TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Disney just dropped a cool $1.5 billion on its quest to build an “expansive and open games and entertainment universe” that will “interoperate” with Epic Games’ Fortnite.

THINK OF THE CHILDREN

YouTube celebrated Safer Internet Day with a review of its kid-focused mental health tools

YouTube isn’t taking the safety of its underage users for granted.

The blog post: YouTube marked the arrival of Safer Internet Day—an annual tradition that rolled around this Tuesday—by making sure its toolbox of mental health and safety tools hasn’t gone unnoticed.

• In a blog post uploaded earlier this week, the platform walked readers through an array of “existing, recently launched, and upcoming tools” designed to protect kids, tweens, and teens.
  
  

• Some of those features (including disabled autoplay and scheduled “Bedtime” and “Take a Break” reminders) were introduced years ago to prevent kids from endlessly scrolling through videos. More recent efforts include plans to limit repeated recommendations of content that “idealizes certain physical features, fitness levels, or body weights over others” to teens.
  
  

• The platform’s post also introduced a new report outlining “principles for appropriate mental health content” for teens, which was developed by the World Health Organization and British Medical Journal and supported by YouTube.

The context: Safer Internet Day may be an annual event, but it’s probably not the only reason YouTube is reminding the public about its commitment to protecting underage viewers. U.S. legislators have been hyper-focused on online child safety in recent months, as demonstrated by the flood of pointed questions directed at CEOs from Meta, Snap, X, and Discord during a recent congressional hearing.

• While YouTube CEO Neal Mohan wasn’t compelled to appear at that hearing, his platform is no stranger to government investigations. Five years after the FTC slapped Google with a nine-digit fine related to child data privacy violations, YouTube’s approach to child safety has come under investigation by the E.U.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• OTK has announced the addition of a new member—veteran streamer Will Neff—and the upcoming arrival of an original show called Pixel Pitch. (Tubefilter)
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• A new sports streaming service from ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox will offer access to “NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, College Sports” and “much more.” (Gizmodo)
  ​

• Threads’ latest test feature is an oft-requested bookmarking tool that gives users the ability to save posts. (Engadget)
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• Streaming media company Plex is capitalizing on Blockbuster nostalgia with the upcoming launch of a movie rentals storefront. (TechCrunch)

COLUMNS • MILLIONAIRES 📈

This NPC makeup artist is channeling The Sims on TikTok

How it started: Four years ago, Nyane came across a video of Saweetie that changed the course of her entire career. The rapper posed like a mannequin throughout the clip, while different items of clothing appeared on her body. The vibe was a mix between The Sims and a Barbie dress-up game—and Nyane was hooked.

• The beauty creator had been posting content since she was 16 (first on Tumblr and then on Instagram), and she knew immediately that the NPC style was a perfect fit for her videos.
  
  

• Luckily, finding the perfect partner came just as easily. As an audio producer with a film school background, Phil’s editing skills were exactly what Nyane needed to bring her vision to life.
  
  

• The next few months were a stop-and-start process. Nyane’s very first TikTok scored 35,000 views, but she and Phil didn’t begin creating NPC content regularly until a year later. When they did, the response was overwhelming.

How it’s going: Fast forward to 2024, and Nyane now posts daily on TikTok (where her Sims-style beauty content reaches 1.5 million followers) and five times a week on Instagram. That consistency has done wonders for her channels’ growth and has also attracted makeup-centric sponsors like Morphe.

What’s up next: Nyane is going into the new year with some major main character energy. In addition to capitalizing on her signature NPC format, the beauty creator says she’s “100% interested” in making the jump to long-form content (and she isn’t counting out ASMR and unboxing videos, either).

• Before taking on those new genres, however, Nyane says she and Phil have one major goal in mind: building a team that can take their content to new heights.

DATA • U.S. TOP 100 📊

MrBeast still wears the crown, but a product-peddling marketplace is hot on his tail

Three YouTube channels topped the U.S. charts in January, with the platform’s most-subscribed-to creator taking the lead. MrBeast, MaviGadget, and CoComelon – Nursery Rhymes brought in a cumulative monthly total of more than 6.3 billion views. Here’s how they did it:

⚡ The ultimate challenger (2.46B views): With 273 million subscribers tuning in, it’s rare for one of MrBeast’s big-budget videos not to go viral. Both of the creator’s January posts scored at least 100 million views.

• MrBeast’s content strategy: a cash-fueled combination of high-stakes challenges, extravagant “this vs. that” videos, and data-driven thumbnails.

⚙️ The product peddler (2.12B views): MaviGadget touts itself as a “unique marketplace” for consumers seeking unusual products—but we’re guessing most viewers don’t tune in for the shopping links included below each of the hub’s videos.

• MaviGadget sets itself apart with the sheer number of Shorts it posts (often dozens per day) and its ability to bridge the gap between oddly satisfying and downright strange. Combine that high volume of instantly gratifying content with little-to-no dialogue, and it’s easy to see why MaviGadget’s content appeals to a massive global audience.

👶 The family favorite (1.75B views): From physical merch to Netflix shows and Spotify hits, CoComelon has become a multimedia empire.

• The Moonbug-owned brand’s kid-friendly videos combine catchy beats with bright colors, educational themes, and a sprawling cast of characters that are likely to mesmerize any young viewer. (At least, long enough for Mom and Dad to grab a quick power nap.)

WATCH THIS 📺

Quinta Brunson is back at BuzzFeed (for an Abbott Elementary promo)

A triumphant return: You might know Quinta Brunson as the creator, writer, and star of the hit ABC show Abbott Elementary—but before she was an Emmy Award-winning sitcom writer, Brunson was a contributor at BuzzFeed.

• Now, the producer has returned to her old stomping grounds for a quiz-oriented interview with the Abbott Elementary cast.
  
  

• Check out the full BuzzFeed Celeb clip here to find out which of the show’s zany characters actually fits Brunson’s personality.

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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.