Recent Editions

Matt Kirkland, creator of the Dracula Daily newsletter. Photo via Matt Kirkland. Art by Shane Burke.
Creator Economy

The Substacker Whose Dracula Serial Spawned a Newsletter Craze

By Isabelle Sarraf · May 16, 2023 2:47pm PDT
Everyone has a hefty classic sitting on their bookshelf collecting dust that they swear they’ll eventually get to but never do. Matt Kirkland has made a side project of helping some of those intimidated readers: Over 262,000 have signed up to read Bram Stoker’s “Dracula" serialized in his free Substack newsletter, Dracula Daily.Kirkland, 42,... Everyone has a hefty classic sitting on their bookshelf collecting dust that they swear they’ll...
Graphic by Shane Burke. Photos via Shutterstock.
Creator Economy

Video Dubbing, Generative AI and the Tech Features Creators Need

By Kaya Yurieff · May 15, 2023 2:00pm PDT
In March, we started asking our readers what was on their mind when it came to the creator economy. We got so many good questions that we decided to publish another set this month. (Read our previous Mailbag). Disagree with my answers? We’ll discuss them in The Information’s Forum on Tuesday. You can submit more questions here! Let’s dive... In March, we started asking our readers what was on their mind when it came to the creator...
Photo by Bloomberg
Creator Economy

Meta’s Generative AI ‘Sandbox’ Is Also a Creator Play

By Isabelle Sarraf · May 11, 2023 2:53pm PDT
Meta Platforms is pouring more money into generative artificial intelligence and incorporating the technology into its products for advertisers and creators. The parent of Facebook and Instagram on Thursday unveiled an “AI Sandbox” of three new features that use generative AI it’s been testing with a small group of advertisers. One allows... Meta Platforms is pouring more money into generative artificial intelligence and incorporating...
Table: Shane Burke
What’s Left After the Great Social Audio Experiment
By Isabelle Sarraf · May 10, 2023 3:08pm PDT · 1 comment
Table: Shane Burke
Creator Economy

What’s Left After the Great Social Audio Experiment

By Isabelle Sarraf · May 10, 2023 3:08pm PDT · 1 comment
Social audio’s heyday has definitively come and gone. After Clubhouse became an overnight sensation, other tech companies were quick to launch their own products that invited people to chat in live virtual rooms. But as the chart above shows, some such as Reddit and Spotify have recently shut down their Clubhouse rivals. And even Clubhouse,... Social audio’s heyday has definitively come and gone. After Clubhouse became an overnight...
Uber and Lyft drivers rally to unionize in front of an Uber office in Saugus, Mass. on March 1. Photo by Bloomberg.
Creator Economy

The Gig Economy’s Lessons for Creator Unions

By Kaya Yurieff · May 9, 2023 3:06pm PDT
Creator economy workers are making another attempt at organizing, as the story I published earlier today details. The effort, dubbed Creator Project 1.0, is in the early stages, but aims to advocate for the rights, welfare and creative freedom of creators, according to organizing documents viewed by The Information. That got me thinking... Creator economy workers are making another attempt at organizing, as the story I published...
Personal finance expert Ramit Sethi. Photo: Chris Newhard
Creator Economy

The Personal Finance Blogger With His Own Netflix Show

By Kaya Yurieff · May 8, 2023 2:00pm PDT
Ramit Sethi started a website called “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” from his dorm room at Stanford University in 2004 to help teach his college friends about money. Now 40, he has a best-selling book of the same name, a podcast, 500,000 Instagram followers, and most recently, a new show on Netflix, which began streaming last month. In the... Ramit Sethi started a website called “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” from his dorm room at Stanford...
Table: Shane Burke
Creator Economy

How Social Media Boosting Features Compare

By Isabelle Sarraf · May 4, 2023 4:57pm PDT
Most social media platforms have a similar method for users to increase the visibility of their posts: pay to turn existing posts into revenue-generating advertisements. At least, that’s the case for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok, where users can pay for their post to show up in user’s feeds as an ad. Facebook has... Most social media platforms have a similar method for users to increase the visibility of their...
Augie in action. Photos via Aug X Labs.
Startup Aug X Labs Jumps Into Video Editing Fray
By Isabelle Sarraf · May 3, 2023 3:07pm PDT
Augie in action. Photos via Aug X Labs.
Creator Economy

