Biden Hires Content Creators & MrBeast's X Experiment

Biden Hires Content Creators?

No, that isn’t a typo.

According to a Politico article by Rebecca Kern, Priorities USA, a PAC supporting President Joe Biden’s reelection, has hired content creators to encourage people to vote.

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This isn’t necessarily new, given that other PACs leveraged paid influencer campaigns in the previous elections. It does, however, mark a shift in how candidates are approaching their marketing, especially to younger audiences.

Younger audiences aren’t watching TV as much, and getting the right posts to go viral with the right audience proves challenging for our country’s presidential candidates. Instead, they’re leveraging creators to reach who they need to.

That said, it’s a bit complicated. There aren’t many federal regulations around campaign advertising on social media. Each platform gets to choose how they handle it. TikTok, for example, has banned political advertisements completely — shocker. Instagram, on the other hand, just requires the political group sponsoring the post to register in their ad library.

According to the Politico report, Priorities USA will spend roughly $1 million on influencer marketing for the 2024 election cycle. This is comparable to the Trump-supporting PAC that spent over $1 million on influencer marketing during his 2020 presidential campaign.

Kids Under 16 Get Banned from Social Media

Speaking of regulating social media, several states are attempting to ban minors from social media. This is largely because of the addictive nature of social media and its potential to impact your mental health.

That said, the way they plan to track this feels a bit…interesting. Everyone could be required to enter information like their social security number or a copy of their ID to verify their age. Then, you might need to opt into facial recognition and scan your face every single time you open social media to ensure the platform isn’t being used by a minor.

OnlyFans is More than Just Adult Content

A recent Insider article by Marta Biino and Madeline Berg shared that men are using OnlyFans for far more than sexual pleasure. They’re heading to the platform for emotional connection.

While OnlyFans has long been known as a platform for adult content, creator Cherie DeVille shared that she’s connected with fans from all walks of life, including an individual with a terminal cancer diagnosis. The two discussed everything from his sexual fantasies to his everyday life navigating his diagnosis, allowing him to feel less lonely than before.

DeVille and the other creators interviewed by Insider all shared the same belief — OnlyFans is a place where people go to connect with the creator (as opposed to other adult content sites where you can’t connect directly to the creator).

This connection is making an impact. In fact, in a 2023 study, over 50% of respondents saw improvements in their real-life relationships after using OnlyFans.

MrBeast’s X Experiment

ICYMI, MrBeast decided to give X’s new ad revenue program a try. While Elon Musk had encouraged him to post his long-form content on X, MrBeast didn’t think it was worth it given the costs to produce his content.

A couple weeks ago, he decided to give it a try, posting this long-form video to X to see how much he could make. A week later, he posted his earnings — $263,655.

Is this an accurate reflection of the earning potential on X? Maybe not. Several creators shared within the thread that they aren’t seeing RPMs nearly as high as what MrBeast saw. In response, he posted another long-form video to test it out again. He hasn’t posted his earnings yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

P.s. He gave away $250,000 of the earnings from his initial test. We didn’t win any. 💔

Quick Links

🎥 MrBeast is in talks with Amazon Studios for a $100 million TV series.

🎵 TikTok launches AI music feature, allowing you to create custom music.

🧒 California passes a bill to ensure child creators get paid.

📈Twitch CEO reveals Twitch growth strategies.

👀 TikTok is giving a boost to horizontal videos.

Quick Financial Reminder

You can still make 2023 retirement contributions in most retirement accounts until April 15th, 2024. Contributions can be tax-deductible (a.k.a. lower your tax bill), so you might want to chuck some more cash into your accounts if you have it. As always, check with your CPA directly for advice on your specific situation.

See ya next week,

Karat