Note: this piece was published on Clickbait’s Substack on 9/15/21.

This issue is dedicated to the current state of the creator economy, forces shaping it, a way to think about it, and an industry that may be shifting how it behaves in the next year. Before we get into it, here’s a teaser of what’s to come.

MonteroCoin: Creator or Platform-issued Tokens. Rather than creators having to depend on Mastercard or other financial intermediaries to handle finance, creators will issue their own tokens. Which begs the question — what if you could buy stock in a creator — beyond just streaming, liking, or buying merch? We think that within the next 18 months, we’ll see a handful of creators offering shares in their personal brand with some level of dividend going to a pool of fan-investors.

Creator SPAC: Imagine getting a dividend for investing in an influencer. The markets aren’t currently set up for creators to be publicly traded, but we wouldn’t be surprised at a SPAC.

Micro-patron the World: All major platforms will include some form of micro-patronage to keep creators active. But creators won’t be the only entities to offer paywalled premium content. The brands that currently cosplay as influencers (i.e., KFC) will also take part in an attempt to strengthen their super fandom. Note: as of publishing this, Twitter just announced its acceptance of Bitcoin for tipping.

2021 isn’t over yet, but it seems like we’ve seen enough to come to a few conclusions. At least this: “Q3 2021” will be remembered as the time everyone talked about “parasocial relationships,” OnlyFans temporarily imploded its business model, and social platforms increasingly had to contend with the demands of the creator economy. Case in point: Twitter launched $uper Follows — its take on micropatronage.

While these 3 things seem disconnected, they are all actually pointing to an important convergence that is shaping the creator economy at-large: We are obsessed with creators and platforms are desperate to keep them happy, yet no one has figured out the economics of it all. This is a pretty big topic, and one with little in the way of an authoritative point of view — so much so that Internet culture reporter Taylor Lorenz has taken time off to write an entire book about it.

What’s obvious today is that social media is like a never-ending concert. Most social platforms act as a stadium with a stage, and influencers are the talent. As a creator, it’s your job to fill “stadium seats” to capacity with a loud, fanatic audience. The more crowded the stadium seats and the longer people “sit” there, the more that social platform can charge brands who want to advertise on its “stadium walls”.

This is why when Kanye acts up on Twitter, Twitter’s stock price tends to rise — and so does Kanye’s (we think creator stock is coming soon, btw). The talent is performing and the audience is making its way into their seats.

So, keeping the local creator economy happy is clearly a top priority for the 5 big platforms: Youtube/Google, Facebook/Instagram, Twitch/Amazon, Twitter, and even Snap (Reddit is an exception). If not, these companies run the risk of their top creators releasing (performing) elsewhere, which can quickly spell a Vine-like demise.

Ad revenue: From the platform. Creators get a cut of ad money in the form of a check from the platform.

Revenue share. From the platform. Creators get a direct payment from the platform. This is less common than ad revenue; Snapchat most publicly does this. Some platforms may make small payments or offer perks, but not as part of a consistent program.

Sponsored Content & Partnerships: From a brand. Brands pay creators to promote products and services either as one-off posts, ongoing partnerships, or even product collaborations (see: The Charli Drink from Dunkin). For many, this is most lucrative and secure option, but it is reserved for mega influencers with lots of reach (followers) a la Charli Damelio.

Direct Consumer Purchase: From followers. Followers purchase merch/goods/services directly from the creator. Typically, this isn’t as secure as steady ad revenue, or as lucrative as brand partnerships.

Micro-payments/Tipping: From followers. Through Patreon, GoFundMe, or increasingly, integrated patronage on platforms like Substack, Twitch, and now, Twitter $uper Follows.

Another threat to the “big 5” — one that has yet to be successful — is the launch of a creator-owned platform. There are currently no major social or streaming platforms (“major” defined as over 300m monthly active users), owned by creators. It’s clear that there’s an appetite on the creator side to launch and own entire communities. After all, they’re the talent. We’ve recently seen it with David Dobrik and Dispo (RIP). We’re also seeing it with the OnlyFans controversy. When OnlyFans announced a ban on sexually explicit content in August, Tyga (the #4 creator on the platform) countered by unveiling plans for Myystar, a sex work-positive competitor to OnlyFans set to launch in October.

While creators aren’t known for their tech, operations, or infrastructure chops, the writing is on the wall. Monthly active users are the lifeblood of any advertising-dependent social platform. And who keeps users in the stadium? Creators. But when you look at it from the creator’s point of view, what’s the point of having a major following if you’re not able to make a consistent wage, or are only given a fraction of what you’re owed. In fact, about 98% make less than the federal minimum wage of $1,257 a month.

In his book Who Owns the Future, Jaron Lanier posits that ad-based revenue models are responsible for the decline of the internet and basically at this point, society at-large (thanks Q). This is because creators, desperate for a cut of ad revenue made from their content, will ratchet up their “clickability” to get as many views as possible. Writer Sean Monahan likened writing on Substack to twirling on a stripper pole for tips. We’re already seeing the real world impact of creators’ attempts to gain eyeballs as a means of getting a check from platforms or selling their merch — look no further than ICU rooms full of Dr. Mercola’s followers.

Ultimately, the future of the digital creator economy won’t simply depend on creators simply getting a check in the mail, creators must be stakeholders in feature development and increasingly partners in the future of how platforms work. To-date, the creator-led platform movement has had some setbacks: failing to gain substantial market share (Tidal), sexual misconduct allegations, the disconnect between creating content and creating a platform. But, as creators increasingly demand control, paired with the rise of decentralized cryptocurrency, we believe we’re at the forefront of a new platform paradigm.