ICYMI: The 2 TikTok Alternatives Dominating SXSW
PS. It took me 8hrs to write this newsletter, I hope you find it useful!
I condensed what I saw and heard at SXSW — across 96 hours, a dozen panels, several parties, what seemed like a billion PR pitches and countless conversations on the ground — to bring you this recap. If you went, let me know what I missed. If you didn’t, will you attend next year?
⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
TikTok and chill: teens will now get an alert to log off and go to bed at 10pm
Eligible creators can earn money from their Facebook Stories
YouTube announced a series of Creator Collective events
Bluesky now supports 3-minute videos
Unilever’s new CEO plans to hire “20 times more influencers” — even as advertisers cut back due to economic uncertainty
MrBeast makes more money with Feastables than his YouTube videos
SXSW Recap: TikTok predictions and creators’ most popular platform alternatives
SWSX Reactions: Takeaways from creators and entrepreneurs in Austin, including Jayde Powell, Jerry Won, Shira Lazar, Uptin, Zan Bennett and Career Colin
How brands should approach experiential (hint: hire a creator)
💻 ROADMAP
📲 TikTok Updates
TikTok will interrupt teen feeds after 10pm with a full-screen, wind down reminder and play “calming” mood music.
TikTok released a report on its ad effectiveness during tentpole events (eg sports, holidays, or cultural happenings)
TikTok shared a new report on its impact on the US economy, including a state-by-state guide. Jump to TikTok’s economic impact in California, New York, Texas and Florida.
📲 Meta Updates
Facebook announced eligible creators can now earn from their public Stories content through the Facebook Content Monetization program (apply here).
Meta will begin testing Community Notes across Facebook, Instagram and Threads in the US.
Spotted: Instagram is testing a new Community Chat feature that allows up to 250 people in a group, moderated by self-appointed admins.
Spotted: Instagram added Meta AI-powered search shortcuts at the top of comments
Meta is releasing a book called Click Here: The Art and Science of Digital Marketing and Advertising.
📲 YouTube Updates
YouTube announced a nationwide series of Creator Collective events. Creators can opt in here for updates.
📲 LinkedIn Updates
LinkedIn published a blog post on how to create and implement video branding guidelines.
LinkedIn released a report called Meet the SMB for marketers looking to engage with SMB decision-makers.
📲 Snapchat Updates
Snapchat is introducing new advanced AI video Lenses for Platinum subscribers.
📲 Bluesky Updates
Bluesky announced its users could now post 3 minute videos to the app.
🌵 🌮 SXSW 2025
Add SXSW to your conference circuit: I went to Texas with zero expectations and walked away convinced, this is the Spring Break destination for creators, brand marketers, agencies and talent managers.
There were plenty of panels and experts on the dedicated Creator Economy track, but also parties, brand activations and one-on-one conversations happening all over downtown Austin.
What is it: SXSW is an annual conference and festival held in Austin, Texas, that celebrates the convergence of tech, film, and music. SXSW debuted its dedicated Creator Economy track in 2024 — so this was its sophomore season.
Platforms on the ground: YouTube was the Creator Economy track title sponsor — and scored the reputation of handing out the best branded cookies! Other platform that were there in one capacity or another were: LinkedIn, Twitch, Patreon, Bluesky, TikTok and Snapchat
Creators on hand: YouTubers iJustine, Michelle Khare, Cassey Ho, Sean Evans, Golloria, Jon Youshaei, Colin & Samir and Chris Do were just some of the names speaking at SXSW this year, alongside celebrities like Michelle Obama, Pedro Pascal and Ben Stiller.
📝 5 KEY THEMES
The criteria for making it on my list is that the topic had to be mentioned across at least 3 different panels. If you’re in media, marketing, or the creator space, these are the conversations you need to be paying attention to.
The 1-second summary version:
1. We’re Still Micromanaging Creators
2. The TikTok Ban + Substack Opportunities
3. The Rise of LinkedIn and B2B Creators
4. Depth and Diversity of AI Data
5. TV is YouTube, YouTube is TV
And here’s your extended, long read version:
1. We’re Still Micromanaging Creators
The best creator marketing is creator-led — yet brands still struggle to let go.
