Created Briefs - August 20, 2021
Created Briefs is a weekly news show covering the creator economy. We stream live on Fridays at 8am PT.
Created Briefs is a weekly news show covering the creator economy. We stream live on Fridays at 8am PT.
Hosts
- Gregarious Narain (@gregarious)
- Ken Yeung (@thekenyeung)
This Week's Creator Economy News
Here Comes the Twitter Spaces API
Twitter rebuilt its developer API to allow third-party services to integrate with its social audio feature. Currently it supports only discovering live or scheduled Spaces, but in the future it could include tools to help people host.
“To [choose] which Spaces functionality to build into its API first, Twitter says it spoke to developers who told the company they wanted functionality that could help people discover Spaces they may find interesting and set reminders for attending. Developers said they also want to build tools that would allow Spaces hosts to better understand how well their audio chats are performing. But most of these options aren’t yet available with today’s API update. Twitter only said it’s “exploring” other functionality — like tools that would allow developers to integrate reminders into their products, as well as those that would be able to surface certain metrics fields available in the API or allow developers to build analytics dashboards.”
Read More
Sarah Perez
i_am_daniele
Forget the Center? The Future is Decentralized.
One of the broader trends we’re seeing as Web 3.0 approaches is a transition from the centralized platforms, services, and currencies to their newer, decentralized versions.
“The really powerful thing about Twitter doing a decentralized protocol move is that if you could design a protocol that works in an ideal way, you don’t have to go through the initial effort of finding the niche to bootstrap from because Twitter will bring so many users,” Graber told us.
Read More
Lucas Matney
Packy McCormick
OnlyFans Launches Mobile App, Bans Sexually-Explicit Content
OnlyFans didn’t have a mobile app available through the App Store or Google Play Store for one big reason: It hosts adult/not-safe-for-work content. But now the content subscription service has an app available for download that doesn’t run afoul of Apple and Google policies. Called OFTV, you can access safe-for-work videos from the platform, including vlogs, cooking and meditation.
Days after the launch of the app, OnlyFans announced that it will block all sexually-explicit content from its platform, though nude photos and videos will be allowed as long as it adhered to the platform’s policies.
“There’s also a flagship series on the app called Unlocked, which features exclusive interviews with OnlyFans creators like Mia Khalifa and Bella Thorne. The first season was all about individual creators' journeys to success, and the second season will include “mini-adventures,” according to an OnlyFans spokesperson.”
“OnlyFans has more than 1 million creators who generate $2 billion in annual sales. OnlyFans takes a 20 percent cut, according to The Verge, and makes about $400 million annually. A spokesperson told Mashable that they don’t plan to match that model with OFTV, and won’t be charging for access to the app.”
Reading List
Christianna Silva
Dan Primack
Tom Maxwell
It’s Nothing If It’s Not a Community
Community used to be a word that everyone threw around. Now, it’s a word startups use to raise millions of dollars.. or get acquired.
Roblox announced that they have acquired Discord competitor, Guilded.
Lucas Matney
YouTube’s Chief Business Officer On TikTok: “It Was a Missing Format For Us”
Robert Kyncl admits YouTube failed to recognize the popularity of short-form videos like the ones on TikTok. “We were missing the easy-to-use, low table-stakes format,” he said. “That’s very critical to the next generation of creators who are coming up.” The company previously shared its YouTube Shorts feature has more than 15 billion daily views.
Throwing shade at TikTok, Kyncl says YouTube’s multiple format options give creators choice and money-making opportunities. “I think of TikTok as more of a single format company. Very successful, but a single format. The format expansion is important to the sustainability of the audience and sustainability of the revenue stream.”
He says YouTube never thought about decoupling Shorts from its core app as it could negatively impact the reach of creators. “The answer almost always is it’s better to build it into the existing app because you already distribute it on people’s phones, you distribute it on television sets.”
Kaya Yurieff
The Micropayments Debate Rages On
Depending on who you ask, creators are either leaving a ton of money on the table by not monetizing individual pieces of content or wasting their time not selling recurring subscriptions.
It's obvious most anyone would like steady, predictable revenue but that's not always easy to come by.
Sam Lessing has a great thread around this with some interesting discussion to boot.
Why Micro-Payments for Journalism Don’t Work (Crypto or Otherwise)… pic.twitter.com/OiDZaphGFs
— sam lessin (@lessin) August 16, 2021
A great discussion went on in the Means of Creation Discord, but Anna Dante summed it up nicely…
- you have recurring revenue, stable income on which you can rely (I honestly could stop here)
- easier to build a publication around it, by understanding what people value in your subscription package
- easier to build product for that audience as you already know their spending abilities and a lot about the niche, which means you have validated customer base and validated pricing strategy
Comic Creators Turn Away From Marvel and DC For Substack
Substack launched a program catering towards comic book artists, similar to what it has done to pull writers away from big publishers. It has resulted in creators leaving Marvel and DC because their current contracts limit what intellectual property they own at those companies.
An anonymous Marvel comic artist told Business Insider: "Creators are terrified," the artist said. “We're work for hire. Some have the benefit of a reputation, but let's face it, we're all cogs in a machine. What sells is Spider-Man, not necessarily the creator. They can stop giving us work at any time.”
Read More
Travis Clark
Adam Benjamin
Deep Dive - OnlyFans Bans Sexually-Explicit Content
OnlyFans is changing its business model, no longer allowing sexually-explicit content on its site. The company claims it’s doing so to comply with “requests of our banking partners and payout providers.” Photos and videos of nudity will still be allowed as long as it meets OnlyFans’ policies. The move has sparked outrage from sex workers, who have made livings off the platform and feel like they’ve been abandoned by OnlyFans.
This bombshell announcement came days after the company announced the launch of its first mobile app. Because of Apple and Google’s stance on not-safe-for-work content, OnlyFans had to offer an app that doesn’t display adult photos or videos. It’s called OFTV and will only show videos such as vlogs, cooking and meditation.
“There’s also a flagship series on the app called Unlocked, which features exclusive interviews with OnlyFans creators like Mia Khalifa and Bella Thorne. The first season was all about individual creators' journeys to success, and the second season will include “mini-adventures,” according to an OnlyFans spokesperson.”
“OnlyFans has more than 1 million creators who generate $2 billion in annual sales. OnlyFans takes a 20 percent cut, according to The Verge, and makes about $400 million annually. A spokesperson told Mashable that they don’t plan to match that model with OFTV, and won’t be charging for access to the app.”
Earlier this week, Axios reported that OnlyFans was looking to raise money, but had difficulty recruiting outside investors. They seemed to be scared away because of the platform’s position on sex content.
Read More
Tom MaxwellDan PrimackChristianna Silva
Tech
It's becoming very clear that decentralization is extremely important to the creator economy.
— Li Jin (@ljin18) August 20, 2021
Over the past yr, Mixer's shutdown, arbitrary de-platformings, and now OnlyFans' policy changes have shown that creators are vulnerable on centralized platformshttps://t.co/eK8Shi2rV3
Is Onlyfans banning porn?
— Aella (@Aella_Girl) August 19, 2021
I don't know. But this is a reminder how payment processors are a de facto legal system, policing what consenting adults are able to do.
Also, I'm not too worried. There's other competitors ready to fill the gap.https://t.co/xGhfNjcEjn