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.
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Unleashing influencers on the Democratic National Convention isn’t the only way the party is fighting for viral moments.
Kamala Harris is the latest participant on Track Star, a TikTok game show where players identify a song for money.
Internet shows like Track Star are a new kind of media circuit for public figures. Democrats want these viral moments — and they’re trying hard to make them happen.
Big tech companies are backing the C2PA’s authentication standard, but they’re taking too long to put it to use.
It’s year two for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube, and it appears there’s not a ton of new stuff, but the combination of Yahoo Fantasy integration and a build-your-own-multiview feature is right up my alley. Sunday Ticket is expensive, but might be worth it.
Oh, and PSA: do not under any circumstances subscribe through the App Store. That price is highway robbery.
[YouTube Official Blog]
Chris Klimas funds his Twine game engine through a per-release model on Patreon, getting paid only when he’s actively developing Twine. Unlike a flat monthly subscription, it’s a “simple and guilt-free” way to work part-time. But Patreon’s phasing out that model so Apple won’t kick it off the App Store — and Klimas is mulling whether it’s still worth staying.
The popular iPad design app has vowed against introducing generative AI tools into its products.
The latest app taking on Twitter is getting a boost from Instagram’s billions of users.
Sophia Tung, who runs a 24/7 livestream of a Waymo parking lot, says on Reddit she’ll interview the director, Vishay Nihalani on the stream on Monday at 2:30PM PT / 5:30PM ET.
Tung plans to discuss the robotaxis’ 4AM honking and Waymo’s subsequent fix. She’s taking suggestions, like asking about highway testing or odd parking lot behavior. (There’s a spreadsheet.)
Correction: Nihalani is Waymo’s director of product management and operations, not the operations boss.
In a new filing, DOJ says it’s “not trying to litigate in secret,” but that the court should be able to review classified information that led Congress to determine the divest-or-ban bill was necessary. In its own filing, TikTok says the government’s arguments for the bill are riddled with errors and omissions.
You can pay to see if your partner will respond to a stranger’s flirty DM — and TikTok has turned this into a thriving subculture.
“On one hand, it’s like, fuck yeah, we got this guy,” Monzon told me. “But on the other hand, it’s like, ‘Fuck.’ This girl’s life is…she’s heartbroken now.”
Wired has a cool interactive piece highlighting some of the content creators on the right and left who drive political discourse and change. The size of the bubbles corresponds to the number of followers the individual has on their social media platform of choice. Check out the full story for details on each person.
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Opting out of Google’s generative AI overviews means you become invisible in search — a no-go for most publishers. But keeping content in search means it can be scraped for AI Overviews. As one publisher puts it:
You drop out and you die immediately, or you partner with them and you probably just die slowly, because eventually they’re not going to need you either.”
The streaming platform is testing a prompt that encourages you to pause before sending a chat message that might be offensive. (It sounds kind of like the prompts that Twitter developed.)
Just don’t go posting the message Twitch used as an example.
Publishers like Rolling Stone and The New York Times are sizing up Reddit as a potential source of significant traffic, according to Adweek.
Reddit’s visibility in Google Search has skyrocketed this year, making the platform an attractive place for marketers and the SEO industry. But media of all industries should know that relying on outside platforms historically hasn’t gone well.
Art Club
Space Vacation’s gorgeous prints celebrate fan-favorite movies
Mona Chalabi on storytelling, the power of data, and covering Palestine
A year in art on The Verge
2023: a year in art on The Verge
A placard at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture used the internet-speak term “un-alive” to describe Cobain’s suicide, according to Billboard. The museum elsewhere reportedly said it used it as a “gesture of respect.”
People use terms like “un-alive” online to try to get around moderation algorithms that they believe may suppress or remove their content. MoPOP didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.
If you often fall asleep while watching a video, you can try YouTube Premium’s experimental sleep timer through September 2nd. It pauses your content after a certain amount of time, so that way autoplay doesn’t eat up all your internet data for the month.
The Wall Street Journal delves into a loose network of TikTok accounts churning out videos with AI-generated voiceovers making ridiculous claims — both positive and negative — about Donald Trump. A political motive is possible, but it sounds likely they’re less a coordinated operation than a bunch of people ripping each other’s content off for views, and Trump is simply the best engagement-bait around.
The aptly named 16-foot tall “Dinosaur” statue, created by artist Iván Argote, is coming to New York’s High Line Plinth in October, where it’ll spend 18 months menacing locals. Argote told Curbed that he wanted the piece to invoke a sense of familiarity with those who often observe pigeons in the city:
“I really want people to have that feeling. It’s like, Ah, I’ve seen you, man. Here you are. Here you are.”
The CNN media reporter announced today that he’s starting his own news outlet called Status — a nightly briefing covering the media industry, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley.
Darcy is the latest journalist to move from a big outlet to an independent enterprise. Status will be subscription-based, and will launch with an initial (as of yet unnamed) sponsor.
[The New York Times]
Invitations are going out for Google’s community-led pilot to moderate misinformation by letting users append highly-rated notes to confusing or inaccurate videos. Per 9to5Google, you can sign up to participate on mobile in the US by clicking your profile pic in the app, then selecting “help inform viewers” under general settings.
Let us know in the comments if you’re seeing notes on videos.