Good morning. The Stranger Things premiere brought in 335 million hours of watch time in its first week, making it the highest weekly viewership an English-language Netflix show has ever received. Do you think it has the chance to break Squid Game’s week-long streaming record of 571 million hours?

–Hannah Doyle

Imagine opening up the YouTube homepage and only seeing a curated list of videos chosen by your country’s government. That’s what it would look like for Canadians if the Online Streaming Act, or Bill C-11, passes.

The bill is making its way through Canada’s Parliament, and would expand Canada’s broadcasting rules and policies to the internet, including online platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, and TikTok.

On these platforms the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commision (CRTC) would have the ability to determine how content is presented to Canadians.

“Our whole entire focus will have to shift from serving our audience to serving the CRTC” Tech creator Rene Ritchie said.

While the bill is seen by some as an effort to preserve Canada’s private broadcasters, other creators like Chris Hau, JJ McCullough, and even YouTube in partnership with Brandon Gonez are calling on the Canadian government to ensure user-generated content is not covered by the bill.

“Our government is being tricked into letting special interest groups and the CRTC treat independent content creators the same way they treat giant media megacorps,” Ritchie said. “This will threaten our ability to share our voices locally and internationally, and your ability to enjoy them at home and abroad.”

This bill is a part of a greater trend of online media regulation worldwide. A similar bill has been blocked in Texas, one is working its way to passage in the European Union and in the UK.

To help fight the Canadian bill, you can send a letter via mail or on social through #FixC11.

If passed, this bill could set a precedent for other countries to follow a trajectory that could do more harm to creativity and individual expression than good. Few are better at mobilizing an online audience than creators—under a shared goal, we can affect change and make amending the bill possible.

Would you support a similar bill in your home country? Why or why not?

Over the last four years, the eclectic travel creator has built a following of 2.4 million, documenting her van life adventures with her white snake Alfredo.

From the beginning of her channel, her popularity has sparked controversy—after posting only two videos, she amassed 1.1 million subscribers, leading some to think she was an industry plant. Others say she was just favored by the algorithm.

Eliana took a year break after two of her vans died in 2021, and came back to YouTube a couple of months ago, debuting a purchased home on five acres of land, where she plans to start a tiny farm. “My vans kept breaking down, I didn’t have a stable place to live. I didn’t want to take a break from YouTube, but I felt like I had nothing positive to say, which is unlike me,” Eliana explained. “I didn’t log in to my socials for the majority of last year and said I need to figure out what I’m doing before coming back to this platform. And here we are and I feel so confident and so good.”

Her first video back has received over 1 million views, and she’s also returned with ad deals with brands like Native and Burt's Bees. “The fact I was able to take a break from YouTube for a year and still be ok was because of you guys,” Eliana said.

“I recently logged in to all my socials and I have received an influx of the most sincere messages through the past year from you guys and the fact that you genuinely care makes me regret not opening those messages when I was really going through it because I didn't really have a strong support system.”

A change of upload pacing is becoming more normalized on YouTube—and when a loyal audience is built over a few years, you can give deposits and withdrawals, like any relationship. Creators with a strong and consistent following like Eliana’s can take breaks—intended or not—and will have something to return to when they get back.

Sponsored by Shopify

It comes down to three core criteria:

It’s scalable—the brand can exist and appeal to consumers outside of the creator’s audience.

It’s authentic—the merch aligns with the creator’s content and value prop.

It’s shareable—some element to the product or brand makes it inherently shareable through social media or word-of-mouth.

To see this in action, check out Amanda Rach Lee. After spending years building a following on YouTube, she launched a stationery brand that embodies the ethos she’s established in her channel—a celebration of creativity, productivity and mindfulness.

Amanda’s store is powered by Shopify—the platform powering creators to build commerce brands and make their ideas come to life.

Learn more about how to build your brand on Shopify.

Marketing agency The Motherhood recently shared data that found throughout the first five months of this year, creator marketing rates have increased 45% from the year previous.

They told Marketing Brew that the increase is happening across several platforms including Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

That’s quite a jump considering creator rates grew 44% for the agency from 2020–2021, and creator ad spending grew 33.6% overall in the same time.

The increased demand for online marketing coupled with an increase in price transparency among creators has led to growth for creators that seems to counter the incoming threats of a recession.

Time will tell if marketing wallets tighten, and how that money will be distributed—whether among many creators, or the few most in-demand.

*This is sponsored advertising content.