TOGETHER WITH

It’s Wednesday and Kamala Harris has won an endorsement near and dear to the hearts of TikTok viewers: Charli XCX’s confirmation that the VP is, in fact, “brat.”

SURVEY SAYS

Half of U.S. adults want to be influencers. Here’s how your generation stacks up:

The context: We already know kids and teens want to be influencers. Since at least 2017, content creation-focused job titles like “streamer” have numbered among the top five career paths dreamed up by U.S. kiddos. Now, adults are setting their sights on that goal, too.

The stats: According to a new study from influencer marketing agency IZEA, 26% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 60 currently identify as content creators.

• Another 54% would quit their jobs if they could make a living as a full-time content creator. Here’s how the numbers played out across different generations:
  
  

  1. 49.6% of respondents 18-29 said they would quit their job to become full-time creators.
     
     

  2. That figured jumped to 51.9% for people ages 30-44 and to 60.1% for respondents between 45 and 60.
     
     

  3. Finally, 31.5% of respondents over 60 said they’d swap their current jobs for careers in content creation.
     
     

• In general, respondents seemed pretty clued into the creator economy. 41% of people said they personally knew someone who’s made money as an influencer, while 64% said they’d be willing to promote products for a brand deal.

The big picture: With cost of living on the rise, more and more people are seeking opportunities in the ever-growing $250 billion creator economy—but the industry’s expansion isn’t just about financial growth. Creators have become visible in every market from consumables to pro sports, while YouTube now claims a significant percentage of TV viewership.

• Those advancements mean that many creators reach far larger audiences than traditional celebrities—a switch that has likely altered how viewers of all generations perceive fame and career success.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• YouTuber Sydney Nicole Gifford has filed a lawsuit accusing fellow creator Alyssa Sheil of committing copyright and trade dress infringement by mimicking her “neutral, beige, and cream aesthetic.” Will the case hold up in court? (Tubefilter)
  
  

• Netflix has tapped Epic Games vet Alain Tascan to serve as its new President of Games. (Engadget)
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• Google raked in almost $85 billion in the second quarter of 2024—more than half of which stemmed from Search. (The Verge)
  ​

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to trigger a Senate vote on two major social media bills this week. The goal: enforcing additional protections for underage users. (The Verge)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

This French bodybuilder is making major gains on YouTube

The creator: It’s no surprise that fitness content is climbing the global charts ahead of the 2024 Olympics. As athletes compete for the gold in Paris, exercise influencers like French bodybuilder Tibo InShape are making their own gains on YouTube.

• Pivoting to short-form content has been the key to steady growth for Tibo (aka Thibaud Delapart). While the creator has amassed more than 14.7 billion lifetime views since uploading his first long-form video in 2013, all of his top hits are viral Shorts.
  
  

• There’s a reason Delapart’s short-form skits are killing it. In addition to tapping into one of YouTube’s biggest genres, the fitness star has a knack for adapting popular trends and sounds to his particular style of multilingual content. Add in the type of morality-focused videos and dialogue-free skits favored by YouTube’s top channels, and it’s easy to see why Delapart’s fitness hub attracts viewers from all reaches of the globe.

The stats: Consistency is another key to Delapart’s viral success. The creator uploads upwards of 200 Shorts per month with an average 90-day view count of between 3 and 3.5 million views per short-form video. That hardcore posting schedule paid off over the course of our last seven-day count.

• In just one week, Delapart’s channel claimed more than 293.6 million views.
  

• The result: a 5% week-over-week increase bumped Tito InShape from #32 to #27 in our Global Top 50 chart.

WATCH THIS 📺

Nara Smith really can make anything from scratch—even a viral branded campaign

The creator: With a knack for home-cooking and an endless supply of designer gowns, it’s no wonder Nara Smith has become a viral sensation. The model’s passion for crafting elaborate meals while decked out in Dior has made her both a TikTok icon and an occasional meme—and now, she’s leaning into the joke.

• Instead of formulating her own deodorant or remaking Cheezits, the creator collaborated with Marc Jacobs to whip up something new: a $450 tote bag. That tongue-in-cheek campaign (which shows Smith literally bake a purse from scratch) has now attracted more than 10.5 million views on TikTok.
  
  

• Moral of the story: don’t underestimate Nara Smith’s cooking skills—or her elite sense of humor.

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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