Cassey Ho is a creator-turned-entrepreneur behind two 8-figure athleisure brands. She revealed during the Creators at the Epicenter of Culture panel that she moved away from brand deals for this reason: “I do all the bullet points, and then you get the feedback: ‘Actually, legal wants you to say it like this.’”
HopeScope’s Hope Allen, who has a bigger audience than most brands, shared a similar frustration during The Future of Creator-Led Brands panel at the FQ Lounge: “I put together this video idea, and I send it to them and show them how I'm gonna integrate their product. And they're like, ‘Wow, this is great. But we just heard back from corporate, and they hate it.’ And they water it down, and water it down, until it's me sitting at a table for 20 minutes advertising their product.”
Creator Vision founder and moderator for the Pricing Transparency and Equity in the Creator Economy panel, Jamie Gutfreund, warned brands: “Being a creator friendly brand is a business benefit. Let's look at beauty brands that treat the beauty creators well, they have a much better chance of getting the best talent, because obviously creators talk. And if you're a brand that's not creator friendly, you are having a business challenge.”
Takeaway: In the words of Hope Allen, “If you want to work with a content creator, you gotta let them create content. Because if you do that, you can create absolute magic where the brand is happy, I, the creator, am happy, and most importantly, the audience is happy and loves the content.”
2. The TikTok Ban + Substack Opportunities
The looming TikTok ban was a recurring topic across multiple panels. But don’t expect clear answers anytime soon. The reality is we’re all in limbo, said The Information’s Kaya Yurieff, during her session with eMarketer’s Jasmine Enberg: Beyond the Buzz: Mastering Creator Economy Trends in 2025.
“April 5 is the deadline, which is a Saturday. I love that,” she joked. “But the latest is that Trump now has said that he is willing to extend that deadline further. So I think what we can expect is just more uncertainty, more punting.”
That same uncertainty was echoed by policy expert Nu Wexler during the panel Navigating a Future of the Creator Economy Across Platforms: “My guess is that if they don't have the deal by April 5, they'll just kick the can down the road another 75 days, and they will try to repeat it until they find a buyer.”
One platform that kept coming up as an alternative? Substack.
Kaya Yurieff mentioned newsletters as table stakes for creators and that, “Substack, in particular, has really tried to take advantage of the TikTok situation.” And Smosh CEO Alessandra Catanese said she was seeing “more and more opportunities in places like Substack” to have a direct line of communication to your community.
And it’s not just creators who stand to benefit — brands do, too.
“I’m looking forward to a time when Substack establishes deeper relationships with brands (and the agencies who represent them) to keep partners abreast of new innovations, platform milestones and performance benchmarks that can move the needle on demonstrating the ROI leveraging Substack authors can bring to brand storytelling,” Rhea Woods, Praytell Influencer and Celebrity Partnerships Lead, told me.
Takeaway: Creators and brands are eyeing Substack as a key platform for direct audience connection and brand partnership opportunities. I’ve been having this conversation with marketers, like Team One’s Lindsay Calabrese and the team at Praytell, for a while now — finally, people seem to be catching up.
3. The Rise of LinkedIn and B2B Creators
A couple of years ago I wrote about how LinkedIn's Creator sessions at VidCon were the vibe shift. Now, as B2B creator Jayde Powell calls it, the ‘briefcase app’ has officially arrived at SXSW.
LinkedIn staffers were on the ground, reinforcing the platform’s growing stake in the creator economy, while creators Lorraine K. Lee and Grace Ling hosted a LinkedIn creator meetup. And at least two panels sung the praises of B2B creators and their impact on LinkedIn: B2B Creators — The Creator Economy's Dark Horse and Elevate Your Brand: The Rise of B2B Creators.
It was also one of the first platforms mentioned when creators were asked where they were thinking of diversifying this year.
