Creators Receive Recognition From The Highest Office 🇺🇸

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• Meta and Universal Music Group are refreshing their contracts and expanding usage rights to Threads and WhatsApp.

• Meta is getting rid of CrowdTangle, a tool journalists, academics, and politicians use to source truth online. As The US approaches an election, more than 50,000 people have signed a petition to Meta to retract its decision.

• The US White House hosts its first conference on the creator economy.

• Is TikTok concerned it’s no longer growing? TikTok incentivises YouTube and Instagram users with $300 to jump over to their platform.

• Kids in the U.S. say YouTube is the coolest brand in 2024, leapfrogging Netflix.

• Productivity YouTuber Ali Abdaal launched a writing productivity app called Voicepal. The app has seen early success in beta, with a 96% retention rate and a $9,000 revenue prior to launch.

Creators in the U.S. received a nice, credible nod from none other than The White House this week.

Around 100 creators with a combined audience reach of over 110 million were invited to the country’s capital to discuss the things that you and I are often concerned about, including AI, fair pay and transparency, data privacy, and mental health.

Those who attended the 6-hour event included creators, industry leaders, newsletter writers, talent managers, agents, entrepreneurs and markeV.P.sg VPs. Interestingly, representatives from major social media platforms were not in attendance.

A few names I recognised were Jon Youshaei (creator educator) and Hannah Williams from Salary Transparent Street.

And where were the journalists, you may ask?

Well, a small group was present for the first few sessions but then ushered upstairs to the balcony area of the room. Initially, there were cheers and comments when this happened. Journalists are clearly not part of this conversation.

Meanwhile, of course, the backdrop to all of this was the drama of the US election and the looming legislation to sell or ban TikTok.

Speaking of Biden, guess who dropped by to make a sneaky guest appearance?

Apparently, Biden was expected to speak for five minutes, but he stretched it out to 30 minutes and joked that he is on the hunt for a job. (I wonder if he stole that from all the memes flying around during the week of his announcement not to run for president again.)

As a slight side note, I’ve found it a bit sad to watch the public decline of an aging man, but this quote from Biden on the day is reminiscent of what got him to this position in the first place,

“I talk about these inflection points in history, how history gets changed by mostly technology, and it changes it drastically. Think about it … It’s staggering… you’re changing not only what people listen to and what they put their faith in, but what they’re doing.”

My takeaway:

From what I’ve read, the Creator Conference hosted by the White House seems to be a significant nod to creators.

For an industry often overlooked and misunderstood by regulators and policymakers, you would think the administration finally recognises creators as an essential voice.

I mean, you have to; otherwise, the opposition will take advantage of your blind spot. Just last week, former President Donald Trump was seen alongside live streamer Adin Ross, racking up 2.4 million views to date.

But like most conferences of this nature, what was missing were hard conversations about the multiple elephants in the room: TikTok legislation,

Because let’s face it, creators are certainly a friendlier option for politicians than the mean traditional media.

I’m okay with that for now…baby steps, I guess 🤷‍♀️.

Meta

• Meta now lets you add up to 10 Facebook and Instagram accounts in Business Suite.

Instagram

• now enables you to hide the share count on Reels.

• added a new shortcut to access a full-screen mode, save a Real, or create a cutout sticker from a Reel.

Threads

• announces new features, including post insights, the ability to save multiple drafts to Threads on desktop and soon the option to schedule posts.

TikTok

• is adding group chats and custom stickers to DMs.

• now labels which comment was the ‘First comment’ on a video.

• can now buy plane tickets on TikU.S.k (D.M.s.

• DMs can now be deleted within 3 minutes of sending them.

Youtube

• is making ad breaks longer but less frequent.

LinkedIn

• has added a new ‘Videos for you’ feed carousel.

• now lets Premium subscribers give free trials to friends.

READ: How does Facebook stay relevant with Gen Z? Well, Facebook Marketplace is where it’s at.

LISTEN: Shameless, ugh, they’ve done it again with a beautiful breakdown of a pop cultural moment that is on everyone’s social feeds—the It Ends With Us movie drama.

Zara and Michelle unpack what is happening behind the scenes of what is supposed to be a blockbuster hit—except the movP.R.’s PR is overshadowing it, and it’s a bit of a mess.

WATCH: Bit of a rogue one, but I’m sharing Kylie Jenner’s interview for British Vogue. Personally, I find this interesting as the Kardashian/Jenner empire is in a funny place at the moment, and this interview acts a bit like a band-aid for this moment.