Keep scrolling for how Etsy sellers are leveraging fandoms to make big bucks.
YouTube influencers want to neg you into taking their lifestyle advice
In a new piece for Fast Company, Steffi Cao explores a new YouTuber strategy where creators essentially bully their audiences into following their advice and engaging with their content.
In the piece, Cao references several videos that employ a technique she labels as "negging."
One video posted by Stephanie Lange bears the title "congrats, you’ve ruined your face." In the video, she explores the popularity of plastic surgery among celebrities, asking, “When does plastic surgery start becoming self-mutilation?”
While Stephanie’s video touches on an important topic, Cao says the title encourages clicks by taking a dig at the viewers.
“The frames of these videos are simple yet effective, targeting viewers’ innermost insecurities, urging them to click,” she explains. “The video titles alone confront viewers with the notion that they are lazy or insecure or hung up on a guy who doesn’t care about them.”
Cao also speaks with a creator who goes by Zoe Unlimited. Like Stephanie, she tends to title her content with jarring (and almost offensive) phrases.
As for why she chooses these titles, Zoe says, “I like to play around with things that might be a little controversial so that when you see the title, immediately it sparks more contemplation or curiosity to intrigue the viewer into wanting to find out more, as it’s already prompting questions in their heads.”
Given the amount of content flooding the YouTube recommended page, Cao admits that punchy titles are one surefire way to get engagement. However, things can easily come across as sinister.
Most of these titles are on videos within the lifestyle niche, a genre "that's been known to prey on body dissatisfaction."
Despite this, the content ultimately relies on a "reverse bait-and-switch" strategy — hoping to leave the viewers feeling better than they did at the video's outset.
As young people engage with copious amounts of media, it’s clear that this demographic is privy to the tricks of the trade, where Zoe and Stephanie’s titles show an unconventional way to get people engaged.
“Tabloids and advertisements alike have long preyed on women’s insecurities to maintain attention for their product marketing,” Cao concludes. “As younger populations who have grown up online show heightened awareness of digital marketing tactics, the strategies to maintain their attention must shift.”
Read the full story via Fast Company.
‘I’m an Internet Bitch’: How TikTok created a new kind of comedy career
While the seeming never-ending flow of content can feel overwhelming, it has also allowed for the birth of new creatives and art forms. In an article for Rolling Stone, CT Jones delves into this phenomenon, noting how the rise of TikTok has changed comedy.
Initially, many comedians turned to TikTok to kickstart their stand-up careers. Yet, with TikTok democratising fame, it not only provided these comedians with the means— ”time, money, and energy”—to produce content but also helped grow their audience.
“Social media has long served as a digital audition ground for mainstream careers — there’d be no Lonely Island or Bo Burnham without YouTube, no Chloe Fineman without Instagram. But with this fresh platform — revolutionary not just for its ease of use, but also its short format and access to massive audiences” Jones explains.
With an increasing number of comedians embracing the short-form video app, the culture of comedy is changing. Here, Jones raises an important question, asking whether a traditional career is still what these comics want.
While TikTok may give amateur comedians more opportunities for success, the industry wasn’t so welcoming at first.
Jones points to Matt Rife, as an example. While the general public has roasted Matt for his misogynistic comments, mainstream comedians have also criticised him for his style and instinct.
“For comedy-focused creators, it can mean having to break through preconceived notions about the app before they can be accepted in mainstream places,” Jones continues.
However, some older institutions have begun to embrace the power of social media. The Second City, a comedy training centre in Chicago known for alums like Stephen Colbert and Amy Poehler, is now incorporating instruction on how to leverage social media platforms such as TikTok.
Nevertheless, not all comics want to spin their TikTok fame into a more traditional career. The label of creator can offer “far more revenue streams, including ads, podcasting, and collaborations.“
Using Stanzi Potenza as an example, Jones writes, “Building a career in comedy in New York sounded fun. [However] being able to pay for her epilepsy medication even after she lost her mom’s health insurance sounded better. And with 4 million followers on TikTok, being a content creator gave her the financial freedom to pursue stand-up.”
Overall, it’s clear that TikTok is revolutionising the comedy scene and opening doors for an increasing number of creators to break into the mainstream. However, with the rise of edgy TikTok comedians like Matt Rife, there is no telling whether this is ultimately a positive or negative thing...
“A comedian’s path to the stage has always been a struggle, but we’re in a brand-new world now, one where social apps like TikTok don’t just build new comics from the ground up — they’re changing what future careers in comedy can look like. And right now, the most coveted gig in the world might just be on people’s personal screens,” Jones finishes.
Read the piece via Rolling Stone.
Jason Parham for WIRED discusses the chronic nostalgia on TikTok, exploring how Millennials drive this obsession.
Millennials are outpacing Gen Z on TikTok— meaning that this demographic is growing at a faster rate than its 18-29-year-old user base. This trend suggests the potential for a power and content shift within the app.
The shared nostalgia between Gen Z and Millennials is evident, with the FYP flooded with one-minute-long clips of Y2K-era movies and TV shows. Between this content, however, there are more and more "adulting" videos, where creators share financial advice and budgeting tips.
