Creators for Regulation

Meet the collective spearheading social media policy changes

Author

Hannah Doyle
March 29, 2023

Good morning. Shoutout to Press reader Sam Reid, who was told in a recent podcast interview that he needed to change out of his Press Publish t-shirt or else they’d blur our logo.

As Sam told us, “I guess they’ve heard the immortal words of Charles Barkley, who once said, ‘no free pub.’” As a thank you for pressing publish, here's some free pub for you, Sam (and scroll down to see how you can get your own Press merch).

Creators Launch Coalition to Combat Negative Social Media Effects

Zamaan Quereshi, Jules Terpak, Emma Lembke / DIFU

Today, a trio of creators is launching Design It For Us (DIFU), a coalition looking to influence social media regulation and design in a bid to make platforms safer for kids, teens, and young adults. The group is hosting a kickoff call on Zoom later today.

Who’s leading the charge → 

DIFU’s launch is timely. Right now, TikTok is facing a potential ban in the U.S., and states including Utah, Arkansas, and Connecticut have passed or considered legislation that regulates teen social media use.

DIFU is positioning itself as an alternative to those lawmakers and regulators because it’s


  1. Made up of creators whose livelihoods depend on social platforms, a stark difference from some elected officials who’ve struggled in public hearings to comprehend the ins and outs of social media and the creator industry.

  2. Addressing platform mechanisms instead of complicated regulation—think targeting design choices like endless scrolls and algorithm recommendations that can negatively impact mental health. The group wants to change the structure of social platforms and how we, as both creators and consumers, use them.

“It’s not an anti-social media for youth conversation,” Terpak said in a recent Instagram post. “It’s a conversation about designs that optimize youth’s experience with not only these platforms—but life.”

FYI: 45% of teens say they feel overwhelmed by social media, according to Pew Research. Still, screen time for kids ages 3–18 is increasing.

Substack Invites Creators to Become Investors

Substack

Yesterday, newsletter platform Substack announced a community fundraising round. It’s accepting investments of $100 and up from anyone who wants to “own a piece of the company.”

FYI: Substack-published newsletters and podcast feeds have more than 35 million active subscriptions, including 2 million paid subscriptions. The company has paid out a cumulative $300 million to creators.

The Substack POV: Substack’s cofounders want to “build a new economic engine for culture.”

Their perspective on the future of internet content? Trading in the “attention economy” built on social networks like Instagram in favor of what they call “subscription networks” that, in their view


  1. “Foster deep relationships.” 

  2. Offer more control to creators and the fans who choose to opt into their content.

Substack wants creators to be partners in its ambition to build a subscription network, which brings us to this week’s community fundraise. Shortly after announcing the round, Substack blew past its initial goal of $2 million with over 4,700 individual investors pitching in so far.

Worth noting: Substack called off a fundraising round last year as the venture capital market suffered through economic uncertainty. Verge columnist Elizabeth Lopatto suggested that this week’s community-powered fundraise might be a Substack effort to revisit its search for cash, but with a PR twist.

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PewDiePie Starts 24/7 Stream

PewDiePie / Twitch

PewDiePie went live on Twitch for the first time in years last week—his big return? Streaming an episode of the show Trailer Park Boys.

What many thought was a hack was actually a test for PewDiePie’s return to his Twitch channel, where he is now streaming his back catalog of YouTube videos 24/7 with the descriptor “PewDiePie Infinity Stream."

Zoom out: PewDiePie has over 4,000 videos and 3,000 hours of content on YouTube. He’s working with media licensing company CoPilot to create a “rerun” channel with a never-ending stream of that YouTube content on Twitch.

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