Digital Digest
September 23, 2022
The Rosalia Challenge, in which TikTokers mimic the facial expressions of singer Rosalia, continues to surge three weeks after it went viral. Rosalia’s song BIZCOCHITO was the second most used sound on TikTok last week. Recently, many of the top uses of the sound have morphed into animals “doing” the Rosalia Challenge (e.g. a dog, a cow, and another cow).
Meanwhile, the death of Elizabeth II continued to consume YouTube over the last week. The huge diffusion of ERII-related content meant no single video led the most watched videos, however, collectively, hundreds of related videos amassed hundreds of millions of views, ranging from 8.5 million for Sky News’ video of the cortège to 187 views of a citizen journalist’s footage of the proclamation of Charles as King of the Bahamas. Old videos also saw a surge in views, including an 11-year-old upload of British coronation anthem Zadok the Priest.
Elizabeth II, Charles III, Lalisa Manobal, and Donald Trump were the most mentioned people last week among influential Twitter accounts in several major countries.
In response to competitor platform BeReal, TikTok has launched a new feature called TikTok Now. This will allow users to connect and create with friends authentically in real time. A daily notification prompts users to capture either a 10-second video or static photo of what they’re up to at that moment in time.
YouTube has a new update that makes life easier for creators to use trending music throughout their videos. With the addition of the ‘Creator Music’ element, YouTube Studio will now give access to several music tracks through either buying a license or revenue sharing for usage.
Meta is trying to prompt creators and brands to lean more heavily into Reels to combat the growth of TikTok by launching Facebook Reels API. This will enable the posting of Reels clips via third-party video creation apps and social media management tools.
Smaller content creators are lamenting a decline in sponsorship opportunities as brands tighten their marketing budgets amid national financial concerns. Influencers are noticing that partnership opportunities are not coming in at all, are dropped entirely during the early stages, or are not being converted into larger projects. As more influencers pivot to full-time content creator status, national financial factors may present issues down the line.
TikTok influencers are drawing in views and partnerships with nostalgic 1990s and early 2000s-centric videos. Influencers are “unlocking memories” by showcasing throwback clothing, songs, electronics, and more to bring viewers back a decade or two, tapping into the feeling of nostalgic comfort that many brands have been harnessing recently as well.
YouTube is rolling out a new way for content creators to earn money off of advertisements run between videos in feeds. YouTube is allocating 45% of earned ad revenue to creators in an effort to provide more opportunities for monetization in the booming creator economy and to compete with video-based platforms such as TikTok.