“Everyone, it seems, wants to revisit the world as it was two decades ago, of all places, on the so-called app of the future,” Parham says of this shift. “Relics of the New Millennium are again in vogue, and especially on TikTok, where you get the sense that everyone is chasing the fantasy of youth. Except, it’s just that—a fantasy.”
While TikTok started as an entertainment platform —setting trends and starting influencer careers— Parham claims it is now “the ideal precursor to AI and what the next digital revolution is ushering in.”
TikTok is a source of excitement, seducing users with moments of joy and adrenaline. As they scroll through the app, they are immersed, often experiencing what the journalist describes as “a blurring of realities, a blotting out” of their digital and physical lives.
“TikTok persuades as the perfect tonic: a world of cyclical multimedia that lets you create, live in, or simply spectate at will. A 60-second harbinger of all that is coming, delivered on demand,” Parham reflects.
After being dealt a “bad hand,” Millennials are seeking to “unlock dormant sensations” ranging from excitement to awe to disgust.
TikTok, being a social-oriented technology that allows users to comment and share videos with friends, facilitates as a platform that elicits these varied emotional responses.
“Carrying the experience of life on your shoulders while trying not to be crushed by it, you find yourself craving those sensations all the time,” Parham notes. “That seems especially true for millennials, who were guaranteed a future that never arrived.”
Read the story via WIRED.
Fanfiction community rocked by Etsy sellers turning their work into bound books
Over time, fanfiction has solidified its place in internet culture, becoming a lucrative part of the stan subculture (The Harry Styles fanfiction "After" was literally adapted into a movie). In a recent article for 404 Media, Samantha Cole investigates how Etsy sellers are leveraging fandoms and the obsession with fanfiction for their monetary gain.
Many fanfics are available on platforms like Wattpad, Tumblr or AO3— meaning they are accessible, free and easy-to-read. However, Etsy sellers have started selling bound versions of these books, often without seeking permission from the original authors or compensating them for their creative efforts.
“The average price of these bound copies is around $149. Some sellers claim that they’re simply covering the cost of materials, while others just sell the books, usually with the fanfiction writers’ Ao3 username on the cover,” Cole explains.
As Etsy sellers continue monetising free fanfiction, authors have started pulling their work off their respective platforms. Meanwhile, others have chosen to keep their fanfics public, hoping there will soon be more regulation in the space.
Fanfic author, @SenLinYuWrites, shared their perspective on the situation writing, “There is a vast mental/emotional toll to having your creative work ceaselessly exploited. Especially when it happens in a manner adjacent to a community that you consider yourself a part of.”
Yet, establishing regulations around the commercialisation of fanfics could pose a significant challenge. While writing fanfiction is generally legally accepted, monetising such works may elicit pushback from the original authors or their publishers.
“The Etsy sellers are monetizing transformative works that the authors of those fanfics themselves have not monetized. This is pretty blatant infringement of their work,” Cole adds. “But fanfic authors may be reluctant to fight it because of the perception that fanfic itself operates in a legal gray area.”
Intellectual property infringement is against Etsy’s terms of use. However, little is being done to protect the work of these authors.
Read the story via 404 Media.
The obsession with dupes, fakes, and counterfeits
Fanfic writers aren't the only people battling intellectual property theft; fashion houses and brands grapple with a similar issue. In a recent YouTube video, commentary creator Mina Le explores dupe culture and how TikTok has normalised the purchasing of knockoffs and copies.
Mina discusses various brands and items that have gained virality on TikTok as users share cheaper alternatives, citing examples like Emily Mariko's $120 tote bag and Lululemon leggings.
While buying knockoffs was once considered cringe-worthy and embarrassing, today, it is impressive when TikTok users find and wear replicas of trendy items.
“It's sort of like a positive thing to be able to find a dupe for an existing expensive product, to the point where people like, are openly talking about it, and sharing dupes on social media, and even gaining a following for sharing dupes on social media,” Mina observes. “Of course there's still limits, but overall dupe culture has really shifted in the last five years or so.”
Designers and brands have long faced design theft, Mina adds. However, TikTok exacerbated the issue, especially with the platform’s move into e-commerce and the entry of TikTok Shop.
“A lot of popular creators also can grow a following or get a commission if they advertise their dupes on TikTok Shop or their Amazon storefront. This has also de-stigmatized dupes from being just a working class, middle class stereotype,” she says.
As for why TikTok users are praising creators who find dupes, this may be a result of the cost-of-living crisis.
According to a survey by Morning Consult, 49% of dupe shoppers have an annual income of under $50,000, where 67% of those consumers said budgeting was a major reason behind buying a dupe.
Sharing a dupe might be a way to help those who are struggling to be fiscally responsible. However, this practice often leaves small brands and designers in a difficult position, as other businesses appropriate their designs and content, limiting their growth.
“I think at the end of the day, a corporation like Lululemon is not going to suffer too badly from some people buying dupes of their leggings. But with a small business, I wanna promote saving up for, or at least respecting their design ownership,” Mina concludes.
Watch Mina’s video via YouTube.