Good morning. In the last several days, TikTok creators have uploaded over 2,000 videos showcasing snapshots of their personal lives alongside this soundbite from Emma Chamberlain’s Anything Goes podcast: “We’re afraid of a magical moment happening and us not having a permanent version of it,” Chamberlain says.

What do you think—are we spending too much time padding our camera rolls instead of living in the moment?

P.S. We’re throwing an intimate creator event in LA next month—interested in learning more? Fill out this form.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Anthpo Uploads Final YouTube Video

Sketch comedy creator Anthony “Anthpo” Potero said goodbye to his 1.5+ million YouTube subscribers yesterday in a planned retirement from his channel.

Context: In January 2022, Potero—then a junior at Rutgers University with about 1.3 million subs—announced that he would shut down his Anthpo channel upon graduating college.

The reasoning: Potero explained that he wanted a feeling of closure before exploring different career paths and opportunities outside of YouTube upon graduating.

“I hope I didn’t set false expectations,” Potero said directly to the camera in his final upload, which served as a highlight reel for his extensive video library and hit No. 4 on the trending charts. “Thank you for the best four years of my life…best of all, I got to share it all with you.”

The response so far? Sad, but overwhelmingly positive.

• “This channel is the literal embodiment of ‘Don't cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,’” one user commented on Potero’s last video.

• “I was so terrified of college…but watching you at your best and at your worst convinced me that everything will be okay,” another wrote.

Big picture: By the end of his channel’s run, Potero wasn’t interested in being a career creator. Rather, Potero said his overarching goal was to inspire viewers to hang out more with their friends offline—which is what he plans to do now that his time as Anthpo is over.

Potero’s final words on his channel? “Thank you all so much for sitting here and being part of my story. Now it’s time to go live yours.”

YouTube Tests Barring Ad Blockers

YouTube is running an experiment that stops ad blockers on the platform. A YouTube employee confirmed the test last week after some users reported pop-ups that appeared saying ad blockers weren’t allowed.

Context: Ad blockers that enable ad-free viewing experiences for YouTube viewers have been popular since they were introduced in 2009. For example, Adblock for YouTube has received more than 10 million installs on Google Chrome. This is the first time YouTube has addressed the tech seriously, though.

Because ad blockers aren’t in line with YouTube’s priorities:

• They sidestep one of the main features of YouTube Premium, which costs $11.99/month for ad-free viewing.

• YouTube is free because it has ads—fewer people viewing those ads means less ad revenue for the platform. Worth noting: YouTube brought in $6.69 billion in advertising revenue in Q1, down 2.6% from the same period last year.

The creator POV: Some are skeptical, others affirming.

• “YouTube blocking ad blockers is ultimately beneficial for the creator,” Mutahar Anas aka SomeOrdinaryGamers said. “I only hope that when they’re running these experiments they don’t go so invasive to the point that it actually harms people watching my channel. People already don’t want to see ads on the internet.”

FYI: In a 2019 survey, 61% of respondents said they would be unlikely to return to a website if it disabled their ad blocker without their consent.

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The Try Guys Rebrand

The comedy creators unveiled a new look over the weekend.

Context: Last year, the Try Guys removed one of their founding members, Ned Fulmer, after he engaged in sexual misconduct with a subordinate. They have since said they won’t replace Fulmer and will instead invest in their cast and crew.

This triangle-heavy rebrand is meant to signify the three leads, Eugene Yang, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld. The rebrand also marks the beginning of a new era in which more Try Team members will appear in videos.

👀 Creator Moves

• Hank and John Green’s Complexly is hiring a freelance writer with expertise in natural history.

• VidCon is hiring a marketing coordinator to support the execution of multimedia campaigns.

• Vanwives is hiring a part-time ghostwriter to research and develop engaging YouTube scripts.

🔥 Press Worthy

• MatPat is producing a Broadway show.

• Yes Theory surpasses 1 billion views.

• The new CEO of Twitter is ex-NBCUniversal exec Linda Yaccarino.

• Jedcal shares his strategy as he builds out his startup, RateMyDorm.

• Meta is working on a Twitter rival.

• TikTok “investigator” faces fallout after claiming to crack a serial killer case.

• Have 5,000+ subs on YouTube? That's all you need to be a Fiverr creator and start earning cash and credits to put toward your content.*

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