Good morning. Have you hit the #DeInfluencing side of TikTok yet? It’s where someone is doing skincare while listing all the things you don’t need to buy—like new ski overalls, ice rollers, and SKIMS tees. I gotta say…even if it’s just another grab to go viral, I’m in.

–Hannah Doyle

Ludwig Joins Moist Esports as Co-Owner

Last week, the streamer partnered with gamers MoistCr1TiKal and SuperSpicyMatt to become a co-owner of Moist Esports, a player organization with teams that compete in Apex Legends, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros.

Context: MoistCr1TiKal is well known among gamers for his Twitch streams and cultural commentary on YouTube. Moist Esports looks to be positioning itself as a content-forward player in the gaming space with both MoistCr1TiKal and Ludwig at the helm. 

In a video posted to his Mogul Mail YouTube channel last week, Ludwig outlined his reasoning for doubling down on esports at a time when uncertainty (and layoffs) are plaguing the industry. 

In addition to being a long-time esports enthusiast and a friend of MoistCr1TiKal, Ludwig said creator-backed esports companies have opportunities to make money where most teams don’t:

• Package sponsors. Creators can leverage their audiences to draw attention to their esports endeavors.

• Make products. Creators could use their esports teams as marketing tools to scale other products. 

Big picture: Esports as an industry has gotten a ton of investment from venture capitalists and entrepreneurs over the last five years, with over $4.5 billion invested in the industry in 2018 alone. But the profits those investors seek have been hard to come by. Just look at FaZe Clan. Its stock has dropped about 80% since it went public via SPAC last summer. 

BuzzFeed to Integrate ChatGPT Into Content

BuzzFeed recently announced that it will begin integrating ChatGPT into its core content business as a means of “enhancing the quiz experience, informing [its] brainstorming, and personalizing content,” the media company said.

How it will work: CEO Jonah Peretti explained that BuzzFeed will use the technology to create personality quizzes that ask users questions and generate text write-ups based on their responses. 

Could this impact creators? Right now, BuzzFeed doesn’t plan on utilizing ChatGPT beyond quiz creation—meaning it won’t write articles. “There’s nothing special or different about an article that is written by an AI, except it’s probably worse,” Peretti told the NYT. 

FYI: BuzzFeed is the second well-known media company to bring ChatGPT into its editorial operations. Tech publication CNet uses ChatGPT to write financial explainer articles, while its staff “thoroughly edits and fact-checks.” Because of BuzzFeed’s new media brand power, though, its decision to invest heavily and publicly in AI could have reverberations through the content industry.

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From BookTok to the Big Screen

Colleen Hoover, the author whose books rose to popularity on #BookTok, has shown just how much power that hashtag has IRL. 

Her book, It Ends With Us, has sold 4 million copies globally, with more than half of those sales made post-2020 (nearly four years after its original publication date).

Now, the book is being made into a movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

Big picture: If the more than 2 billion views on #ItEndsWithUs was enough to get Blake Lively to sign onto the book’s film adaptation, there’s no telling what TikTok’s next trend couldn’t influence. Maybe a Netflix documentary on Pink Sauce?

👀 Creator Moves

• Sam & Colby are hiring a full-time editor to help with their main channel.

• Stefanovic is looking for a video editor to work on a per-project basis.

• Lachlan is hiring a YouTube producer to lead production on his gaming channel. Preferably located in Melbourne, Australia.

Are you as obsessed with storytelling as you are with the highest-trending Twitch stream? Consider joining our team as a full-time writer.

🔥 Press Worthy

• YouTube is testing a “for you” channel filter.

• FaZe Clan makes a shoe with Nike.

• TikToker Alyssa McKay is starring in the audio adaption of the book Paper Princess.

• Lickd is the music platform giving creators access to tracks from Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Charli Puth, and more. Tracks from Sam Smith's newest album 'Gloria' have just dropped. Check them out.* 

• Instagram comedian Heather McMahan is getting a comedy show on NBC.

• TwoSet and Davie504 are hosting an instrument battle.

*This is sponsored advertising content.

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