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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How one small company’s SEO garbage made it to Sports Illustrated and USA Today
The man behind the AI gaffes has a yearslong history of filling the internet with garbage.
A core trope of Verge coverage over the years is that copyright law is the only functional regulation on the US internet, because it allows various actors to demand content takedowns without worrying about that pesky First Amendment.
Anyway, Splice, a company which sells music samples and beats, got upset at Krystle Delgado, a copyright attorney and YouTuber, for showing one of their license agreements during a livestream, and issued a YouTube copyright strike over it. Her response video is pretty good — and neatly demonstrates the pressures and complexity independent creators face trying to do what would otherwise be straightforward journalism.
That’s according to YouTuber Taki Udon who’s been teasing the mod they’ve created for months and today shared a proof-of-concept video demonstrating a Switch Lite with a much improved OLED display.
There’s no word on availability, but with a confirmed price tag under $50 and an upgrade process that’s described as, “very easy,” we’re very tempted.
The tech giant and comedian Dax Shepard agreed to an $80 million deal for his Armchair Expert podcast, The Wall Street Journal reports. Spotify had landed the show as an exclusive in 2021 before allowing it to be on other platforms last year.
Creators like MKBHD, Logan Paul, Kai Cenat, Pokimane, and Valkyrae will vie for $1,000,000, according to MrBeast. He says the video will go live on Saturday.
In June, MrBeast posted a group photo featuring the creators in the competition — there are a lot more that I didn’t name here!
Instagram’s Threads: all the updates on the new Twitter competitor
The latest app taking on Twitter is getting a boost from Instagram’s billions of users.
Canva CEO Melanie Perkins thinks the design world needs more alternatives to Adobe
To her, AI is just an extension of what Canva has always done: make accessible design tools that cost less than Adobe’s.
Figma pulls AI tool after criticism that it ripped off Apple’s design
Figma says it didn’t train the generative AI models it used and blames a ‘bespoke design system.’
Streamers will be able to drop in on each other with Stream Together, clips are getting a more optimized creation flow, and the platform’s enhanced broadcasting feature will soon be available for all streamers to try, among other things.
Twitch is also making a “Streamer Achievement Program. Streamers will get statues after their channel reaches certain milestones for hours watched.
Per a Rolling Stone report with more details about the ban:
YouTube’s former global head of gaming partnerships at Google, Ryan Wyatt, confirmed to Rolling Stone that Beahm was not offered a contract due to chatter about the circumstances of his Twitch ban. He says that a Twitch employee and journalists investigating the incident told YouTube employees that it involved inappropriate messages to a minor.
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reports Dexerto. And the San Francisco 49ers are now cutting ties with him, too.
The game studio he co-founded also cut ties, and so did peripheral manufacturer Turtle Beach, following my colleague Ash’s reporting that he sent inappropriate messages to a minor. On Tuesday, he shared his side of the story.
Casey Newton shines a light on the increasingly common social media scam that primarily targets teen boys in his most recent Platformer newsletter:
But when a terrifying scam comes along that has led to at least 20 confirmed deaths in the past two years, a whole stack of investigations can’t seem to get a conversation going. [...] Perhaps the surgeon general, instead of his new ham-fisted campaign against every risk that social media presents, could warn parents about this one.
[Platformer]
Dr Disrespect finally shares why he was banned from Twitch
The streamer says he was banned in 2020 for sending messages to a minor that ‘leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.’
Yelp is adding searchable accessibility attributes that make it easier to find businesses that meet mobility, hearing, and vision accessibility needs, but only if business owners add the new attributes to their listings.
The app and website will start automatically adding AI-powered alt text to restaurant, bar, and nightlife photos for people using screen readers — available on desktop starting today.