It’s Friday and NASA is giving new meaning to the phrase “Twitch stars” by broadcasting astronaut-led streams directly from the International Space Station.

Today’s News

RUNNING INTERFERENCE

China might put a stop to Trump’s TikTok deal

The context: At the beginning of his second term as U.S. President, Donald Trump promised to keep TikTok running for American users by negotiating a deal that would give a U.S.-based entity 51% ownership. Every possible suitor from MrBeast to Oracle has since queued up for a chance to acquire the app—but TikTok’s parent company (aka ByteDance) has never actually indicated that it would sign off on a divestiture deal.

The update: Now, that possibility seems less likely than ever. When Trump proposed his preferred solution just after retaking office, the Chinese Foreign Ministry broke from its usual rhetoric by insinuating that it would let ByteDance negotiate its own terms. According to a new report from the Washington Post, however, Bytedance still seems to be deferring to national powers—and authorities in Bejing are allegedly willing to let TikTok shut down in the U.S. unless a “grand deal” is proposed.

The public response: That approach seems to align with public sentiment in China. Intense U.S. scrutiny of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew turned him into a public hero on Chinese social media, where he is still seen by many as an iconoclastic figure resisting strongarm tactics. Now, the Chinese government itself might choose to stand up to American bullying rather than keep the lights on at TikTok’s U.S. offices.

If the platform does go dark, its industry rivals are ready to pick up the scraps. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel recently noted that a U.S. ban would benefit his company, and YouTube has already begun buying TikTok ads to convince creators to jump ship.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• Australia has excluded YouTube from a law that bans kids under 16 from major social media apps after determining that the Australian community does not consider it “a core social media application.” (Tubefilter)
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• Snapchat+’s latest rollout of subscriber-only features includes “self-destructing Snaps” and AI-generated stickers. (Snap Newsroom)
  
  

• Data from S&P Global Market Intelligence found that Meta’s stock value rose by 18% in January 2025. (Yahoo! Finance)
  
  

• X is facing a lawsuit from German activist groups after allegedly failing to provide legally-required data points related to election misinformation. (Reuters)

THE LONG & SHORT OF IT

Despite YouTube’s investment in Shorts, viewers are gravitating toward long-form video

The report: Last year, YouTube’s decision to bring more creators into its Shorts monetization program sparked concerns that a wave of TikTok-style content would cannibalize watch time from long-form videos.

Now, a new report from Digital i could finally put those fears to rest (at least, for U.S. creators). In a survey of American YouTube users over the age of 18, the British software company found that the average U.S. YouTube viewer now spends 8% more time watching long-form videos compared to October 2023. And—despite YouTube’s considerable investment in Shorts—that uptick was also accompanied by a slight downturn in short-form viewership.

In total, Digital i’s respondents reported spending 73% of their YouTube watch time enjoying videos that are more than 30 minutes long, while 27% of watch time is consumed by shorter videos under 30 minutes in length. 18-to-24-year-old respondents also specifically increased their consumption of long-form content on mobile devices, with that number rising 21% year-over-year.

The qualifier: Digital i’s findings are a marked departure from previous viewership trends involving Shorts—and, to be fair, the company’s focus on watch time does inherently favor long-form content. Its report makes no distinction between traditional long-form uploads and 30-minute-plus videos that are either live streams or VOD versions of streams. It’s worth noting that YouTube has also bulked up its streaming operation to support the mobile-oriented live broadcasts that Gen Z appears to watch in significant numbers.

Even with those qualifications, however, Digital i’s report still provides compelling evidence that Shorts isn’t cutting significantly into long-form traffic in the U.S.—and that’s a big win for traditional creators.

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Creators HQ wants to bring 10,000 content creators to live in Dubai

The reveal: Last month, 15,000 content creators, 420 speakers, and 125 execs and creator industry experts gathered in Dubai for the third annual 1 Billion Followers Summit. That event included the unveiling of Creators HQ, which Forbes describes as “a full-service institution designed to address every aspect of a content creator’s professional journey.” The new initiative kicked off with a bang at the summit, where it awarded a $1 million award to U.K. creator Simon Squibb.

The details: Creators HQ is backed by a $40.8 million fund, which was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, last year. To achieve its goal of bringing 10,000 new creators to the city, the initiative will provide creators from outside Dubai with applications for UAE Golden Visas (a type of long-term residential visa that doesn’t require sponsors and allows family members and employees to stay with the applicant for the duration of the visa). Creators HQ also told Forbes that it plans to provide relocation support and advice for how creators can set up companies within the UAE.

The next steps: In addition to helping creators settle in Dubai, Creators HQ will host over 300 skill-building workshops and events per year, offer creator camps for local youth, and provide funding support for up-and-coming creators. The initiative has already formed a strategic partnership with Meta, which will include the launch of a “Creators for Purpose” program that will ask creators to produce upbeat content for distribution across Instagram and Facebook.

FYI: 1 Billion Followers Summit is a Tubefilter partner.

WATCH THIS 📺

YouTube’s new AdBlitz playlist is all about creators

The playlist: Something new has arrived on AdBlitz. The Super Bowl ad hub—which YouTube describes as the “ultimate destination for fans to watch, share, and enjoy their favorite Big Game commercials”—now includes three vides from creators Nick DiGiovanni, Matthew Meagher (aka MMG), and Pierson Wodzynski.

Those clips are part of a new playlist organized by YouTube, which says it challenged top creators to “create their own Big Game-worthy ads, exclusively available on AdBlitz.”

The masterpieces: DiGiovanni’s contribution to that lineup is one to remember. The video—titled “A Chef’s Journey”—follows the food creator as he seeks to move past his real-life MasterChef defeat by facing a series of surreal challenges put forth by a mysterious culinary master. Check it out here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen.