV (which will bring TikTok to airport screens), GSTV (for gas station displays), Redbox (a DVD service common in grocery stores), and Screenvision (which will expand the app’s reach to movie theaters). TikTok is also embracing the good old billboard approach by teaming up with companies like DIVE Billboards and Adomni.

Those IRL partners and locales may seem a little traditional for a digital-first company like TikTok, but the platform won’t be letting the real world slow its roll. TikTok plans to vary its Out Of Phone content library by location, and will swap out featured clips regularly to stay-up-to-date with fast-changing internet trends.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• YouTube has launched a host of new shoppable video features, including an interface that adds timestamps to shoppable links.(Tubefilter)
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• Snap is teaming up with Inspirit to bring “25 AR Lenses and STEM curriculums” to classrooms across the U.S. (TechCrunch)
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• YouTube is rolling out an “immersive” news-specific watch page and a program designed to “strengthen news organizations’ short-form video capabilities.” (TechCrunch)
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• Netflix has announced another round of price increases for both Basic and Premium subscribers. (The Verge)

DATA • ON THE RISE 📈

This creator went from growing tomatoes on a Brooklyn rooftop to farming full-time

Six years ago, Morgan Gold had a realization: he wasn’t living his dream. The creator had tried to satisfy his love for farming by growing tomatoes in Brooklyn and tending a vegetable garden in D.C.—but that level of cultivation just wasn’t enough.

So, Gold and his wife packed up and moved to a farm “in the middle of nowhere, Vermont.”

Getting started wasn’t easy. Gold was “a late-in-life farmer with no agricultural background” and a 160-acre farm that hadn’t been occupied in years. He and his wife started small—with ducks—and turned to social media as a way to market their eggs. It wasn’t long before Gold’s YouTube videos and “farm meeting” livestreams turned into something more.

Over the past few years, millions of viewers have became enamored with Gold Shaw Farm, its charismatic animals (including Toby the dog and Molly Murder Mittens), and, of course, the head farmer himself. In total, Gold Shaw Farm now claims more than 4 million fans across its various social media platforms.

Gold’s social media goals have evolved alongside that growing audience. In addition to advertising produce and connecting with fans, the creator has raised funds for other small farms, self-published his own children’s book, and is committed to showing viewers “that you can come from a lot of different places to start a farm.” Check out our full interview with Gold here to learn more about his journey.

BOILING POINT

An online feud between creators has escalated to doxxing allegations. Is it time for YouTube to step in?

What happens when an online disagreement between creators spills over into the real world? That question is one most YouTubers never have to answer—because as creator Moist Cr1TiKaL noted in a recent post, “it violates the Geneva Convention of internet content creators where you never take internet beef into the real world.”

Despite that unspoken agreement, the feud between veteran YouTuber Jack Douglass (aka Jacksfilms) and creator Alia “SSSniperwolf” Shelesh has gone IRL in a big way. The result: Douglass has asked YouTube to deplatform Shelesh.

Here’s a quick rundown of the situation:

Douglass has long been an outspoken critic of reaction videos—a format that composes a good chunk of Shelesh’s content library. Over the last year, the former creator has argued that Shelesh’s reaction videos (which have earned her 34 million YouTube subscribers) are nothing more than thinly-veiled content theft. Those jabs have (predictably) led to some pretty intense online interactions.

Then, last week, things escalated into the real world.

On October 13, Shelesh showed up to Douglass’ address unannounced and posted a photo of his house on Instagram. In response, Douglass uploaded a video that characterized the creator’s behavior as an example of doxxing, and called on YouTube to ban her from its platform.

SSSniperworlf sees the IRL incident differently: on Instagram, she argued that Douglass is playing the “victim” by “saying I threatened him when I just wanted to talk to him.”

As for YouTube’s response?

The platform publicly acknowledged a complaint made by Douglass’ wife, Erin Breslin, on X and has promised to pass it along to the relevant authorities—but as of now, SSSniperwolf’s YouTube account remains unbanned.

WATCH THIS 📺

The official trailer for Markiplier’s Iron Lung has arrived

Five months ago, Markiplier dropped the first trailer for his video game-inspired directorial debut, Iron Lung. That one-minute teaser gave viewers just the slightest taste of the action—but it was more than enough to build anticipation for the upcoming film.

Now, Markiplier has followed up that initial sneak peek with another bone-chilling trailer. Although details about the film remain scarce, the new teaser makes one thing abundantly clear: Markiplier’s version of Iron Lung will include buckets upon buckets of blood.

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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.