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.
TikTok is partnering with iHeartMedia to launch a podcast network featuring up to 25 shows hosted by TikTok creators. Additionally, a new TikTok Radio station will pair TikTokers with iHeartRadio hosts, broadcasting shows nationwide “where listeners will feel like they are scrolling on TikTok, but with their ears.”
The convoluted saga of Justin Baldoni, Blake Lively, and It Ends With Us is still raging on social media, thanks to influencers.
Coca-Cola’s new AI Christmas ad looks pretty terrible, quite frankly. But what if that was the point?
Aram:
You’ve gotta admit, they made a pretty great ad for Pepsi.
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The outlet will move under Vogue.com, and editor-in-chief Versha Sharma will depart the company. Teen Vogue has carved out a niche in recent years as a youth-focused news outlet with a progressive/leftist perspective. It’s not clear whether the outlet will keep that identity, but leadership says Teen Vogue will focus on “career development, cultural leadership and other issues that matter most to young people.”
Update: Teen Vogue appears to also be doing layoffs, according to former staffers.
While no cause of death has been announced yet, Naroditsky’s passing is being investigated as a possible suicide. Many have pointed their fingers at disgraced former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who has waged an online bullying campaign against Naroditsky. Defector has a detailed report of Kramnik’s behavior and its effect on Naroditsky:
If you were paying closer attention over the past year, you may have noticed an increasingly haggard Naroditsky, as he was contending with what seemed like extremely spurious cheating allegations leveled at him by Vladimir Kramnik, former world champion and Naroditsky’s boyhood idol. — Defector
The survey offers a fascinating look at the modern landscape of news creators and influencers. It offers a taxonomy of news creators, breaking them down into four types of content: commentary, news/investigation, explanation, and specialism. Unsurprisingly, it also found that younger generations have shifted away from traditional media, towards creators and personalities, and that partisan content often outflanks more balanced approaches.
61-year-old Larry Bushart is out of jail after a month for posting a meme on Facebook. In the wake of Kirk’s killing, ordinary people were doxed, harassed, and even jailed for comments made online about the right wing influencer. According to the Washington Post, Bushart is now celebrating his freedom and building his legal case — and is back to posting.
The same day we had Cory Doctorow on Decoder to talk enshittification, the tech industry delivered a real-life example. New Affinity owner Canva is launching an all-in-one editing app, and best of all, it’s free! Why do we get a bad feeling about this?
t1har:
2026: Affinity Pro for only $10/month!
The enshittification is coming. Mark my words.
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Correction: It is Cory Doctorow, not Doctor.
This amusing “ad” ribbing Adobe’s widely detested subscription model is a good reminder that The Onion offers physical printed newspapers again, and that good satire is worth supporting.
The platform is testing a way for users to indicate what topics they want to see in content, beginning with Reels. Instagram said previously that this was in the works. The topics appear to be extremely specific — things like Bad Bunny, “Japanese artisan menswear,” “vintage Patek,” and so on. In other words: help Instagram improve its algorithm.
The social media giants have agreed to boot users under 16 from their platforms by the December 10th deadline, but are still voicing skepticism about the policy’s enforcement and effectiveness.
Correction: YouTube has also said it disagrees with the law, but has not said it will comply.
Reuters: Their comments represented a shift in the social media industry’s response to the law, which is being watched by lawmakers around the world as concern grows about youth mental health. Under the Australian law, platforms must take “reasonable steps” to block users aged less than 16 or face a fine of up to A$49.5 million ($32.5 million).
Doing live demonstrations of developmental AI features is always a risk, and the hiccups can be pretty funny. The host who showcased how Adobe Express’s new AI assistant can edit designs during today’s Max keynote was certainly amused (and surprised) that it turned a photograph into a cartoon — a change she hadn’t asked for.
YouTubers will be soon be able to make use of Adobe Premiere editing tools through a new hub, Create for YouTube shorts. It’s launching soon, both inside the new Premiere mobile app and built directly into YouTube itself.
Expect “exclusive effects, transitions, templates and more.”
After being acquired by the board game crowdfunding platform Gamefound earlier this year, Indiegogo is getting a redesign and switching over to Gamefound’s infrastructure.
From now on, whenever I get an email from a company raising its subscription prices (which happens approximately 40 times a week), I’m just going to reply with a link to this TikTok.
Embrace looks like Elgato’s answer to Herman Miller’s Embody gaming chair. It has a five-step recline with adjustable tilt tension, a headrest, a mesh back, lumbar support, and arm rests that move up, down, forward, back, in, and out. It will be priced at $499.99, and Elgato is aiming to ship Embrace before the Christmas holiday period.
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The News Creator Corps, led by longtime journalism professor Jay Rosen, is trying. Content creators will be paid a $5,000 stipend as they “hear from experts in fact checking, sourcing, AI, interviewing, and more.” Trust in media is at historic lows — but people do trust influencers and individuals, the thinking goes:
Audiences are migrating to the content creators ... The simple principle of sharing good information — and watching out for the bad — has to migrate with it.
OpenAI is the latest company filling your social media feed with AI — but are the memes worth the harms?
Unionized employees are striking for a codified four-day work week and more money for the lowest paid employees, Kickstarter United announced. Importantly, the union isn’t asking for a boycott of the crowdfunding platform — instead, they’re asking creators to complain about issues they run into, use the union logo in projects, and to send letters of support to management.
