Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the creator industry.

This week, an exclusionary store policy drew critiques, a creator honored a departed friend, and there’s an unusual new entry in the trading card market.

Creator commotion

Does a “no influencers” sign count as discrimination? Thats the argument Paige Lorenze made after a Nantucket business put up a tongue-in-cheek sign that expresses frustration with overeager creators. Lorenze, who is an influencer herself, critiqued the sign from a feminist standpoint by noting the contributions women have made to the creator economy. Then the beef hit the internet, and everyone seems to have an opinion.

Oldscoolkevmo cooks for the unhoused population in L.A. For his day job, Kevin Ashton cooks meals for a sorority house and shares his recipes through short videos. Ashton, known online as Oldscoolkevmo, recently went above and beyond by preparing meals for hundreds of unhoused Angelenos as part of the Better Angels’ Resource Day.

A baseball equipment reviewer is one step from the majors. It wasn’t long ago that John Taylor was a struggling ballplayer who was best known for The Baseball Bat Bros, a channel he hosted alongside his brother. Now, after raking in the Texas Rangers’ farm system, Taylor is likely to earn an MLB call-up, bringing his success story from YouTube to the pros.

The biz

Limited-edition “Slime” is Logan Paul’s tribute to Oliver Tree. In life, Tree was an eclectic singer-songwriter who befriended numerous creators. After his tragic death in a helicopter crash, Logan Paul has honored him by selling a Prime variant called Slime. Proceeds from the limited-edition item will support Tree’s foundation for young artists.

Calling all creative strategists: MrBeast wants to hire you. On X, YouTube’s most-subscribed-to creator posted a job application for “the best creative storytellers on the planet.” A few days later, MrBeast noted that the posting has already received more than 1,000 applicants, but he promised that his team will review every submission.

The Mormon Church is spending big to help creators launch careers. From Mindy McKnight to The Piano Guys to Taylor Frankie Paul, there’s a long list of creators and influencers who are part of the LDS faith. A report in Bloomberg shows just how far the Mormon Church is going to break into the creator economy, and yes, that effort involves some direct financial support.

Recent premieres

After bringing back the dire wolf, Colossal Biosciences sets its sights on the blue antelope. Colossal caused quite the stir when it brought back the animal made famous by Game of Thrones. Up next on the “de-extinction” docket is the African Blue Antelope, which is the subject of a documentary that just dropped on the Colossal YouTube channel. Colossal has shown the world the majesty of the “bluebuck.” Now, it will try to rebuild the species’ population.

A political docuseries is positioning the American South as a Long Play. Obama White House staffer Jen Palmieri has teamed up with Crooked Media and production company Left/Right to launch Long Play, which focuses on the shifting electoral realities of the South. You can catch the first episode — and all subsequent installments — on YouTube. This one is worth checking out before November arrives.

The Daily Show is in on the microdrama trend. With thinly-veiled references to American politics, Jon Stewart and co. will satirize the over-the-top plotlines that are associated with the growing crop of short-form microdramas. The Daily Show Presents: Two Billionaires Fight to Dominate the Country… And My Heart! may be a spoof, but it also shows that Comedy Central is still paying attention to the latest trends on social media.

Platform headlines

VSYN+ is scaling up a content hub dedicated to sign language entertainment. When it launched earlier this year, VSYN+ promised to put sign language front and center to create a new, inclusive form of streaming media. Now, VSYN+ is doubling down on that mission by appointing Deaf athletes and artists to its Board of Directors.

Fairground’s FAST channel creates a streaming home for generative AI content. Fairground got off to a hot start last year by paying out more than $100,000 to the AI artists and creators it partnered with. Now, its FAST channel filled with AI content will look to legitimize AI as an art form while continuing to support the creators who bring their work to Fairground’s gates.

The U.K.’s Ofcom regulator is not too pleased with TikTok. After investigating the popular app, Ofcom concluded that TikTok is “not safe enough.” Regulators across the world have been arguing that social media platforms aren’t taking enough steps to protect their most vulnerable users, and the Ofcom report ensures that the tug-of-war will continue.