Startup Aug X Labs Jumps Into Video Editing Fray

By Isabelle Sarraf · May 3, 2023 3:07pm PDT
More videos created with the help of AI tools are circulating online. In one of the latest examples, a commercial for an imaginary pizza chain created by a video producer with the handle Pizza Later garnered more than half a million views across YouTube, Reddit and Twitter. The anonymous producer used a bevy of AI tools, including ... More videos created with the help of AI tools are circulating online. In one of the latest...
An advertisement in the Washington D.C. metro on March 30. Photo by Bloomberg.
Creator Economy

TikTok’s Head of U.S. Trust & Safety to Leave

By Kaya Yurieff · May 2, 2023 2:48pm PDT
It hasn’t been an easy few years to be the head of TikTok’s U.S trust and safety team, as the popular app deals with everything from reports its algorithm promoted eating disorders and suicide content to misinformation. Now it’s in search of a new leader. Eric Han, who was responsible for overseeing efforts to police harmful content on... It hasn’t been an easy few years to be the head of TikTok’s U.S trust and safety team, as the...
A TikTok ad in the Washington D.C. metro. Photo by Bloomberg.
Creator Economy

Where to Draw the Generative AI Line

By Kaya Yurieff · May 1, 2023 2:45pm PDT · 3 comments
We are living in interesting times. Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence are forcing social networks like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram to grapple with videos and posts that use AI to make facsimiles of real artists and public figures. The output can be lighthearted—think Pope Francis in a Balenciaga puffer. But the technology... We are living in interesting times. Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence are...
Photo via Shutterstock
Creator Economy

No Bottom for Snap Ad Business

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 27, 2023 3:43pm PDT
So much for the burst of good tidings about the ad market from Meta Platforms’ first quarter results. Snap results, out Thursday, took up the baton that YouTube’s drooping ad sales left off. Snap told investors that the advertising slump that hammered first-quarter results would extend into the second quarter. Pinterest, meanwhile, forecast a... So much for the burst of good tidings about the ad market from Meta Platforms’ first quarter...
Photo via Shutterstock
Instagram Reshuffles Internal Teams; Meta’s Ad Business Recovers
By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 26, 2023 3:36pm PDT
Photo via Shutterstock
Creator Economy

Instagram Reshuffles Internal Teams; Meta’s Ad Business Recovers

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 26, 2023 3:36pm PDT
Before we get into Meta Platforms’ first quarter earnings report, we have some new details about internal changes happening at Instagram as a result of Meta’s latest job cuts. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, in a note to Instagram employees last week, said the app needs a “flatter structure that gives everyone the opportunity to meaningfully... Before we get into Meta Platforms’ first quarter earnings report, we have some new details about...
Photo by Shutterstock
Creator Economy

Downbeat YouTube, Upbeat Spotify

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 25, 2023 3:49pm PDT · 1 comment
Anyone looking for relief from the pall hanging over the advertising business didn’t find it in YouTube results Tuesday. The Alphabet-owned video sharing site, something of a bellwether for the creator economy, said YouTube’s ad revenue fell 2.6% to $6.7 billion during the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago. That was the... Anyone looking for relief from the pall hanging over the advertising business didn’t find it in ...
Hank Green. Photo by Erin Beach
Creator Economy

Why Hank Green Won’t Lobby for TikTok

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 24, 2023 2:28pm PDT · 1 comment
I’m still buzzing with excitement from our Creator Economy Summit last week in Los Angeles.One of my favorite conversations of the day was with Hank Green, a longtime YouTube creator who also has 7.5 million followers on TikTok. We covered a lot of ground, from Montana’s threatened TikTok ban to Twitter checkmarks to an argument with his... I’m still buzzing with excitement from our Creator Economy Summit last week in Los Angeles.One of...
Amanda Diaz, Samir Chaudry and Jon Youshaei at a Creator Economy Summit panel. Photo by Erin Beach.
Creator Economy

