YouTube Gifts in Canada, Apple Podcasts, Snapchat Creator Sub + Lacy Launches TapCaps

Hello and welcome to the last newsletter of the month! (What the hell!?) It's been a crisp week, with modest overall updates across social and the creator space! And perhaps no bit of news is more interesting than the fact that I'm launching a podcast very soon (thanks to our friends at Streamlabs + Talk Studio), and I want to hear WHO should be on it? And before you think 'oh great, another white guy with a podcast', understand that I will NOT be doing a biographical 'so how did you get started' podcast... Those are boring, offer little value, and are from a bygone era. Instead, I want to chat to people about today's successes and how they are monetizing, marketing, and thinking about the future. The streaming space is in a weird place, content creation is under the looming threat of AI abundance, and audiences start from a place of anger before they know anything about you. I want to learn how creators are navigating these risks and thriving in an uncertain time. And while I already have a list of creators I'd like to chat with, I'd also like to hear who you recommend. (It's an anonymous form.)

And with that, let's get into this week's news!

🟪 TWITCH

• Hype Trains can now be started by one person, gifting a large number of subs at once. No specific number is listed, so I suspect it scales to channel size or subscriber count.
• Twitch now has documentation for people who want to check if their content is okay or if their past behavior will get them banned. tldr: They can't answer.
• New Badges: Hypershot (Watch Time), Seek's Eye (Watch Time)
• Twitch CEO Dan Clancy is speaking at the Scalable Summit on May 6.

🟥 YOUTUBE

• YouTube Gifts and Jewels are launching on mobile in Canada.

⬛ TIKTOK

• ByteDance is curbing Disney AI creations after a legal threat.
• TikTok USA only lost about 5% of its viewership after the sale.

🟦 OTHER STREAMERS

• Top creators do not trust Discord age checks.
• Discord confirms that users in the UK may be subject to an experiment with Persona age verification, which requires sharing data with Persona.

🟧 SOCIAL PLATFORMS

• Snapchat is launching Creator Subscriptions with a ~60% sub split.
• Snapchat has 25 million Plus subscribers; it generates $1B in annual revenue.
• Twitter X will soon launch Ad Disclosure tools to address Clippers and undisclosed ads. It may even suspend accounts that do not disclose.
• Twitter X is launching a redesigned video player.
• Twitter X is working on Audio Articles.
• Bluesky is getting E2EE messaging via Germ Network.
• Instagram is rolling out Screenshot Protection.