YouTube, Instagram, SoundCloud, and other online platforms are changing the way people create and consume media. The Verge’s Creators section covers the people using these platforms, what they’re making, and how those platforms are changing (for better and worse) in response to the vloggers, influencers, podcasters, photographers, musicians, educators, designers, and more who are using them.
The Verge’s Creators section also looks at the way creators are able to turn their projects into careers — from Patreons and merch sales, to ads and Kickstarters — and the ways they’re forced to adapt to changing circumstances as platforms crack down on bad actors and respond to pressure from users and advertisers. New platforms are constantly emerging, and existing ones are ever-changing — what creators have to do to succeed is always going to look different from one year to the next.
I’ve spent the past week typing on an early unit of the Norbauer Seneca, a mechanical keyboard that’s entirely custom, from its Topre-like electrocapacitive switches to its astonishingly smooth stabilizers. I also spoke at length with its creator about the process of making the board and why it’s so damn expensive. Stay tuned next week, feel free to ask about it in the comments, and meanwhile: just look at this keyboard.
Smart home skepticism and the joy of old-school hardware.
It’s not immediately clear whether the platform or someone with control (like his defense team) removed the account. Mangione, who is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, has amassed something of a following since his arrest. At a routine court hearing in February, hundreds of people tried to get a seat in the courtroom.
Security Checkup, an all-in-one security dashboard similar to Google’s identically named tool, allows TikTok users to manage their devices, two-step verification, passkey, security activity, and account recovery options all from a single screen. The new hub can be accessed by selecting “Settings and privacy” within your TikTok profile and tapping “Security & permissions.”
The VP, who’s reportedly brokering discussions, told NBC News, “there will almost certainly be a high-level agreement that I think satisfies our national security concerns, allows there to be a distinct American TikTok enterprise.” That deal, according to The Information, will likely involve Oracle playing an active role to help run the US platform. As a reminder, the deadline comes from President Donald Trump’s 75 day ban delay, giving legally dubious cover to TikTok’s service providers.
Meta is in the midst of attempting to block a memoir from an ex-employee detailing accusations of misconduct at the company. Behind the scenes, Meta has apparently also been badgering Washington Post book critic Ron Charles, sending repeated emails asking him about his plans to review Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams (you can read a preview of his newsletter below). He writes:
In my 27 years of reviewing and editing newspaper books sections, no company has ever done this with me.
[washingtonpost.com]
The company has opened submissions for short-form content “written specifically for audio.” If Spotify chooses to move forward with a submission, it will make an offer and then publish the audiobook. Spotify will also pay an advance and royalties (but doesn’t note any specifics).
[newsroom.spotify.com]
The “Quantum Visions” art exhibition being hosted at Tabakalera in San Sebastián, Spain celebrates 2025 being proclaimed the “International Year of Quantum Science and Technology” by the United Nations. Eleven artists, including former CERN artists-in-residence, are featured at the exhibit, with works in a variety of mediums that have been inspired by the subatomic world of quantum theory. It sounds like a neat experience, even if my brain hurts just thinking about it.
To get folks hyped up for the upcoming debut of Andor’s second season on Disney Plus April 22nd, Disney has put the show’s entire first season on Hulu and uploaded its first three episodes on YouTube. Additionally, on March 13th, Andor creator Tony Gilroy will host a live, hour-long rewatch event streamed on YouTube “with select talent,” which better be code for “Diego Luna and national treasure Kathryn Hunter.”
His distorted face has been inescapable on social media — blown up and tinted like a blueberry, smooth and textureless, edited as a Minion and Furby. What began as “an easy own” has spiraled into a full-blown meme of making the vice president look like a child with a propeller hat and candy. Vance, apparently, is definitely not mad and is laughing, actually.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is instructing representatives to stop holding in-person town halls, Politico reports. In recent weeks videos have gone viral of heated town hall meetings, where Republican representatives are being grilled for their support of DOGE and Donald Trump’s agenda.
Republicans — including Trump — have pushed the false claim that the outrage at events are the work of “paid troublemakers.”
The Reddit co-founder is now part of “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” a consortium of investors who want to buy TikTok’s US assets and put it on a decentralized, blockchain-based platform. The group, led by real estate billionaire Frank McCourt, submitted its bid for TikTok earlier this year.
The AI video generator can only be accessed by users who are subscribed to ChatGPT’s Plus ($20/£20 per month) or Pro ($200/£200 per month) tiers. Sora being rolled out to the UK comes as creatives in the country are fighting against government plans to embrace generative AI by weakening copyright protections.
Sometime this year, Twitch is going to open up monetization tools, including subscriptions and bits, “to most streamers, from day one,” according to an open letter from CEO Dan Clancy.
The change means you won’t need to reach affiliate status, which has some streaming and follower requirements, to be able monetize, spokesperson Ashton Williams tells The Verge.
[blog.twitch.tv]
Romanian prosecutors have cleared the self-described “misogynist” influencer and his brother Tristan to leave the country after the Trump administration pressed to lift travel restrictions. The pair had been under a travel ban pending a criminal rape and trafficking investigation.
The brothers are now reportedly en route to the US — where Trump embraces controversial manosphere influencers popular with young male audiences.