Another interesting things I heard was the acronym B2P: Business to Professional. It captures the shift from professional to more personal content we’re seeing.
Creator Match founder AJ Eckstein explained: “We don’t just do B2B but B2C campaigns so we coined this new acronym B2P — business to professional. Any company trying to target professionals I’d argue there’s no better platform than LinkedIn.”
Takeaway: People don’t sell to companies — they sell to other people. That’s why B2P makes so much sense. LinkedIn’s rise as a creator platform proves that professional content doesn’t have to be dry; it thrives when it’s engaging, personal, and rooted in human connection.
4. Depth and Diversity of AI Data
“Nobody wakes up and says, ‘Here’s my cup of coffee, I’m gonna go do some AI.’ It’s just part of the toolkit now,” Canva’s Global Head of Consumer Marketing, Kristine Segrist, joked during our conversation — the accuracy instantly made it one of my favorite quotes of the week. We’re well past the novelty point of AI.
But AI is only as good as the data behind it. A key theme across panels and conversations was the need for deep historical data and fair and unbiased training data.
“AI-for-good is the buzzword right now, but how do we ensure that it's really being used for good? Because AI only recognizes patterns. It really cannot differentiate between the intent,” said Lavanya Poreddy, Head of Trust and Safety at HeyGen, during a panel titled Building Reliable and Trustworthy AI.
Pierre-Loïc Assayag, CEO of Traackr, pointed to AI’s role in creator marketing: “The ability to leverage historical data to train AI models will be critical for optimizing spend — not just within creator marketing, but also across media boosting and creator commerce.”
During a panel on Pricing Transparency and Equity in the Creator Economy, he warned brands to start saving detailed historical information to train their AI models. “With the AI models coming out, you need months or years of data to train them.”
Takeaway: AI is powerful, but its effectiveness depends on brands collecting deep historical data and diverse, unbiased training to ensure fair and impactful outcomes.
5. TV is YouTube, YouTube is TV
The line between YouTube and TV wasn’t just blurred — it was erased. “The future is being built around how people consume, not how legacy brands think they should consume.” said media cartographer Evan Shapiro, during a session titled Creators, Hollywood & The Great Media War. One billion people now watch podcasts on YouTube via their TVs every month. For them, podcasts are premium television.
Creator attorney Tyler Chou framed it as a shift in power during her session, Brand Equity Deals & Sale of Channels: “I left Hollywood because I believe YouTube is the new Hollywood… And now Hollywood is really starting to look at this space and say, ‘How do I make money?’”
Meanwhile, Hot Ones host Sean Evans challenged brands to stop seeing YouTube as a lesser platform during a panel titled Creators at the Epicenter of Culture: “The hurdle we all want brands to get over is this idea that there's some difference between eyeballs that exist on YouTube versus eyeballs that exist on linear TV.”
Takeaway: Audiences don’t distinguish between social, streaming and traditional TV. It’s all screens for them. If you're not treating YouTube like an entertainment powerhouse — whether for podcasts or shows — you’re leaving audiences and revenue opportunities on the table.
🗓️ Final thought: The push toward creator professionalization was everywhere at SXSW — but it’s far from over. Two newly announced events are keeping the momentum going:
Patreon’s Camp Film Fest (April 26–27, Austin, TX): A modern-day Sundance for online creators, bringing 12 internet-born filmmakers together to debut independent films after a 100-day creative sprint.
Spotter Showcase (March 27, NYC): An invite-only event hosted by Colin & Samir, where top YouTube creators — including MrBeast, Dude Perfect, and Ryan Trahan — share their upcoming content plans to CMOs and marketers, like the TV upfronts.
💬 INDUSTRY VOICES
I asked creators and entrepreneurs for their key takeaways from the conference, and here’s what they told me:
“I have to talk about the panel that I was on yesterday with Teachable and Creator Economy NYC. We talked about 1,000 fans, and what that means. For a lot of brands and creators, the goal is obviously to have as many followers as possible, but I think there's a lot of value in growing a smaller community. For me, I feel like that allows me to have a little bit of a closer relationship with the people in my community that I probably wouldn't have otherwise… And then also making sure that you have the IRL connection. Community in person is THE moment right now.”
