Good morning. This weekend, we’re packing our bags to head east for Press Publish NYC, where we’ll meet 400+ of you for a jam-packed day of programming, networking, and learning.
Press Publish hat? ✅
Laptop? ✅
The overwhelming need to post everything we see and hear on LinkedIn? ✅
We’re ready. See you in Brooklyn next week.
By the way: We’re off Monday for Labor Day, but we’ll be back in your inbox on Wednesday. Enjoy the long weekend!
How This Creator Influenced Her Industry
Kay Poyer tells us her aspirations after being named one of Rolling Stone's most influential creators of 2025 / Illustration by Moy Zhong with photography via Kay Poyer
People say Sasha Colby is “your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen” or Chappell Roan is “your favorite singer’s favorite singer.”
Social commentary creator Kay Poyer is likely “your favorite TikToker’s favorite TikToker.” And now, she’s rounded out Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 most influential creators of the year alongside the likes of Alex Cooper, MrBeast, and Ms. Rachel.
How did Poyer pull it off? Her content is personal, lo-fi, and endearing to an audience of just over 1 million. Poyer, a trans creator from Texas, has cultivated a platform on catchphrases and ideas like “T girl wisdom” and “ethical hating.”
“I see people say very often, ‘this feels like we're on FaceTime,’” Poyer told us. “I think especially now, people kind of crave that feeling, especially young adults.”
Breaking down Poyer’s creator strategy:
When a TikTok ban seemed imminent in January, Poyer encouraged her audience (mainly 18–24-year-old women) to engage with her on Instagram and Substack. In the next three weeks, her Instagram followers increased tenfold.
Poyer shares personal essays to 30K subscribers on Substack, and she plans to add a paid tier soon.
Poyer has partnered with activism groups like reproductive justice group Free & Just and written for publications like Paper Magazine.
“I hope someday soon I also operate like a small army,” Poyer said, “the way creators with larger teams and studios do.”
Zoom out: Poyer and fellow TikTokers like Aminatou and Emmy Hartman show that there’s still room for more casual content in a creator space increasingly populated by high-budget, major-production videos.
Sponsored by Microsoft Copilot
At Press Publish NYC, Copilot Shows Up as the Ultimate Creator Companion
Every creator needs a collaborator they can rely on. That’s why Microsoft Copilot is joining us next week in New York as a partner of Press Publish NYC.
Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant, and it helps creators brainstorm and organize their ideas, write scripts, and create with less friction.
Here’s how Copilot is helping us maximize creativity at our event:
On Stage: Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman will share how Copilot was designed to collaborate with creators.
For Everyone: Didn’t get a ticket to Publish NYC? Copilot will capture and recap every session live and send notes out to Publish readers.
Platform Roundup: Twitch Views Dip, YouTube Makes AI Optional
YouTube make AI enhancements optional, Twitch cracks down on bots, and ByteDance becomes the biggest social company by sales / Illustration by Moy Zhong
Our takeaway from a busy week of platform news? The Big Tech companies might actually be listening to users. Here’s the latest →
YouTube is letting users opt out of AI edits. The platform recently tested features that deblurred and reduced noise in Shorts using machine learning (without creators’ knowledge, according to users like guitar creator Rhett Shull). Creators quickly pushed back.
YouTube’s response? It plans to let creators opt out of AI enhancements.
"Creators, we’ve heard your feedback on YouTube’s deblurring and denoising Shorts," YouTube creator liaison Rene Ritchie said on X. "There’s a lot of good stuff coming in that pipeline, tbh. But if it’s not for you, we’re working on an opt-out. Stay tuned!"
Twitch viewbots too close to the sun. Viewership dropped nearly 20% this week after Twitch cracked down on viewbots. Some creators confirmed a dip in viewership, but Twitch denies that the decrease is as dramatic as some creators have suggested.
What creators are saying:
“I’m hoping this isn’t Twitch’s only action here against bots because it’s going to be an ongoing tug-of-war,” Charlie “Moist Cr1TiKaL” White Jr. said in a stream. “Fake phony baloney numbers are bad for all the streamers on the platform, except for the ones that are of course paying to win in the streaming space.”
Many streamers have accused each other in recent months of buying bots to inflate view numbers. Streamer Stableronaldo claimed that his former management offered to buy bots on Twitch and Kick.
TikTok parent company ByteDance scored $48 billion in revenue in Q2, making it the biggest social company by sales—outpacing Meta for the last two quarters.
Why it matters: Despite TikTok’s uncertainty in the US (President Donald Trump keeps pushing its divest-or-ban deadline) advertising demand has risen, according to Reuters.
🔥 Press Worthy
Art creator Pyper Bleu joins the cast of On Brand, Jimmy Fallon’s marketing competition show.
Comedian Tom Grossi and other creators including IShowSpeed will livestream YouTube’s Chiefs vs. Chargers NFL game next Friday.
Unwell is casting college students for a podcast about sorority life.
YouTube has outpaced Netflix and Disney+ in TV viewership for the last six months, according to Nielsen data.
Apex Legends is hosting a creator tournament series.
📚 Thank You for Pressing Publish
The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
Read: GQ uncovers the many layers of Taylor Swift’s fiancé, Travis Kelce, for its August cover story.
Watch: Forest Lawson, a member of adventure group Sickos, vlogs his 21st birthday on his personal channel, Goobtube.
Listen: Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, Man’s Best Friend, is out today. Our favorite tracks so far are “My Man on Willpower” and “Tears.”
