Time’s Up

Why TikTok’s Chinese counterpart is limiting screen time for kids

September 24, 2021

What’s up Publish Press readers! I was pumped to hear this week that Discord is finally integrating with YouTube to let you watch videos with friends. As a big gamer, I’ve been using Discord to play games online for a few years, but new features like this one are increasingly turning the platform into a place where I just like to hang out, games or not. Is anyone in any particularly good Discord servers? Hit reply and send me an invite, I’d love to check them out. 

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ Unpacking Douyin’s new 40-minute time limit for kids

→ Why American Eagle’s new college athlete partnerships are a big deal for creators

→ The details on Rhett & Link’s upcoming R-Rated Event

TikTok’s Chinese Counterpart is Limiting App Usage for Kids 

Source: Douyin

Earlier this week Bytedance, Tiktok’s parent company, announced that the app’s Chinese counterpart Douyin would be introducing a time limit for users fourteen and under. Dubbed ‘youth mode’, the new feature will limit app usage for kids to 40 minutes a day and will only make the product usable between the hours of 6am and 10pm. 

The new mode is focused on helping younger audiences consume healthier content, opting to populate kids’ For You pages with educational and historically relevant videos. The move comes hot on the heels of a similar decision in China to ban under-18s from video games on weekdays in an attempt to prevent technology addiction and protect the development of minors. 

By The Numbers:

  • 13: The minimum age limit for TikTok in the United States. Unlike its American counterpart, Douyin has no age limit, and can be used by anyone under 18 provided they verify their personal information with the company.

  • 24: The hours of content that the average Douyin user consumes each month on the app

  • 500,000,000: The number of users on Douyin. That’s more than the entire population of the U.S. 

Our Take

Just like Instagram, companies such as Bytdance have a responsibility to address and minimize the negative impact their apps are having on users. Limiting app usage is certainly one controversial way to do that, but it will be interesting to see how creators adjust their content in response to the new rules.

American Eagle is Launching a College Athlete Creator Program

Source: The Publish Press

Fashion retailer American Eagle is getting into the world of sports. The brand announced this week it had partnered with college athletes, including LSU gymnast turned TikTok Star Olivia ‘Livvy’ Dunne and USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, to release a new creator marketing program.

Launching as the #AEAthleticsDepartment program, the company plans to expand the initiative to more creators in the coming months in an effort to build awareness across college-age buyers. The partnership is made possible through the recent compensation changes announced by the NCAA, which had previously banned college athletes from signing sponsorships or brand deals using their likeness.

Our Take

The legitimacy and mass appeal of college athletes will naturally help them land deals that are normally reserved for only the biggest creators. Brands like American Eagle testing the waters of creator partnerships with athletes will be a long-term win for creators, as brands start to realize the power of creator-led marketing.

Rhett & Link are Doing an R-Rated Event

Source: Rhett & Link

Rhett and Link are switching things up. The popular hosts of the long-running Good Mythical Morning show are planning a one-time, R-rated event featuring an adult twist on some of their classic content. The broadcast is slated to go live on October 28th, and is powered by live streaming membership platform Looped. The event marks another step into more adult themes for the YouTube duo, who have been expanding into more personal topics in recent months to open doors for new audiences. 

Our Take

Scarcity breeds demand. That’s why Rhett and Link are only doing one R-rated show, even though fans have been clambering for more mature content for years. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is giving your fans exactly what they’ve been asking for. 

✨ Staff Picks

Keep up to date with the trends, content, and creators that our staff are tracking 

Andrew Callaghan is a comedian and independent journalist who found success on YouTube by traveling the U.S. in an R.V. and interviewing members of some of America’s strangest subcultures. After two years and 1.6 million subscribers, he unknowingly signed a bad deal with Doing Things media that resulted in the loss of his channel and forced him to rebuild from scratch. Now called Channel 5, with the support of his community via Patreon, he’s built back to almost 1M subscribers and 11 million views over the past 10 months. Andrew’s story is a reminder for creators to read every contract and focus on building a true community that will support you wherever the journey takes you. 

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