TikTok’s 150 Million Potential Shoppers

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 20, 2023 4:07pm PDT
The Information’s Creator Economy Summit was hopping Thursday, with more than 400 attendees in Los Angeles in attendance. Among the topics: TikTok, live shopping, the future of creator economy startups and generative AI. We’ll go more into some of the sessions’ in next week’s newsletters, but here are some of the early highlights:• TikTok is... The Information’s Creator Economy Summit was hopping Thursday, with more than 400 attendees in...
Brooke Berry, Head of Talent Development, speaks at the Snap Partner Summit. Photo via Snap Partner Summit livestream.
Snapchat Is Doubling Down on Stories Revenue Sharing
By Erin Woo · Apr 19, 2023 1:58pm PDT
Brooke Berry, Head of Talent Development, speaks at the Snap Partner Summit. Photo via Snap Partner Summit livestream.
Creator Economy

Snapchat Is Doubling Down on Stories Revenue Sharing

By Erin Woo · Apr 19, 2023 1:58pm PDT
Erin Woo here, reporting from Snap’s Partner Summit in sunny Santa Monica, Calif. The big news for creators from the one-day developer conference: Snapchat is doubling down on sharing revenue from ads inserted into creators’ disappearing Stories to incentivize them to keep posting on the app. Snapchatters with at least 50,000 followers and... Erin Woo here, reporting from Snap’s Partner Summit in sunny Santa Monica, Calif. The big news...
Chart by Shane Burke
Creator Economy

A Chart of Twitter Alternatives, From Mastodon to Spill

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 18, 2023 3:19pm PDT · 2 comments
I’ve been an avid Twitter user since April 2019, but I have to admit, the bird app isn’t doing it for me anymore. My user experience has worsened since Elon Musk took over the company in October, thanks to features that stop working and a string of changes to its verification system. More than a dozen social media apps, old and new,... I’ve been an avid Twitter user since April 2019, but I have to admit, the bird app isn’t doing it...
From left to right: Kim Larson of YouTube, Marc and Heidi D'Amelio of "The D’Amelio Show," and creator Jon Youshaei. Photos: Getty and Jon Youshaei.
Creator Economy

What to Expect at Our Creator Economy Summit

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 17, 2023 2:24pm PDT
I’m en route to Los Angeles today ahead of The Information’s third annual Creator Economy Summit on Thursday. This is the first time we’re hosting this event in person, and we are so excited to bring together more than 500 registered attendees, including creators, investors and entrepreneurs shaping the creator economy. (We are at full capacity,... I’m en route to Los Angeles today ahead of The Information’s third annual Creator Economy Summit...
Chart by Shane Burke
Creator Economy

Creator Database Tops 350 While Deals Slow to a Trickle

By Isabelle Sarraf · Apr 13, 2023 3:50pm PDT
Our latest update to the Creator Economy Database shows signs of life in the industry despite doom-and-gloom fundraising totals. We tallied 15 U.S.-based creator startups that raised money in the first quarter of this year, all of which were early-stage funding rounds. We also added more than two dozen startups as well as tracked the closure or... Our latest update to the Creator Economy Database shows signs of life in the industry despite...
Graphic by Shane Burke
The Waning Clout of Social Media Verification
By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 12, 2023 2:48pm PDT
Graphic by Shane Burke
Creator Economy

The Waning Clout of Social Media Verification

By Kaya Yurieff · Apr 12, 2023 2:48pm PDT
When I got verified on Instagram in October 2020, my friends were very impressed. It felt like a big flex. The coveted symbol gave my account an aura of importance. But the significance of that checkmark has been going through a major upheaval across social media. The genesis of the shift, of course, comes from Elon Musk’s acquisition of... When I got verified on Instagram in October 2020, my friends were very impressed. It felt like a...