Good morning. The Biden campaign is looking for the perfect memelord to relocate to Delaware and post presidential memes all day. The title? Partner Manager for Content and Meme Pages. The salary? $85K. Which creator would you nominate for the job?

P.S. We’ll be off Monday for Memorial Day. See you back here Wednesday.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

The Try Guys’ Next Chapter

The Try Guys have ushered in a new era for their decade-old YouTube channel: a streaming platform called 2nd Try, a new slate of original shows, and the upcoming departure of cofounder Eugene Lee Yang. They broke down the big changes for us →

The case for streaming: The Try Guys found that the YouTube algorithm and risk of demonetization stifled their creativity—on a channel that’s evolved to feature several shows with different viewership, video lengths, and profitability. 

• “We always feel that YouTube forces this dilution of content that pushes us to make what we never intended to do in the first place,” Try Guys cofounder Zach Kornfeld told us. 

• “As a business you are incentivized to make that type of video again and again and [pushed] away from the ones that are algorithmically punished or financially punished and it’s not a great place to create from,” Kornfeld said. “And it’s certainly not the best for our audience.” 

Zoom out: Streaming platforms like 2nd Try have become a popular strategy for creators frustrated by the reality of the algorithm, from Corridor Crew to Dropout to Watcher. 

“We knew if we were going to launch we needed to provide a ton of new value and to do that all at once to justify asking people to pay for stuff,” Kornfeld said. 

• 2nd Try—which will cost $4.99/month or $49.99/year—will launch with new shows and cast members, empowering long-time team members to transition to new roles. 

• That includes Yang’s decision to leave The Try Guys later this year and focus instead on passion projects in filmmaking and writing. 

Looking ahead: The Try Guys will continue to upload, monetize, and advertise on YouTube. But 2nd Try allows them more creative freedom and a closer relationship with their audience. 

“Many creators get to a point where they make a product. MrBeast is a chocolate company. Emma Chamberlain is a coffee company,” Kornfeld said. “The thing we’re best at is making great entertainment and that’s why ultimately we wanted our product to be aligned with our superpower—we want to make great shows.”

Ex-Vox Producers Start Their Own YouTube Channel

Journalists Joss Fong and Adam Cole announced their new YouTube channel, Howtown, yesterday.

Quick backstory: Fong and Cole previously worked as video producers at Vox. Fong co-founded Vox Video, a YouTube channel that has reached 12 million subscribers and 3.5 billion views over the last 10 years. 

The Howtown pitch: Answer the question “how do they know that?” in subjects from science to politics.

• Fong and Cole promise to run the channel like a newsroom—issuing corrections when necessary, implementing rigorous fact-checking, and refusing money for coverage.

Zoom out: Fong and Cole join other Vox alums who have struck out on their own—Cleo Abram, Johnny Harris, and Phil Edwards, to name a few. Amid widespread media downsizing, many of these journalists are looking to break from old media models by diversifying revenue strategies and operating leaner teams. 

Sponsored by Cannes Lions

Cannes Lions Introduces Creator-Focused Experience for 2024 Festival

Cannes Lions is rolling out the red carpet for creators at this year’s International Festival of Creativity.

The annual event is launching a two-day experience tailored specifically around the creator economy. In partnership with Viral Nation, the Creator Pass is designed to help creators level up their business savvy.

Pass holders will get to showcase their work and connect with decision makers at global brands like the NFL, Netflix, Amazon, and more.

Join fellow creators like Steven He and Madeline Argy in the French Riviera next month. Learn more about Cannes Lions and the Creator Pass by clicking here.

The App Looking to Replace TikTok

As TikTok attempts to accelerate a court hearing to decide its future in the US, other short-form video apps are capitalizing on the uncertainty.

Enter: Clapper. The TikTok lookalike is currently the No. 12 highest grossing social app across Apple and Android app stores. It tallied a 4X increase in downloads as Congress weighed its TikTok legislation and has been averaging about 200,000 new downloads per week, according to Deadline.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Adobe Lightroom introduces a magic eraser tool.

• Skibidi Toilet is making a toy line.

• Fiverr is personalizing brand deals for any creator that joins their revamped partner program. Join the network today.*

• Sidemen are starting a reality show.

• Microsoft Edge is launching real-time video translation on sites like YouTube and LinkedIn.

• The free newsletter saving 29,000+ social media pros and creators hours every week.

• Ludwig is hosting a charity marathon SpeedRunners event.

_{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• Read: In a week of AI updates and questions about misuse of the tech, Vox’s Rebecca Jennings explores the creative limitations of AI.

• Watch: MKBHD channels MK-PhD, sharing wisdom in a commencement speech at his alma mater, Stevens Institute of Technology.

• Listen: In Sixteenth Minute (of Fame), comedian Jamie Loftus unpacks how viral moments like The Dress shaped internet history.

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