The internet is a strange place

Steve Jobs’ business card became a rare collectible. At an auction, one of Jobs’ business cards sold for $64,000 after being graded a PSA 10 on the scale commonly applied to trading cards. Now I know how famous Jobs was, but at that price, you’d think he was walking around with a Black Lotus in his wallet.

The most famous Brandy Melville employee in New York has been laid off. Thanks to her gig at the retailer, Allegra Pinkowitz became a TikTok star. But apparently, internet fame doesn’t always pay the bills, because Pinkowitz was recently let go from her position. For a controversial fast fashion brand like Brandy Melville, will the uproar surrounding Pinkowitz’s firing move the needle?

DIY Botox is blowing up on TikTok. To be clear, TikTokers aren’t hacking skincare by growing their own fungi at home. Instead, they’re dropping beauty solutions that provide the clear skin of Botox without the hassle. Like with any TikTok trend, the veracity of any individual hack within this trend will vary wildly.

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After months of uncertainty, StreamElements has found a buyer.

The company behind a popular streamer dashboard will become part of Razer, a brand that sells hardware, accessories, and services to gamers. Razer will own and operate the StreamElements platform, which 2.6 million creators use daily.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Razer is bringing StreamElements under its umbrella after acquiring the platform from its previous holding company, Live Momentum Ltd.

By equipping creators with a versatile suite of tools — including stream overlays, virtual tip jars, chatbots, and sponsorship managers — StreamElements has become a trusted partner for its seven-digit user base. Its analytical insights and marketing infrastructure brought new dimensions to its business in recent years.

Despite delivering those innovations, StreamElements struggled through several rounds of layoffs. Earlier this year, Founder Or Perry urged StreamElements users to “keep it live” by donating to a fundraising drive.

By May, the situation had gotten so dire that a StreamElements shutdown seemed imminent. Razer was able to be the buyer StreamElements needed, and according to a post-acquisition FAQ, the platform’s new owner plans to keep it operating in its current form.

Razer shares StreamElements’ mission of creator empowerment. The gamer-focused brand has partnered with big names like PewDiePie and Ironmouse while also establishing a creator program that provides partners with rewards, affiliate deals, and other perks.

In a statement, Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said that StreamElements’ legacy of creator service makes it a fitting addition to the Razer portfolio. “StreamElements has built something millions of creators depend on every single day,” Tan said. “Bringing them into the Razer family lets us double down on what we already do for creators; from the gear they stream with, to the software that powers their channels, to the programs that help them grow. We’re just getting started.”

When the StreamElements shutdown was looming back in May, its users worried that their revenue would be affected if the platform was unable to keep its lights on. By finding a like-minded buyer, StreamElements has managed to avert that crisis, and it will get a chance to continue growing next to other Razer properties.

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Yes, you read that right: The head of the Department of Health and Human Services is leaving his mark on YouTube. Alongside a rotating cast of guests, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is hosting The Real Food Show, a cooking program he has released on his personal YouTube channel.

As its name implies, The Real Food Show supports RFK Jr.’s mission to add more nutrition to the average American’s diet. As part of his campaign against preservatives, empty calories, and other ultraprocessed foods, the HHS Secretary is cooking up meals that are meant to be healthy, affordable, and relatively easy to prepare.

The Real Food Show is informed by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which the HHS released earlier in 2026. “The Real Food Show is about reclaiming something that we’ve lost,” RFK Jr. said in a statement. “Our health, our confidence, our connection to one another, and the simple joy of gathering around the table. When millions of families make changes like these, they become lasting cultural changes.”

Though The Real Food Show has a benevolent mission, it’s still somewhat surprising to see RFK Jr. popping up on YouTube. Five years ago, he earned a ban on the platform due to his vaccine skepticism. But as the federal government eases restrictions on social media usage, one of President Trump’s top deputies is buying into the reach and visibility YouTube offers.

