The economy is in a fragile state while brands are becoming more dependent on creators as a form of advertising. This dichotomy presents an interesting prediction for the creator economy as we move into 2023.
First and foremost, 2022 has interestingly seen influencers take matters into their own hands and build their own brands this year. Some examples would be YouTuber David Dobrik opening a pizza restaurant in Los Angeles called Doughbrik’s Pizza, and YouTuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul who launched a sold out energy drink.
Furthermore, dubbing has seen an unexpected boom! In the same way Netflix dubs its shows into multiple languages, dubbing existing videos into other languages will help creators reach an even bigger, global audience. Reading closed captioning just isn’t the same experience.
A huge desire expressed this year by users has been a need for social media to reinfuse the social. TikTok is adding more friends features and has certainly led the pack this year with Meta applications – namely Instagram – adding features that saw a push back from users saying the changes made it harder to connect with friends. Users can expect to see their Instagram wishes met with Instagram head Adam Mosseri saying one of the app’s priorities this year is to “spark connections between people.” TikTok is adding more friends features.
To conclude, as creators continue to weather an economic downturn, they’ll look beyond deals with advertisers to other sources of funding, from YouTube’s new revenue sharing for Shorts to upfront financing from startups such as Spotter and Creative Juice or directly from venture firms. I also predict creator funds are on their way out.
YouTube even said it will begin sharing ad-revenue for short-form videos on February 1. Starting in mid-January, creators can become eligible for its YouTube Partner Program and ad-revenue sharing by amassing 1,000 subscribers with 10 million Shorts views in the past 90 days.
In other news, TikTok will soon allow creators to limit their short-form videos to be seen only by users 18 years or older. Such controls were previously only available for livestreams.
