Here’s what’s new and what caught my eye this week:
SECOND DAY TAKES ON TWITTER AND MUSK: I’m assuming you know Elon Musk bought nearly 10% of Twitter and ended up on the board (NEWSFLASH – and then backtracked). Lots of digital ink flowed, but I particularly liked Platformer’s take, which does not bode well for CEO Agrawal. Napkin Math thinks Twitter is now a “meme stock,” a legit new way to make money. But Max Read’s post had the best insight of all:
Musk, like Donald Trump and Logan Paul and a handful of other black holes of energy and attention, grasps in an instinctive way the logic of social media: power and money are a product of attention, attention is accumulated by being annoying, being annoying is enabled by speech protections.
As for me, I’m just glad that it might lead to an “Edit” function.
AXIE INFINITY HACK REVEALS HUGE HOLES IN WEB3: Axie Infinity is the poster child for Web3 play-to-earn gaming and the progenitor of the Axie DAO, designed to help users and builders on the popular platform. But a recent hack siphoned $625M of crypto from the network. Props to Axie developer SkyMavis for making hacked users whole as it rebuilds its internal “Ronin” blockchain. “Bugs are a natural law of software,” said investor Benedict Evans, but cautioned that crypto-based projects are bug-bounty schemes with dangerous ramifications. Here’s how they can build back better. Want to learn more about Axie? Vice has you covered.
NFTS ARE THE NEWEST VTUBERS: Move over Lil Miquela, CodeMiko, and Ironmouse. The apes and punks are moving in –– at least that’s what Conal Byrne, CEO of iHeartMedia’s Digital Audio group hopes. Byrne is building out the “Non-Fun Squad” by deriving characters from popular and emerging NFTs. WTF? I reached out to Conal for why, and he responded:
There’s huge creative potential in NFT technology –– not only as collectibles and communities –– but as the basis for new character and content IP, too. Bringing some of these to life in audio will be a blast –– and, we think, opens a whole new, innovative lane of podcast ‘talent’.
I’m excited to watch it unfold, as a new way for crypto-native characters to drive scripted entertainment. In a related story, Rex Woodbury explains how “Cryptomedia” will disrupt traditional media models.
GEN ALPHA IS A THING: OK, the fundamental premise of this story might be wrong because the cited research is focused on UK kids only and spans from 7 to 16 years old (arguably Gen Alpha is 10 and under). It also gathered its info from a panel of just 40 kids and broader users of the company’s bad web games. I’m also not sure I trust a consultancy named after an antiflatulent medication. But get ready for Gen Alpha. I can’t wait.
QUIBIS:
- Gentlemen, start your memes! TikTok rolls out GIPHY-based “Library.”
- Thought-provoking read on why media is a feature, not a stand-alone business.
- ByteDance accused of scraping Instagram and Snapchat to growth-hack precursor to TikTok.
- New tool Wordcab summaries video transcripts, might help you convert that YouTube video to TikTok, Reels, Shorts, etc. (ht to Jeremy Caplan).
- Be afraid, be very afraid (or just embarrassed): TikTok working on a tool that displays your watch history.
- It’s not an April Fool’s joke –– apparently “Zuck Bucks” are coming.
- Geek alert: this guide to container formats is full of great (if somewhat outdated) knowledge that video pros should know.
- The case for a universal identity system in the metaverse (and the internet, too!).
- Bloomberg discovers “influencer bootcamps.”
- Reels creators say their monthly payouts have been cut by as much as 70%.
- Epic and Lego are building another “family-friendly” metaverse.
- Here’s why TikTok should add content filters. It’s also apparently moving down-funnel with some success.
CRYPTIS:
- Interesting interview with the guy who ripped off every NFT and created NFT Bay.
- Phil Ranta went to NFT LA so you didn’t have to.
- Music DAOs are a thing –– here’s the latest on how they’re using Web3.
- How to choose the best NFT mint price.
- Are decentralized social media platforms the future?
Making Millions from Creator-First Kids’ Entertainment. It used to be all about toys, but now it’s about way more than that. “Kidfluencers” like Ryan and Vlad & Nikki are top creators and money machines as well. Join Chris Williams, Founder and CEO of pocket.watch; Rob Fishman, co-founder of Brat TV; and Ashley Kaplan, SVP of Digital Studios at Nickelodeon at VidCon US 2022 as they share how kids are the new uber-creators and what the future looks like in the world of kids’ entertainment. Buy your tickets now!
Tip of the Week: This week’s tip comes from Albie Hecht, Chief Content Officer at pocket.watch:
- Pick your boss, not your job.
- You don’t stop playing because you get old, you get old because you stop playing.
- Do your best, and do it joyously.
What We’re Watching:
- Have you seen Chowder the Bulldog ride his skateboard?
- YouTube’s Creator Insider channel introduces video sorting by content type.
Special Bonus for LinkedIn Readers: I love this store name! It definitely made me go inside.
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(from my trip to Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
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