In the latest Industry Round Up, we explore MrBeast’s new burger collaboration with a fellow creator, as well as covering how Twitter is trying to incentivise creators to use Spaces to fend off competitor app Clubhouse. There is also a new short-form video app making moves in the social space, so we break down exactly what Clash is and how Vine and Byte are involved. Finally, we highlight key platform updates such as Instagram’s new Live tools and Facebook’s new fund for VR creators!
MrBeast x MoistCr1TiKaL Burger Collaboration
MrBeast is one of the top creators on YouTube, with a huge subscriber count of over 71 million on his main channel alone. In 2020, the creator launched a delivery-only fast food business, which is now serving out of more than 1,000 restaurants across the U.S and Canada.
In the latest move, MrBeast has collaborated with commentary streamer and YouTuber MoistCr1TiKaL, for a limited-time “MoistCr1TiKaL Melt”. The new burger joins an existing menu that has burgers named after MrBeast’s crew – who commonly feature alongside the creator in most of his YouTube content.
This collaboration is the second from a creator outside MrBeast’s immediate group, with the first being with Minecraft YouTuber Dream for the “Dream Burger”.
Twitter Offering Spaces Creators $2,500 Per Month
Twitter is launching Spark, a three-month program that will pay creators $2,500 each month to use Spaces – Twitter’s competitor product to Clubhouse.
Spaces on the app have now replaced the now-defunct Fleets feature. Spark hopes to encourage further usership of Spaces, requiring those involved to host a Space at least twice a week for 3 months, content should also be recurring programming – meaning creators could adapt shows both new and existing through the Spark program.
Creators can also benefit from monthly ad credits, early access to new products and features, promotional spotlights and more through the program.
Snapchat’s Club Unity
Snapchat is partnering with a team of influencers for World Mental Health Awareness Day, encouraging the creators to open up about their personal mental health journeys, focusing on amplifying voices around BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth.
Club Unity will include Halima Aden, Chloe x Halle, Rickey Thompson, Tae Yong, Maddie Ziegler and Yusuf Omar, whilst also kickstarting a multi-year partnership with mental health organization Active Minds – which has a presence across campuses in the U.S.
This comes at a time when Facebook was exposed for research that suggested they knew the extent that the platform is harmful and toxic for teens – and has done little to combat. Snapchat, however, appears to be taking more actionable steps to ensure the platform has a positive impact on users’ mental health.
Facebook’s Reach Reporting Change
Facebook has announced that the platform will begin counting users who’ve not connected their Facebook and Instagram accounts in Accounts Center as separate entities. Accounts that are connected will continue to be counted as a single person.
This change will be rolling out over the next few weeks and will impact the reach reported in ad performance data. This follows Facebook also broadening campaign reach estimates with “Potential Reach” data now being shown in ranges instead of exact numbers – due to legal challenges over fake and duplicate accounts.
New Short-Form Video App Clash
Clash is a platform that has recently launched in public beta, developed by the Vine co-founder who also launched Byte – an app where users post 16-second looping videos. Clash basically takes the best of Byte with a monetisation-focused approach for a creator’s most dedicated and loyal fans.
Clash is essentially a merger of Byte and Clash’s own beta version that soft-launched last year. Both apps never took off, but the improved Clash app hopes to have a bigger impact in the social space with opportunities for creators big or small to have financial gain through the app – which was one of the pivotal issues that led to the downfall of Vine!
Ads In Tweet Replies
Twitter is testing a new ad placement in Tweet Replies to expand ad inventory. This will mean advertisers can have promotions displayed within the first few replies of a tweet – a similar ad offering released by Reddit not too long ago.
What is interesting, is Twitter users are typically abrasive to any changes to the platform, which was very much the case with the announcement of Super Follows. Therefore, it can be predicted that this addition of more ad content – especially where organic discussions are happening will cause some backlash.
Instagram’s Live-Stream Scheduling
Instagram has added an option to schedule Live broadcasts, with users having the ability to tap through to get a reminder on the day of a creator’s broadcast. Scheduling can be made 90 days in advance with a promotion available through a Stories Sticker for Scheduled Lives.
This move is in anticipation of the popularity of live-shopping in China and other APAC regions. Instagram and Facebook have experimented with live-steam shopping events already, with TikTok also being an early adopter of this new shopping experience in Western markets. Therefore, these new Live tools will help drive awareness and engagement in Live formats, as platforms gear up to go all in with live commerce in the coming months.
Facebook’s Hub For Audio Formats
Facebook is rolling out audio features to more creators and groups globally, after a smaller release of Live Audio Rooms in the U.S for select figures back in June. Further capabilities include the feature being released on Android devices and the ability to listen via desktops.
Facebook has also centralized audio formats within an “Audio tab”, that sits on the top navigation bar within Facebook Watch. This feature will first be available for U.S users over 18 on iOS and Android and will include Live Audio Room content, Soundbites and podcasts.
This is yet another example of Facebook looking to keep competitor apps at bay, with Facebook developing Reels and now a streamlined audio offering that aims to compete with Clubhouse.
Facebook’s New $10 Million Fund
It’s no secret Facebook is diving headfirst into the Metaverse race, and in recent news, the platform is looking to pay creators to make VR content on its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds.
Facebook has a $10 million fund that it plans to distribute to content creators and developers through “Community Competitions” that reward users building top worlds in Horizon and through a Facebook Horizon Creator Accelerator Program. This program will aim to provide users with diverse backgrounds an advanced course on Horizon Worlds, and opportunities to develop skills and knowledge needed to succeed in a professional environment. The fund will also be utilised for external developers, studios and creators who specialize in creating themed worlds to work in partnership with Facebook’s Horizon Worlds.