In the process, RFK Jr. is hitting on some hot YouTube trends — wittingly or not. The Real Food Show‘s cost-conscious recipes, for example, bring it in line with culinary creators who show viewers how to feed a family on a tight budget.

There’s a growing overlap between food creators and traditional TV networks, and RFK Jr. has a chance to bridge that gap. It would seem, however, that YouTube’s top chefs are not too keen on partnerships with the Trump administration. The first guest on The Real Food Show is a Fox News contributor named Andrew Gruel, and RFK Jr. announced the series at a press conference attended by chef Robert Irvine, who has called the President “a great boss.”

So despite its noble mission, The Real Food Show seems as if it will offer more of the same from the Trump Administration. Don’t expect too much novelty here — unless RFK Jr. gives up the bear recipe he’s been saving up.

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With our Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Reports, Tubefilter is always keeping an eye on which companies are sponsoring creators on YouTube. Each week we see businesses we’ve come to expect: mainstays like Squarespace, Shopify, NordVPN, BetterHelp, Raycon, and yes, even the (in?)famous Raid: Shadow Legends.

But sometimes surprises pop up.

One recent surprise was this video from Chilean illustrator and YouTuber Fran Meneses, which is sponsored by none other than deviantART.

As we wrote in April, deviantART is in a weird spot right now. After losing nearly 50% of its traffic between 2013 and 2019, it revamped with a focus on becoming part of the modern digital content creator economy. It introduced monetization with Patreon-like subscriptions, the ability to sell physical and digital products, and a system for accepting and delivering art commissions on-platform. Usership began to climb.

The only problem? As dA pushed into our industry and pitched itself as a haven for artists to make money from their work, it also embraced generative AI. Not only did it decide to allow outside generated works, it released its own internal generator: “DreamUp,” running on Stable Diffusion bones.

Earlier this year, dA CEO Moti Levy decided to update the world on how his company was doing–and that update came with a smug double-down on AI.

Levy claimed dA was “100% right” to embrace generative LLMs, and that the platform is now “seeing waves of new creators leveraging this tech and co-existing with traditional digital artists, and the lines between them are starting to blur.”

We’re not sure that’s accurate on the grander scale–but it’s undeniable that while many digital artist hubs have banned generated pieces and those who make them, if you go to dA’s homepage, you’ll see AI extrusions posted up alongside human-made work. dA lets AI and real art share the same space.

But when it comes to promotion, dA is still relying on the human touch.

Its partnership with Meneses called on her to endorse dA’s subscription and discovery features. She uses her two-minute spot to explain how and why she uses subscription tiers to give fans things like monthly photo dumps and sketchbook tours.

“And this is very cool, but with deviantART you can track performance with their advanced analytic tools and see what is doing well with your subscription tiers,” she says. “And you can keep up to 97.5% of your earnings every month.”

“Also,” she adds, “don’t worry about promotion, because the homepage is always recommending good stuff, so you can reach fans that way, or you can access the paid boost options as well.”

dA’s goal here is obviously user growth–specifically artist user growth. Meneses’ spot isn’t about telling her viewers to go subscribe to her dA tiers; it’s about encouraging other artists to go and launch subscriptions on deviantART.

Will that pay off? Maybe. The question is whether artists will choose dA over other platforms. Again, these sorts of subscription tools have been around for years on artist-home platforms like Patreon, Ko-fi, and Gumroad. (They’re also not new to deviantART; it introduced subs back in 2021.)

And, of course, with dA promoting on YouTube, it’s reaching viewers–both artists and fans–who have spent years being familiar with Google’s own Channel Memberships.

Basically, there are lots of options for artists and creators to offer subscriptions to their fans. dA’s edge might come from its relatively slim revenue cut. For comparison, YouTube takes a 30% cut from Channel Membership revenue, and Patreon takes up to 12%. In that scope, 2.5% seems like pocket lint. Creators just have to be willing to let their work ride next to AI.

