Before we dive in, were you invited to Adrian’s Kickback? In case you missed it, Adrian’s kickback was the Project X-inspired event that started on TikTok and turned into a meme over the weekend. You just had to be there, although we’re glad we weren’t. In other news, the ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ NFT sold for a whopping $760,999 on Sunday. We hope you managed to catch it one last time before the piece of internet history was deleted forever. 

Today Alice is lifting the lid on how creators are refining and reformatting their craft while carving out precious internet real estate for their niche. As always, don’t be shy and hit us up @ColinandSamir with feedback or story ideas for the next edition!

→ How Ziwe swapped Instagram for the small screen with Showtime

→ The TikTok improv show taking the streets of NYC by storm

→ Getting book smart with up and coming Gen Z creators

Fans find cold (dis)comfort in Ziwe’s revised show

This month, comedian Ziwe Fumudoh traded her internet virality for a star-studded deal with Showtime. The show features guests like New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang and Fran Lebowitz in a six-episode reboot of her digital-first series, Baited with Ziwe. In each episode, Ziwe puts her guests on the spot, which makes for delightfully uncomfortable viewing, just like Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. The reboot, also featuring pre-recorded comedy sketches and music videos, is squeezed into 20 minutes on Showtime – talk about bang for your buck. 

How did Ziwe get to this point?

When Ziwe moved her YouTube studio format to Instagram Live, she created a true “you just had to be there” internet moment. With 200k Instagram followers and 11k subscribers on YouTube, Ziwe is proof that it’s not about how many people are watching, but who’s watching. Ziwe’s Showtime deal demonstrates that you don’t need millions of followers in the audience, but 1,000 true fans, or even 100, to bring your idea to life.

What’s Poppin’ Show is a TikTok hit 

With a bio that reads “Annoying strangers one day at a time”, you know what you’re signing up for when you follow What’s Poppin with Davis, the TikTok show that features spontaneous daily street interviews from the people of New York City. The show’s premise is simple: host Davis Burleson is Gen Z’s answer to a roving reporting à la Billy Eichner’s Billy on the Street, a comedy game show where unsuspecting New Yorkers were accosted by Billy with pop culture questions.

Like Dixie’s late-night show on YouTube, it’s clear that Gen Z creators are reworking established content formats for new audiences. As a creator, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just need to show it to an audience that hasn’t seen it before.

Reading between the lines with the hottest new trend for Gen Z creators 

Reading is hot again, Emma Chamberlain told us so. We all remember the era of YouTubers plugging Audible in their bios and content for a dose of classic spon con hiding in plain sight. Now, in what Emma describes as a “book reading renaissance”, reading is back in the spotlight, featuring IRL books! With renewed interest in reading lead predominantly by Gen Z creators and ‘BookTok’, we wanted to highlight a few of our favorite creators who are ones to watch in this space right now: 

On TikTok, there’s a niche for everyone. BookTok is just one example of a recent sub-genre on the platform that’s able to flourish thanks to TikTok’s collaborative community features and the enviable distribution of the For You page. Whether that’s browsing the aisles of Barnes & Noble or partying in Huntington Beach, small creators can reach like-minded fans unlike ever before. BookTok is hot, there’s no doubt about it, but not quite as hot as the blocks of Adrian’s Kickback.