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.
Brooklyn-based artist Justin Blinder created a device that illustrates how soaring housing costs are making life in the city that much harder.
Flip the new Twitch toggle if you don’t want your content to be used to train Amazon’s generative AI content models.
According to Twitch chief product officer Mike Minton, that’s the “honest answer” as to why the streaming platform has started training Amazon’s generative AI models on users’ content by default. Twitch users can choose to opt out, but Minton defends the default setting because “almost every content service in the world” is also doing it.
After initially being tested by “select creators,” Creator Studio is now available for iOS users in the US and Canada. The original Creator Studio page manager experience was shut down in 2023, but Meta describes this revived version as an “AI-powered companion app” that helps creators to grow and engage with their audience.
[How creators are using Creator Studio to experiment and grow]
Nearly two years after the YouTuber’s first video accusing PayPal’s Honey browser extension of ripping off customers, affiliated creators, and even retailers, he’s back.
This time, there are updates about how others like Rakuten have (belatedly) ended relationships with Honey, and the current state of the legal proceedings, while Austin Evans’ recent video examines how this scandal has both shaped and changed YouTuber sponsorships.
After acquiring the artist portfolio site ArtStation and Sketchfab in 2021, Epic announced that they will be taken over by Kitbash, which sells 3D assets for games. The changes are happing as Epic “continues to prioritize building Unreal Engine 6, Fortnite, the developer ecosystem, and the Epic Games Store,” according to the company.
[Epic Games Newsroom]
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal filed by the tech companies, allowing more than 3,000 child safety lawsuits to proceed, according to Reuters.
Separately, the court also rejected Meta’s request to push back a trial linked to social media addiction allegations from dozens of state AGs. The trial kicks off on Wednesday.
In his first video after expressing his feelings of over-reliance on LLMs, Green clarifies the AI usage policy at his education company Complexly, stating “no one is using AI to create Crash Course videos”. He also laid out a new AI policy for himself, and encouraged other creators to do the same.
The company has reportedly slashed its revenue forecast for 2026 by a third after relying too heavily on frontier models from other providers to drive AI features on the platform. According to Startup Daily, here’s what CEO Melanie Perkins had to say in an update to shareholders:
“Several of our first-party models were not yet ready for release, and our pricing, consumption model and usage controls had not caught up with the outsized demand we were seeing.”
The new practice mode offers creators a chance test things out privately before really going live.
After launching ChatGPT connectors for Photoshop, Acrobat, and Express, Adobe has now combined everything into a single Adobe plugin. Adobe for ChatGPT includes a variety of tools from Firefly and Creative Cloud apps that let you make or edit images, videos, documents, and other content by giving conversational instructions and descriptions to OpenAI’s chatbot.
[Adobe]
250 employees have been laid off, The New York Times reports, including members of the social network’s content moderation team. The closure was made “to streamline our operations and better align our teams for long-term growth,” a press officer for TikTok’s US joint venture told The Times.
[The New York Times]
A defamation lawsuit by Keith Bass over SpyTalk writer Jeff Stein’s report that Bass had been “effectively fired” from his post leading the CIA’s Office of Medical Services in 2021 has been dismissed with prejudice.
Axios reports it’s the second victory since the Defender program launched, “but the first major federal suit,” while noting that other platforms are adding access to legal resources as well.
Network Boost is a new feature that aims to provide reliable connectivity for IRL streamers. It requires a Streamlabs Ultra subscription (which starts from $27 per month) and works by pooling cellular and local Wi-Fi connections together on both the iPhone you’re broadcasting on, and a secondary iPhone or Android device running the Streamlabs Controller app.
The era of AI-powered search has made Reddit mentions highly valuable. Subreddit moderators are catching brands trying to take advantage.
Only 3,300 more lawsuits to go, all filed by minors claiming that TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat were designed to be addictive, resulting in harm to their mental health. The plaintiffs’ claims against Meta, Google, and Snap are still on track for a bellwether trial in October. The first case to reach trial resulted in a $4.2 million verdict against Meta and $1.8 million against Google.
As Dexerto reports, Green says he wasn’t reading an AI prompt in a clip from a recent Ask Hank Anything video, but confessed that he’s been using AI “to locate papers and other resources for learning about topics.” In a Reddit post, he said he needs to “readjust” now.
I need to come to terms with the fact that the level of dopamine I’ve been getting from interacting with LLMs...with doing more and more and more and more...is not healthy for me or good for the world. It is careless, and has disconnected me from where people are on this.
Scott Carney and Taylor Lorenz posted on Substack about downward subscriber trends they’re seeing. Carney pins it on subscription fatigue and feeling like “The only way to grow is to pillage the paid subscribers from other creators.” Lorenz questions Substack’s direction, saying “more and more like this app is becoming another social media feed.”
When we recently wrote about writers who are leaving Substack, they mentioned control, pricing, and the social feature creep among their reasons for choosing competitors like Ghost and Behiiv.
Arizona State has a degree for that. According to the description of the “Content Creation” program:
The Bachelor of Arts program in content creation prepares you to become an influencer and strategic storyteller who thrives in the rapidly evolving creator economy. Program coursework emphasizes content planning, video and podcast production, global perspectives and personal branding.
[Arizona State University]
How TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube copied their way to victory.
Meta says it’s banning some content filmed with the company’s smart glasses from Instagram. Moderation gets messy very quickly.
Aside from labeling and filtering AI slop, YouTube says you can directly chat with its Ask Studio bot to build thumbnails that are “tailored to your video’s specific themes and to your specific style.” It’s also added custom thumbnail uploads for Shorts if you’re in the YouTube Partner Program, and suggested thumbnail frames for Shorts.
Patreon CEO Jack Conte was clear in yesterday’s layoff announcement that AI doesn’t replace humans, but that might be cold comfort to the humans whose jobs were lost as AI impacts “how we operate and organize.”
Lewise:
AI doesn’t replace humans, but AI replaces the work the humans do. Got it.
Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.
Executive agencies including the Department of Labor and Department of Transportation are joining the app once declared a national security threat. Following the close of the deal to bring TikTok US under a US entity, the Justice Department said government employees are free to download it.
According to Reuters, the DOJ has issued a memo stating that “employees of Executive Branch agencies may download TikTok onto their official devices, subject to the agency’s discretion,” now that the deal limiting ByteDance’s ownership is in place and US user data is secured in American data centers.
The idea to give their audience a central spot to see and discuss a creator’s newsletters, websites, and podcasts.
Communities are part of Beehiiv’s summer release, which also includes the launch of programmatic ads and an AI copilot to help creators better understand their business.
UK communications regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation to assess whether TikTok is complying with Online Safety Act duties to prevent children from seeing harmful content. The probe will also examine the effectiveness of TikTok’s age assurance systems. An update is expected in October 2026.
The infamous wormwood liqueur has enjoyed minor viral fame for its… let’s say unique flavor profile (frequently compared to bile). But, basic Malört reaction videos are old hat. The truly adventurous (or masochistic) are infusing Malört with ranch dip, brisket, and even Malört-flavored candy.
The platform is testing improvements to its spam detection system to help identify accounts posting AI-generated spam related to politics, current events, financial advice, medical information, and other topics that could “pose a risk to public trust or well-being.”
TikTok is also joining the C2PA Steering Committee.
As YouTube starts to look more and more like TV, the company now lets Partner Program creators make playlists that function as “shows,” which offer a “polished TV experience for your series.” YouTube has been working on them for a while.