We’ll keep an eye on potential future sponsorships from dA–and are curious to see if more YouTuber artists launch memberships there.

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Microdramas have officially hit the “late-night parody” stage of their life cycle.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has released its own mock microdrama starring actual microdrama leading man Kasey Esser. Called Who Billionaire? Me Billionaire, the 10-episode series taps Esser and TikToker Delaney Rowe as an upper-crust married couple who are celebrating the recent engagement of their friends, played by Fallon and Tonight Show writer Rose Kelso.

We know that’s the plot because, in true spoof fashion, it spends its first 15 seconds having Esser spout off a deluge of exposition that totally, definitely mimics how real people talk to each other.

Who Billionaire? Me Billionaire‘s drama stems from Esser’s character inviting a random stranger over to crash the engagement soiree. But, as Esser tells us, he just had to, because the mysterious, heroic stranger swooped in and saved him from having to pump gas into his Rolls Royce all by himself.

The first episode ends on a doorbell-ring cliffhanger, but we’ll spoil a little bit: That mysterious stranger is played by none other than John Stamos, rounding out the cast with some solid 90s sitcom flair.

 

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There’s also some drama offscreen here, too. Fallon dropped Who Billionaire? Me Billionaire just a couple days after The Daily Show announced plans to produce late-night’s first microseries, The Daily Show Presents: Two Billionaires Fight to Dominate the Country…And My Heart!

As you can probably tell from the title alone, The Daily Show‘s microseries is also a parody, but it leans even further into satire; its main character is “Alonka,” daughter of the United States’ octogenarian and increasingly absent president. In the void left by his lack of leadership, tech billionaires “Egon Husk” and “Jiff Davos” decide to build an AI president to replace him–and end up growing close to “Alonka” in the process.

You can make your own inferences about which public officials The Daily Show might be spoofing, but it’s clear Fallon’s microseries is staying on the lighter side. Between the insta exposition dump, the over-the-top characterizations, the hyperdramatic music and camera zooms, and the carefully executed cliffhangers, Who Billionaire? Me Billionaire is targeting enjoyers of top-viewed microseries categories like romance.

It has help maintaining that vibe from Esser, who’s starred in more than 50 microseries, including Fated to My Forbidden Alpha, Brave New Beginning with My Fire Captain, The Christmas Contract: Mafia Stand-In Bride, and Love Under Fire.

What’s really interesting here is the amount of effort Fallon and The Daily Show are putting into their vertical productions. Late-night TV has thrived on skits for decades, but making a multi-episode series (and distributing it across socials over the course of a couple weeks) is a lot more work than a five-minute sketch that airs once. But it also might result in more staying power, with the shows living on socials–and, as both late-night programs no doubt hope, maybe drawing in an ongoing audience primed for microdrama fandom.

Fallon and The Daily Show‘s microdramas may be knockoffs, but plenty of legacy entertainment entities are starting to take the format seriously–or, at least, they see moneymaking potential in a niche where smaller studios like ReelShort have already found audiences of tens of millions.

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What happens when you gather six college-aged creators in a shared house and recruit an ESPN personality to pit those creators against each other? Xfinity is hoping that the answer to that question involves increased awareness.

The Comcast-owned telecom company is behind Best in Class, a short-form series that turns Katie Feeney into the host of a reality competition series. Across seven episodes, Feeney — who has parlayed her own collegiate breakout into a plethora of on-air gigs — will ask the cohabitating creators to compete across a number of social media-related challenges.

“There are six different challenges, and they get to put their content-creator skills to the test, and, ultimately, win $100,000 in a brand deal with Xfinity,” Feeney told Variety. “At the college age, that’s life-changing.”

Best in Class takes place at a house in Montclair, New Jersey, where Xfinity has equipped the competitors with a service that Chief Creative Officer Julie Scelzo describes as “reliable, badass internet.” The idea is to market those high-speed connections to college-age consumers.

