The instant block… makes its corporate debut. After newsletter service Substack announced a Twitter-like feature called Notes last week, the Musk-led Twitter began retaliating. It blocked creators’ ability to embed tweets in Substack posts, banned likes and retweets on tweets with Substack links, and removed the ability to search “Substack” on Twitter. Over the weekend, Substack said that the “suppression of Substack publications” appeared to be over. But for a while the changes left lots of independent Substack creators without access to a critical distribution platform.
Unlike and unsubscribe… As the tech industry focuses on cutting costs, the fledgling creator economy is experiencing turbulence. In 2021, creator-focused companies like Patreon, Cameo, and Discord were thriving as we binged from our couches. But by the end of last year, funding for US creator startups was down 79%. It’s not just businesses feeling the end of the boom time — creators are taking a hit too.
- Amazon’s Twitch last week announced it would experiment with taking a cut from streamers’ brand sponsorships. In the fall, the company began taking a bigger chunk of creators’ subscription revenue.
- Snap cut payouts for its TikTok-esque Spotlight feature several times last year, and Meta last month paused a monetization feature that paid creators for posting Reels. Meanwhile, TikTok’s new creator fund isn’t clear on its revenue-sharing terms.
- Meta’s layoffs gutted an already overwhelmed customer-service team, leaving creators without contacts when they face issues like impersonators.
Alienating creators risks alienating audiences… because users come to platforms for the content. Notable Substack creators — including vocal Musk supporters — left Twitter after the Substack blockade began. In the creator-economy turmoil, brands that reward talent could get a leg up. In February, YouTube began sharing ad revenue with Shorts creators — a move that could see influencers ditching Reels and Spotlight for more lucrative short videos.