-Jayde Powell, Founder The Em Dash Co and LinkedIn Creator
“I feel like for years SXSW has been about defining what was relevant and important in terms of culture. And today, creators set the culture. From the content we post to the brands we collaborate with and build ourselves, the energy, vibe, and focus of SXSW seems to be subtly shifting from the tech-founder centric focus that I saw ten years ago to the creator focus I saw today.”
-Colin Rocker, Founder Career Colin and Creator
“I think the two things that come to mind is one, there seems to be a lot more conversation around podcasting, and that, like that whole world is just blowing up right now, and seems to be a moment in time. And the second thing is, I think SXSW evolved, where a lot of people are very tactical, and so when you're going to these sessions, they're telling you very specific things you need to do.”
-Zan Bennett, Co-Host All Dots Connected
“SXSW is actually many conferences in one. Our focus and our community is in the Creator Economy. So, we have not been to all the films, all the culture, all the education, all the DEI tracks, and maybe that’s what we're exposed to. But it definitely feels like it is going to be the annual gathering of creators at the start of the year. We established the Austin Creator House this year to create a home for brands and creators to connect off the beaten path, and it has been a great success for us and our clients.”
-Jerry Won, Founder World Class Speakers and Keynote Speaker
“What’s been meaningful to me at SXSW is catching up with old and new creator friends, like the nostalgia I feel for the Diggnation reunion. But there’s a lot more intention and connection this year versus more partying — but maybe I’m getting older”
- Shira Lazar, Founder What’s Trending and The AI Download
“LinkedIn is the sleeping giant. And video first should be the strategy for creators. I was shocked to learn creators are getting brand deals with as little as 2,500 followers. And I was surprised we didn’t talk way more about AI. Have we reached a saturation point; where we realize AI can only do so much? I’m not sure the answer. But I thought AI would be a lot more buzz.”
🌮 ☕️ 💬 MEMO TO THE BRANDS
[photographer: Komal Malik]
Creators can do more than just show up as VIP guests at experiential events — they can produce and host events that tap into their network, credibility, and ability to drive RSVPs.
I co-hosted a breakfast with Sprout Social in Austin — it was a dream combo of coffee, tacos, and smart conversation with some of my favorite people in the Creator Economy space.
Several other standout events at SXSW were also creator-led with Brett Dashevsky (Creator Economy NYC) and AJ Eckstein (Creator Match) at the helm while Jerry Won brought multiple brand partnerships to life at his Austin Creator House.
If you’re planning an event, don’t just invite a creator or thought leader as a party guest — hire them to plan and host. Just like creators should be integrated across your organization, events are another opportunity to bring them into the mix in a more meaningful way.
SXSW Related:
👀 ICYMI: JUST THE HEADLINES
An “explosive” new memoir from Meta’s former director of global public policy, Sarah Wynn-Williams is dropping this week -AP
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber pokes fun at Mark Zuckerberg during her time onstage at SXSW -Tech Crunch
Gen Alpha are going to be “trend freaks” -The New York Times
M.M. LaFleur joins brands TheRealReal, Tory Burch, Saie and Loftie betting on Substack newsletters -Modern Retail
Best Buy is launching a creator program to offer branded digital storefronts on the retailer’s website -Modern Retail
MrBeast actually makes more money from his chocolate business than his YouTube videos -Bloomberg
Have we reached peak influencer brand? (Probably not) -The Information
Forty-five percent of advertisers polled said they planned to reduce overall ad spend because of economic uncertainty -Marketing Brew
Unilever’s new CEO plans to hire “20 times more influencers” and increase their spend on social from 30% to 50% -PR Week
Thanks for reading!
an incredibly insightful newsletter as always!
I was so sad I couldn't go this year. Thank you for this recap. It's fantastic.