Full disclosure: I grew up in Montclair, but we didn’t have anything like Best in Class back in the 90s. Xfinity’s short-form series is one of several recent creator-led projects that are mimicking the rhythm, format, and dramatic presentation of reality shows like The Traitors and Love Island. Alex Cooper‘s Unwell Winter Games is another example of that phenomenon.

In this case, Comcast has a key advantage. In addition to Xfinity, it also owns NBCUniversal, which distributes both The Traitors and Love Island through its Peacock streaming service. NBCU ad sales division Rock Studios linked up with Xfinity for Best in Class. Ad agency Carmichael Lynch is also involved in the production.

How far are reality fans willing to take their love of competition shows? Do they love that format so much that they’ll allow it to sway their opinions on internet service providers? Best in Class will answer those questions while giving Feeney yet another star-making hosting gig.

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As a professional streamer, AboFlah spends much of his day in front of a screen. The Kuwaiti creator even entered the annals of Guinness World Records when he hosted a marathon charity stream that lasted for 268 hours.

Even though he himself is extremely online, AboFlah doesn’t want the same experience for his future children. While he has no immediate plans to become a dad, he told Wired that any sons or daughters of his would have to wait to get access to phones and social media.

“I won’t let her know about social media for a while,” he said. “I’ll let her live, experience life.”

AboFlah certainly isn’t the only creator thinking about this particular conundrum. How can parents enforce reasonable screen time restrictions if they rely on heavy screen time to support their families?

Different creators have different responses to that question. Casey Neistat joked that his kids are afforded “12 hours per day of screen time, not a minute more,” though he also questioned the link between excessive YouTube consumption and unwanted health outcomes. Fizah Nizam found a winning strategy by directing her kids toward creative uses of their screens. Ms. Rachel feels that cutting out all screen time is unreasonable, but she suggests that parents seek a balanced approach. Some influencers, like Erin Loechner, are so concerned about screen time that they have chosen to quit the creator lifestyle altogether.

As the debate over childhood screen time rages on, platform execs are weighing in. Even in cases where a parent runs a company that entertains millions of children, they still limit the amount of time their kids spend online.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, for example, has imposed screen time limits on his children, especially during weekdays. And when Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian had his first child with tennis legend Serena Williams, he said that he and his wife want their daughter Olympia “to be bored.”

Most recently, Dr. Garth Graham weighed in. The Head of YouTube Health is a father of four, and he opts for the Ms. Rachel approach. He strives for balance by doing his best to ensure that his kids use their screens for high-quality activities.

“You want to build a family media plan, a kind of contract laying out your screen time rules: How much daily, when, and what,” Dr. Graham said. “The number one factor in making it effective is creating it together. We sat down on a calm morning and co-created our plan, negotiating boundaries and consequences. It gave the kids a voice as co-owners of the rules.”

As part of his family’s plan, Dr. Graham makes use of the YouTube Shorts timer, which puts a 30-minute time limit on mindness, short-form scrolling. The timer is one of several products YouTube has unveiled that help its viewers take regular breaks. Creators who use those tools can enforce healthy screen time restrictions without coming off as overzealous or hypocritical.

As much as YouTube wants to promote its in-house mental health suite, the issue of screen time is ultimately a parent’s job to resolve. “The family’s responsibility toward the child is to make him aware once he grows up,” AboFlah told Wired, “so that [he says], ‘I don’t need to waste my time on things that don’t benefit me or my family.'”

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With more than 250 million users worldwide, Chess.com has become the most popular destination for online chess matches. The platform’s growth has breathed new life into a 1,500-year-old game, turning scores of streamers into chess aficionados.

The rising profile of chess among gamers creates opportunities to develop new esports events and competitions. Chess.com wants to be at the forefront of that new era, and it has made a key hire that will invigorate its programming arm. Chris Roberts, formerly of Riot Games, has come on board as Chess.com’s VP of Media and Content.

