Snap, Crackle, President

Good morning. Did you see that YouTube Rewind has finally hit the can? The annual recap series has been officially retired after a few years of missing the mark. Now, that *technically* means Rewind is in the hands of creators…so if we were to make our own version, what should we include from the year?! Let us know.

– Alice Ophelia

→ Squid Game on track to break Netflix’s global record 

→ Unpacking Gilbert Sosa’s latest content house

→ How Snapchat is helping Gen Z pick the next President

Netflix’s recent smash hit “Squid Game'' from South Korea is on track to be their most-watched show ever. Judging by the platform’s recently released data, the number of accounts that watched Squid Game will be upwards of 100 million within 28 days of its initial release on September 19.

Upon its release, the show was available subtitled in 31 languages and dubbed in 13, and it is now number 1 in 90 countries. In short, the whole world is watching “Squid Game”.  

By the numbers

35.7 Billion → The number of views on the Squid Game Hashtag on TikTok

7800% →  The percentage spike in the sale of white Vans slip-on shoes (worn in the show by all contestants)

400,000 to 19.1 million →  The growth of lead actress HoYeon Jung’s Instagram account in the 3 weeks since the release of the show

If you haven’t watched, “Squid Game” is basically what you’d get if you combined MrBeast and The Hunger Games, and it had a baby with a beautifully crafted Korean drama. A Twitter user even made the parallel to MrBeast’s videos, and Jimmy himself played into the fun by posting a TikTok saying he’d recreate the games if the post got 10 million likes (it’s currently at 13M).

If Squid Game is any indication of what’s to come, the future of entertainment will be borderless. Creators like Mark Rober are already starting to dub their content in multiple languages with help from companies like Unilingo and YouTube is investing in automatic captioning. If you are creating for the internet, you are creating for a global audience. 

You might recognize ex-Team 10’s Gilbert Sosa from his hive of activity on Instagram, where he broadcasts to almost 900,000 followers. Or maybe you’re part of his half a million strong audience on YouTube, where he has spent the past few months launching TejasHouse, one of the first bilingual creator houses. 

Now, Gilbert has turned his attention to StoryHouze, a new content house with a focus on storytelling and philanthropy. The first phase of this project launched last week in Mexico City, with Abelardo Campuzano, Abelardo Bobadilla, Alan Sandoval, Basilio Cerdan, Mack Failing and Santiago Sevilla joining him in the house. The second phase will set its sights on the US as its creator base. Of the launch Sosa said, “I believe that uniting a group of content creators to amplify these stories to their millions of followers can make a difference in the world.”

Turns out that Team 10 alumni are pretty good at creating their own content houses, including Thomas Petrou of TikTok’s notorious Hype House. Although most early content houses didn’t last, collectives of talent building a singular brand has been around for a long time. As creators craft more sustainable models for these houses over the coming years, we believe the value of creator collectives will increase.  

Snap is back in the spotlight with their latest campaign focused around civic engagement. Snapchat’s partnership with BallotReady, a voter registration organization, was launched in-app last Wednesday with access to resources on becoming a candidate, election dates, and deciphering political issues in the spotlight. 

The tool has already seen engagement from more than 24,000 users who have expressed interest in running for office. Additionally, another 46,000 Snap users have been nominated by a friend to run. The campaign also reveals the issues that users are engaging with the most, of which the top include civil rights, education, and the environment.

While Snap is often left out of the creator economy conversation, the platform claims to reach 90% of 18-34 year olds in the US. With recent initiatives such as Run For Office, Snap Originals and Spotlight Challenges, it’s clear that Snap still has influence over a very important demographic in the US, and might be a platform that acts as a catalyst for change in years to come.