Good morning. January has always been big for exercise, eating, and spending challenges, but fashion creator Mandy Lee is hosting a challenge of a different kind with her #75hardstylechallenge. Participants can't buy new clothes and must post an outfit every day for 75 days. The goal? Save money, get creative, and solidify their personal style. The hashtag has already amassed nearly 1 million views between TikTok and Instagram.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Creators Go On Tour

This morning, comedy creators Rhett and Link announced they’re taking their Good Mythical Morning show on the road for the first time as a nine-stop tour across the U.S.

The details: They’ll host Good Mythical Morning live in front of an audience, with guests from the Mythical universe including executive producer Stevie Wynne Levine and Mythical Chef Josh Scherer. The shows kick off in May in Los Angeles.

Rhett and Link aren’t the only creators hitting the road in 2024… 

• TikTok comedian Connor Wood is going on tour for the first time starting next month, and most of his shows have already sold out.

• Streamer and comedian TommyInnit is visiting 23 cities in his first U.S. tour starting in March.

Zoom out: 2023 was a record-setting year for live events, and though that was mostly due to the mega-popular tours of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift (and the shiny Las Vegas Sphere), trend forecasters like consulting firm PwC have suggested an overall increase in appetite for fans to connect with creators IRL.

The creator POV: Despite the heavy costs and demanding schedules that come with being on the road, bringing an IRL experience to fans provides an opportunity to deepen the audience relationship and get creative with content. 

"We’ve been hosting Good Mythical Morning for 12 years now, but it’s always been in 2D,” Rhett and Link said in their tour announcement. “So we thought, why not bring our 3D selves to multiple 3D cities with big 3D audiences?”

Publish Explainer: The State of Online Protections for Minors

Online safety experts say that child predators are exploiting Twitch’s vertical “clips” feature to encourage, capture, and amplify sexualized moments from minors’ streams, according to a report last week from Bloomberg.

The news comes as policymakers in Washington and tech execs in Silicon Valley are proposing major changes to outdated online protections for kids.

The changes they’re proposing:

• Twitch has announced several updates over the last year intended to protect minors on the platform, including a new phone-verification requirement and AI technology to flag nudity. However, critics say that the company needs to do more to moderate its TikTok-like clips as it gears up to launch a scrollable Discovery Feed.

• The Federal Trade Commission proposed new changes last month to laws that require websites and apps to obtain consent from parents before collecting data from kids younger than 13. The updates (the first in over a decade) would 1) bar websites from sending push notifications encouraging children to stay online longer 2) enforce stronger data security requirements.

• A bipartisan group of senators introduced the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act in April 2023. The legislation aims to prevent platforms from using algorithms to deliver content to users under the age of 18. The bill has yet to pass the Senate.

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Amouranth’s ‘AI Girlfriend’ Makes $34K in First 24 Hours

Streamer and OnlyFans creator Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa said that her “AI girlfriend”  chatbot topped $34,000 in sales in its first 24 hours starting January 2.

Context: Siragusa, a top-ranking female streamer, began developing the product with generative AI company Forever Voices in May 2023. The chatbot, which users pay to access through the messaging app Telegram, responds to users’ prompts with text and voice notes made to sound like Siragusa.

By the numbers, according to Siragusa…

• Promoted through just one tweet

• The average buyer spent $20+

• 40% of buyers aren’t followers

👀 Creator Moves

• Odd Projects is hiring an assistant for creator managers based in LA.

• Pro golfer Bryson DeChambeau is hiring a shorts director to ideate, plan, and execute creative for social media video shoots. 

• Kendall Rae is hiring a content writer to research true crime topics and produce original scripts.

• Former NFL MVP Cam Newton is hiring a video editor to create podcast clips for vertical platforms.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Caleb Simpson invites Drew Barrymore to tour his NYC apartment.

• The NCAA and ESPN strike a new $900 million broadcasting deal, offering more opportunities for female athletes to profit from NIL.

• Victoria Paris drops her first jewelry collab.

• Recess Therapy interviewed stars at the Golden Globes.

• YouTube, Disney, and other media companies form a coalition to standardize streaming ads.

• Gaming creator Moo is stepping away from YouTube after 13 years on the platform.

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