In his new role, Roberts will oversee channels like video production, social media, editorial, and broadcast. A press release describes him as the “connective tissue” between content, partnerships, and events.

“What’s always driven me is turning a community’s passion into something bigger than the content itself,” Roberts said in a statement. “Chess.com already has one of the most engaged communities in gaming, and getting to help build its story around a game I genuinely love is one of the most exciting opportunities so far in my career.”

On YouTube alone, Chess.com’s official channel reaches nearly three million subscribers. Popular videos have featured notable personalities from the chess world — including Hikaru Nakamura, Levy Rozman, and Anna Cramling — as well as top creators like Mark Rober. In the channel’s most-watched video, Moist Cr1TiKaL checkmates xQc in six moves.

The tournament that gave us the Moist Cr1TiKaL Scholar’s Mate is called Pogchamps, and it represents the future of chess programming. By pitting influencers against one another and turning their blunders into teachable moments, Chess.com grows the game while improving the average viewer’s rating. The most recent edition of Pogchamps, which was described as the “6 7” version of the event, was noted for including Jynxzi in the midst of his journey to become a better chess player.

If Chess.com wants to do more events like Pogchamps, Roberts is the right man for the job. At Riot Games, where he served as Global Head of Marketing Events, Roberts led fan experiences and campaigns for popular esports titles like League of Legends and Valorant.

Chess players have abundant choices for platform-based play. They can check out free sites like Lichess, explore variants like Chess 2, and even receive lessons from the grandmaster known as the Duolingo Owl. Even in that competitive scene, Chess.com is ahead of the pack as the ambassador for the chess renaissance. The company’s latest hire will keep the checkmates coming.

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HBO Max is doing clipping.

The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned streamer today announced HBO Max Shorts: a new vertical, scrollable feed within the Max app that’s designed to pump up discovery by tantalizing subscribers with bite-sized bits from programming they haven’t watched.

Per Digital Trends, the feed will include trailers, clips, and bonus content–all of which, of course, links back to the full show and/or movie with just one tap.

How does HBO pick what scenes end up in the feed? Well, like so much of the short content that’s drip-fed to users across platforms these days, it starts with AI. HBO has an in-house machine learning tool that apparently scans through its library of content and looks for high-impact moments that serve as emotional cliffhangers to stoke viewers’ interest in the full version.

Digital Trends reports that human editors still make the final call on what gets the green light to join HBO Max Shorts, though.

For now, the feed is rolling out to select U.S.-based iOS users; HBO plans to roll it out to more people later.

The idea of a short-form feed within a long-form TV/movie streaming service is not a novel one. Over the last couple months, Disney, Netflix, and Paramount have each made moves to add short-form content to their streaming apps. Some of that content is akin to HBO Max Shorts–clips of longer programming–and some of it is freshly produced micro video aimed at engaging viewers with TikTok attention spans.

And all of these streaming services are taking cues from digital platforms and content creators. Clipping, where you flood socials like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Reels with short videos that link out to longer-form content, has become a top audience growth strategy for creators like MrBeast, with some spending hundreds of thousands paying fleets of people to edit and post clips.

Some streamers, like Peacock and Paramount, are already reaching out to more viewers with clip content on these same platforms. Peacock’s YouTube channel brings over 100 million views a month thanks to short clips and longer clip compilations from hits like Yellowstone. Paramount gets around 60 million vpm on its own channel.

HBO Max is no stranger to this strat, either. Its channel, rife with clips and behind-the-scenes content from shows like Euphoria and House of the Dragon, brings over 120 million vpm.

What’s interesting about this new move is that it’s trying to replicate the viral discovery of YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram within its own app, capitalizing on viewers being accustomed to social media recommendation feeds that tell them what to watch next.

This could be advantageous for Max, if its recommendation algorithm is as sharp as TikTok’s and if complacent viewers are content to be nudged toward their next binge.

