Hey readers! Here’s our hot take: Instagram’s automatic limiting of political content on users’ feeds and a new set of TikTok community guidelines means you need to be both clever and crafty when you’re putting out potentially sensitive or political content. Keep your eyes out for changes as we get closer to the election, as it looks like strategists will need to get creative to organize online.
🎵 Top Sounds 🎵
Our curated picks of the top sounds on TikTok
This Is The First Place She Will Go… 🌴
Where would you go? Use this sound with a photo slide post to show your audience your favorite place to be (real or digital) or where you long to go to.Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey 😁
There’s just something satisfying about the tempo change on this song from Paul and Linda McCartney. Use as a background sound for videos and photo slides.Espresso 🌞
This summertime bop from Sabrina Carpenter is trending as a background on all types of content.The Most Hated Man In America 😤
This sound may not get past QA to your page if you’re a brand but creators are using it to dispel negative assumptions (while slightly reinforcing them).On Yachts Everyday 😌
A lot of creators are using this sound to explain the vibes they’re going for this year.Hell N Back 🥰
This vibey tune from Bakar and Summer Walker is great for photo slide posts.
🔉Sound Highlight 🔉
Our Next Contestant is Warren…
Mood: 🙅🏻♀️
This sound isn’t too saturated yet. Creators are using this to show who they think would be automatically rejected, like this creator making some valid points about being a plus-size creator.
🌟Trend Highlight 🌟
The not-so-innocent look on the defendant’s face is making for some great memes. Use this when you know you’re guilty as accused.
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Couples on TikTok have been painting each other. The results have been… something.
💫 Post Highlight 💫
This creator went (accidentally) viral for her pronunciation of “rice and peas” so this opening was an instant hook for viewers and got them to sit through to hear the real message of the video.
☕ The Zeitgeist ☕
Hot topics and discourse from across the internet
Taylor Swift’s new album is out and contains truly fascinating lyrics like romanticizing the 1830s but “without all the racists.”
special mention: “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle.” What does Taylor know about Aristotle?
An author has been accused of faking their race co-opting Latinx identity and participating in events aimed at Latinx writers.
An updated TikTok ban bill passed in the House. TikTok warned a ban would stifle free speech.
Over one hundred student protestors at Columbia University were arrested including Isra Hirsi, daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar. Some students have been evicted from student housing, including 50+ Barnard students.
🥡 The Takeaway 🥡
What marketers are taking away from trends
How can creators best monetize their content? Could the answer be to launch a streaming service?
The YouTube channel Watcher might’ve found the answer… no.
This past weekend, Watcher announced their decision to release all future content on a $5.99-a-month streaming service. The video announcement currently has over 200,000 dislikes and fans have been expressing their anger across social media. There’s a lot to learn from the backlash.
The atmosphere around streaming services right now couldn’t be worse. When polled, 62% of respondents felt there were too many streaming services, and 44% of subscribers had costs go up in 2023. But Watcher’s audience didn’t just feel annoyed by the idea of a paywall— they felt betrayed.
Creators have a unique relationship with their fans. There is much deeper trust between social media audiences and content creators. To paywall fans means risking losing that trust. It also risks alienating international audiences. Social media audiences generally are comfortable with less ‘produced’ looking content. In fact— they may even prefer it. They get to feel closer to the creators and may see them as closer to peers. Watcher citing a desire to increase production quality missed the mark when it came to understanding their audience and their role as creators.
Audiences are, by now, comfortable with sponsored content and ads. They understand it’s how their favorite creators get paid. 12,000 members of Watcher’s audience even paid for exclusive content on Patreon. But paywalling all content was a bridge too far.
This isn’t to say creator-founded streaming services are all doomed to fail. Dropout (formerly College Humor) launched a streaming platform in 2018 and found success. But Dropout has a much larger cast and range of content. For smaller creators, it’s hard to imagine audiences would be willing to spend the same amount as a Netflix subscription when streaming subscribers are tired of mounting costs.
On Monday, Watcher reversed course— apologizing to their audience and making their streaming service a way to view content early and ad-free rather than paywalling all future content. Whether this model will work for Watcher and similar creators remains to be seen. If this situation is any indicator though, moving fully to streaming looks unlikely way forward for most creators.