Hey friends! What's up? 👋

Swinging by with your weekly fix of the freshest creator buzz.

Things are heating up - Instagram and TikTok are in a fierce battle (you'll never guess who's ahead!), MrBeast is at it again with a CRAZY new challenge, and oh, we've got to chat about SXSW highlights.

We're keeping things light and breezy, topped with a delightful creator fact to sweeten the deal. 🍒

No more holding back - let's dive in!

MrBeast strikes Amazon deal for biggest competition series in TV history

Mr. Beast is hosting the largest game show in history!

Teaming up with Amazon Prime to produce and host a game called "Beast Games,"

• $5 million payout

• 1,000 contestants

Intrigued? You'll have to wait a little longer for all the juicy details because they're keeping things under wraps until later this year. 

All we know for sure is that MrBeast will serve as the show’s host and an executive producer for the series, which will be available to stream on Prime Video. 

Don’t worry, he’ll also continue to make his YouTube series.

What Mr. Beast has to say:

“My goal is to make the greatest show possible and prove YouTubers and creators can succeed on other platforms,” said MrBeast in a statement. “Amazon gave me the creative control I need to try and make it happen. I hope to make the YouTube community proud.”

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How Instagram is winning over TikTok 👀

Instagram is back.

After years of playing catch-up to TikTok's viral short-video dominance, Instagram has staged an impressive comeback in 2023.

• Instagram beat TikTok in total app downloads, racking up 767 million compared to TikTok's 733 million. 

• More importantly, Instagram's year-over-year download growth of 20% far outpaced TikTok's modest 4% increase.

What’s contributing to Instagram’s comeback?

Two factors driving Instagram's success were the launch of the Threads app (requiring an Instagram account) and improved engagement on Instagram Reels.

While Reels initially struggled with repurposed TikTok content, the feature gained major traction in 2023 as more original videos started appearing on the platform. This fresh, compelling content pulled users away from TikTok.

Instagram has also made its traditional feed more video-centric, promoting Reels over static photo posts to mimic TikTok's endless content feed.

Final words:

Analysts had written off Instagram's coolness factor, but against the odds it staged a comeback by iterating on short-form video content and launching new products like Threads.

The turnaround highlights how quickly fortunes can shift in the social media landscape through strategic product moves and capitalizing on new content format trends like short-form video. 🔥

What creators were talking about at SXSW 👂

The annual SXSW festival and conference in Austin brought together leaders across tech, music, politics and other industries. 

A few key takeaways emerged related to creators and the influence of AI:

1. Hot Topic: The Rise (and Risks?) of AI

Artificial intelligence was a hot topic, but many creators weren't sold on the hype. Concerns about AI-powered influencers taking their jobs dominated conversations. Fitness influencer Cassey Ho called out AI models like Sora for "extracting creativity" and not giving back.

Speakers praised AI's benefits like reducing workloads but avoided tough questions about issues like safety and impacts on human creators, leaving some feeling unheard.

2. TikTok Ban? Creators say the answer is to to diversify.

While the rumor mill churns about a potential TikTok ban, creators and employees at SXSW were, well, bored of it.  

Many creators, like "Gen-Z Historian" Kahlil Greene, have already diversified their platforms, making them less worried about a single app's fate.

3. Communities That Pop!  ✊

The real highlight? Spaces dedicated to creators of color, like the Asian Creator House and Black TikTokers meetup, were very popular and seen as a much-needed safe space for creators to connect and build their businesses.

These dedicated communities were a hit, setting a new standard for inclusivity in the creator world.  One Singaporean creator summed it up perfectly: "I never get to meet people like this!"

What’s happening around the world?

• Kate Middleton, Britney Spears and the Online Trolls Doubting Their Existence (link)

• Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)’ Movie Has Solid Debut for Disney+. More than 16 million hours of viewing over its first three days. (link)

• Oscars: Full List of Winners (link)

• Logan Paul and KSI's Prime sponsors a marathon runner (link)

Social media updates:

• Instagram’s expanding its test of longer Reels video uploads, with some users now able to upload 3-minute-long Reels in the app. (link)

• YouTube adds new AI-generated content labeling tool.  The platform previously said it would require creators to disclose AI-generated material in 2024. But like other creator platforms, labels are based on the honor system. (link)

• This metric is the TikTok version of search engine optimization (SEO). Creators will now be paid based in part on how well their content meets what other users are searching for. (link)

• At Shoptalk on Monday, TikTok revealed several new e-commerce tools including the ability to place Shop Ads within TikTok’s shop tab and Video Shopping Ads in the platform’s search results. (link)

• Reddit last week rolled out a new “Free-Form Ads” format, designed to help brands fit more seamlessly. (link)

Creator spotlight 😍

Every week, we shine light on a popular creator and reveal lesser-known, interesting, or inspiring facts.

This week's featured creator: ✨Mark Rober ✨

This week's creator spotlight is on Mark Rober, the former NASA engineer turned wildly popular YouTube creator with 46M subscribers. 

Here's a fun fact about Mark Rober: 

This YouTuber wasn't always crafting epic science experiments for millions to see!  

Mark Rober spent seven years of his career at NASA helping to build Curiosity, the rover that's currently scooting around Mars!  

That means the next time you see a cool rock formation on Mars pics, you can thank Mark for helping Curiosity get there to snap those photos! 

Is there nothing this man can’t do?

That’s a wrap! See you next Wednesday with more creator updates and social media madness. 😜