But it also keeps viewers within the Max ecosystem, when Max’s current wider clip distribution strategy taps into digital platforms’ special sauce: making things go viral. We’ve seen the resurgence of older films like Jennifer’s Body and the making of new cult hits like Skinamarink made by people posting online. There’s also House, which ended in 2012 but crested passionate new fandom horizons after Netflix acquired the rights in 2024, thanks to people posting relentlessly about it on socials.

We’re curious how this ends up working for HBO. Either way, one thing is certain: More short content is coming to streaming services–and the deluge isn’t stopping anytime soon.

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We’re about to witness the return of #RushTok, and the 2026 edition of the back-to-school phenomenon might be bigger than any installment that’s come before. At schools across the United States, potential new members (PNMs) of sorority houses are getting ready to rush, and American Eagle is positioning itself as a significant part of Greek life.

The retailer is launching a program that will see it work alongside five sorority chapters. According to Glossy, colleges featured in the program include the University of Florida, Arizona State University, and the school that is most closely associated with #RushTok: the University of Alabama.

As part of its initiative, American Eagle will take over sorority houses and will activate through product displays, giveaways, and events. In addition, the brand is collaborating with some individual creators who have achieved fame during previous editions of #RushTok. One of those partners is Avery Katherine Wood, a University of Florida student with nearly three million followers on TikTok.

“RushTok has become a commercial opportunity for the girls that go through recruitment and for the chapters themselves,” American Eagle CMO Craig Brommers told Glossy. “It is a proper business partnership.”

What strikes me about American Eagle’s move into the #RushTok scene is the timing of the campaign. The brand began promoting its #RushTok activity weeks before schools like Alabama will begin the sorority recruitment process. At Florida, rush won’t begin until August 15. But when PNMs plan their OOTDs (outfits of the day) far in advance, a preemptive partnership is a wise choice.

Will 2026 bring peak #RushTok?

Thanks to a few trends that are converging on college campuses, 2026 might be the most hyped edition of #RushTok we’ve seen yet.

For starters, consider the timing. #RushTok first became a mainstream phenomenon in 2021, and by 2023, it had developed a reputation as an event that mints new TikTok stars. Therefore, in 2026, sorority houses will be filled with students who have been part of #RushTok. From the most wizened seniors to the youngest PNMs, everyone involved in 2026 rush understands what the process has become.

It’s also worth noting that major universities are more accepting of content creators than ever before. Arizona State University, one of the schools where American Eagle is active, recently announced one of the nation’s first content creation degrees. That academic program will surely attract some PNMs who are eager to “go pro” on TikTok.

#RushTok has been scaling up for years. It has evolved into #DormTok and has received ample attention from brands. 2026 might be the trend’s zenith, and American Eagle is determined to be at the center of the action. Hopefully, this campaign ends up being a bit less controversial than the Sydney Sweeney ads American Eagle ran last year.

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On TikTok Shop, beauty brands are booming, but which purveyors of cosmetic items are doing the most business? That’s one of the questions Charm.io looked to answer in a recent report on TikTok Shop sellers.

The ecommerce intelligence platform revealed that the top 25 best-selling beauty brands on TikTok Shop collectively generated $512.8 million in revenue during a year-long period that ended in June 2026. Overall, beauty sales are booming on TikTok’s commercial hub. During the second quarter of 2026, the gross merchandise value (GMV) of beauty sales on TikTok Shop reached $980 million. That represented a year-over-year increase of 82%.

Amid that spending spree, the big winners are K-beauty brands. South Korea’s top exports include Medicube, which recorded $62.8 million of GMV during Q2 2026, and Dr. Melaxin, which posted a quarterly GMV of $38.8 million.

Dr. Melaxin ranked first in Charm.io’s rundown of the best-selling indie beauty brands on TikTok Shop over the past year. During that period, the skincare purveyor generated $142.2 million of revenue.

The list of TikTok Shop beauty faves is impressive, but it’s also top-heavy. The top five indie brands on Charm.io’s year-long beauty ranking accounted for more than half of the total sales volume accumulated by all the listed sellers.

Zooming out beyond the beauty category, we see an even starker divide between the haves and have-nots. A Momentum Works report produced in collaboration with Tabcut found that about half of the 803,500 TikTok Shop stores in the U.S. recorded no sales in 2025. On the flipside, more than 2,000 of those sellers registered more than $1 million of annual GMV. And among 851,000 TikTok Shop affiliates, fewer than 300 reached seven-digit sales figures.

A piece published in Inc surmises that marketing explains the inequality of TikTok Shop beauty sales. Interfacing with creators and participating in the affiliate pipeline requires significant front-end investments, so established brands like Medicube and Dr. Melaxin are best positioned to haul in sales.

“The brands scaling on the platform are arriving with resources already in place, whether that’s an established marketing budget or a parent company covering the ramp period, not starting cold,” reads the piece. “That’s worth remembering before treating the platform as an equalizer.”

As for everyone else? It might be time to check out Whatnot. On the live-streaming shopping platform, beauty has become a big category, according to eMarketer. The digital marketing data firm recently revealed that 28% of all livestream shoppers have purchased beauty or skincare products.

Since those items often require demos, they’re a good fit for a platform like Whatnot. Interactive elements have helped a beauty seller called Theboyzzz cultivate a strong following on Whatnot.

“What makes beauty a different category than most is that it’s very testimonial based,” said Theboyzzz Co-Founder Merik Smith told eMarketer. “We let [hosts] play around with a bunch of different items, like skincare and makeup.”

Overall, for beauty brands selling on social media, the line continues to go up. At the same time, sellers must consider where and how they hawk their products. Not every platform fits every brand, and as TikTok Shop revenue starts to plateau, being choosy will pay off.

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Who knows more, a drag queen or a bro? That is one of the many questions that will be answered in a series whose title is also a question. This Is A Game Show? is a Tubi original hosted by Mitsy Sanderson and developed by a brand-new production company called Home Game Studios.

Sanderson, whose sketches have attracted more than five million followers on TikTok, is bringing her brand of comedy to a game show format. With a set that wouldn’t be out of place at Dropout HQ and a gauntlet of eclectic challenges to match, Sanderson will quiz her guests on topics like “current events, pop culture, and themselves,” according to a press release.

This Is A Game Show? is the first project to come out of Home Game Studios, which is led by CEO and Co-Founder Adam Wescott. Across two decades of work in the creator economy, Wescott — who previously held a prominent role at Select Management — has made premium programming one of his specialties.

Wescott’s previous credits include the award-nominated documentary This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous and the feature film Sidelined: The QB and Me. The latter of those projects, boosted by the star power of co-lead Noah Beck, has gone on to become Tubi’s most-watched original. A sequel was released in 2025, and a third film is due out this year.

Since Tubi premiered Sidelined in 2024, the ad-supported video on-demand (AVOD) platform has upped its investment in creator content. A hub called Tubi for Creators arrived in 2025, giving Tubi viewers direct access to some of the biggest stars on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. To follow up that effort, Tubi struck content deals with creators like Kinigra Deon and Sofi Manassyan.

Tubi has gone all-in on creators because it sees them as trusted names in entertainment. That belief is now bringing This Is A Game Show? to the platform.

“Tubi is creating real opportunities for creator-led projects to reach mainstream streaming audiences, and shares our vision that creators have become some of the most powerful entertainment engines in the world,” Wescott said. “The next phase is not just about reach. Home Game Studios is built to bridge creator instincts and audience insight with the structure and production discipline needed to build premium, repeatable formats that meet audiences wherever they are watching, from social to streaming and television.”

Wescott and his team will stay busy after the release of Is This A Game Show? Future projects on the Home Game Studios slate include collabs with Loey Lane, Gray Fagan, and Morgann Book, so the new company will give us a lot to watch in the coming months.

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