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, a vocaloid is taking your blood pressure, the hottest horror film of 2026 is getting a lore drop, and Twitch is playing a role in NBA drama.

Creator commotion

Hatsune Miku can check your blood pressure now. The popular virtual singer partnered with a Japanese healthcare company to bring her likeness to a blood pressure monitor that brings parasocial relationships to a new level. Miku can tell you how your hypertension is doing, though users of this device may have bigger fish to fry.

Summer Games Done Quick raises $2.4 million for charity. As per usual, Doctors Without Borders benefited from the speedrunning community’s speedrunning spectacle. The event known as SGDQ typically raises millions, and the 2026 edition was no exception.

MrBeast’s biggest fan wants a place in the record books. A man named Mudit Sharma told Tubefilter that he intends to seek recognition from Guinness World Records after sending MrBeast a message for nearly 2,000 days in a row. That’s the sort of dedication that YouTube’s king of spectacle can get behind, no matter how GWR responds to Sharma’s request.

Pop culture minute

Kane Parsons only needed two weeks to deliver a Backrooms director’s cut. The young director known on YouTube as KanePixels used his personal laptop to edit a special edition of his 2026 Hollywood blockbuster, and the project only took him two weeks to complete. That level of efficiency explains why film studios are so eager to work with creators.

Big Brother took to YouTube for the big “Broveal.” Digital companions to terrestrial TV shows have been around for decades, but the idea feels new again. CBS is getting in on the fun by leveraging YouTube to connect with the Big Brother community for a cast announcement special called the Broveal.

The biz

A YouTube-based news brand made print cool again. The U.K.-based outlet known as TLDR News said that its revenue is up 28% year-over-year after it starting using a print magazine to share some of its reporting. That mag is now one of TLDR’s leading sources of income.

From Sole Survivor to startup founder. On the 48th season of Survivor, Kyle Fraser won $1 million by outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting the competition. So what are he and fellow castaway Kamila Karthigesu have launched a social media company called Paprclip that allows two partners to collaboratively pursue projects. As it turns out, body doubling might be even harder than winning Survivor.

Branded content galore

Colin and Samir are starting over (in a Lexus). The luxury automaker has outfitted one of YouTube’s favorite creator duos with a sick ride as they travel across the country for a series titled Colin and Samir Start Over. The pair will seek outdoor adventures and creative inspiration after losing their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires.

Junkless and Livvy Dunne are looking for the next NIL queen. The better-for-you snack brand tapped the one-time college gymnast as its brand ambassador, and they’re teaming up to launch a contest that is searching for the next big collegiate creator. Dunne will choose the winner of the competition, which will evaluate NIL recipients.

LOL Surprise! Dolls are getting their own branded series. The toy line described as the “original unboxing brand” has teamed up with MGA Entertainment for a live-action project called The Next Headliner. I will be disappointed if the show featuring surprise dolls does not provide us with some wild twists and turns.

Agency dealings

Amaury Guichon signs with UTA. Fellow creator ProZD may call Amaury Guichon the “nefarious chocolate guy,” but there’s no denying that the French chocolatier has serious skills. Millions of fans would agree with that sentiment, which is why UTA has agreed to represent the Las Vegas-based personality as he concocts more elaborate chocolate sculptures.

Currents Management eyes Nashville and Toronto with hires and promotions. The digital-first agency has hired Canada-based Ryan Linden, a Viral Nation vet, and Ashley Ward Colson. Meanwhile, the newly promoted Emma Clarke, formerly of Gersh, will lead the Currents office in Nashville.

The internet is a strange place

Did Jaylen Brown’s Twitch takes get him traded? The Boston Celtics made the shocking decision to offload the former NBA Finals MVP, but if you’ve seen Brown’s Twitch streams, the deal makes a bit more sense. Brown’s streams apparently frustrated the Celtics front office, so let this be your daily reminder to be careful about the stuff you share on the internet.

Older books are being edited to include TikTok references. In the original version of Pretty Little Liars, the characters referenced the reality show Fear Factor. That allusion might not fly with Gen Z, so newer versions of the book are referencing TikTok instead. In 20 years, will the updated version feel as dated as the original?

The founders of Christianity had major swag. There have been a spate of TikToks referencing early church fathers and the hand gestures they made when depicted in paintings. I guess Constantine is hot with the Constan-teens.

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As the value of sports broadcast packages continues to rise, TikTok has struck multiple deals that will bring top athletes to its platform. Upcoming broadcasts on the video app include a championship boxing match headlined by Amanda Serrano and basketball highlights courtesy of the NBA and WNBA.

Jake Paul helped Serrano become a household name.

The Puerto Rican featherweight, who is nicknamed “The Real Deal,” is an undisputed world champion. She has a lifetime record of 49-4-1, with 32 wins by knockout.

Many casual sports fans were introduced to Serrano when she took on Katie Taylor as part of the undercard for Jake Paul’s fight against Mike Tyson. Serrano was the first fighter signed to Most Valuable Promotions, the boxing organization co-founded by Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. Her battle against Taylor was so memorable that Netflix booked a rematch between the two combatants.

Now, TikTok is buying into the Serrano hype. The Real Deal will defend her title against Lucrecia Manzur on August 21 in Temecula, California. The event will be broadcast live on TikTok.

Serrano isn’t technically part of the “influencer boxing” movement, but through its alliance with Paul’s boxing promotion, TikTok is acknowledging the considerable hype that surrounds high-profile pugilists. “From day one, MVP has challenged the traditional boxing model by creating the biggest moments and opportunities for fighters while finding new ways to bring the sport to fans around the world,” Paul and Bidarian said in a joint statement. “Partnering with TikTok to deliver the first-ever championship boxing event on TikTok Live is another example of that vision to grow the audience for boxing and make world championship fights more accessible than ever.”

TikTok’s GamePlan also involves partnerships with sports leagues

Through a comprehensive product suite called TikTok GamePlan, sports leagues can activate on the titular app and partner with its creators. The MLB and FIFA have already taken advantage of that opportunity, and the NBA and WNBA are up next.

North America’s premier basketball leagues will harness GamePlan to find new viewers among the TikTok users who are searching for basketball content. In a press release, TikTok revealed that searches for “NBA” and “WNBA” are up 30% and 15%, respectively, since the start of 2026.

Through the incoming partnership, TikTok creators will get access to highlights and events like NBA All-Star Weekend. “This partnership shows how central TikTok has become to the way fans discover and engage with basketball around the world,” said TikTok Global Head of Sport Rollo Goldstaub in a statement. “As the NBA and WNBA share game highlights, creators and fans can join the conversation around the biggest moments in real time, and TikTok GamePlan carries that same discovery straight through to tune-in, giving fans a direct path from the feed to the broadcast.”

TikTok needs as much sports access as its competitors — if not more

Viewer data trends show us that the platforms with the most coveted live sports packages tend to get the most traffic. With its boxing matches and NBA coverage, TikTok Live can get a bigger piece of the streaming pie.

Those broadcasts also synergize with TikTok’s marketing strategy. The Pulse Premiere ad product is designed to bring brands closer to the major events that generate impassioned discussion on social media.

As part of its deal with the NBA and WNBA, TikTok will offer Pulse Premiere deals tied to the basketball leagues. Creators and fans won’t be the only ones getting closer to the court, because advertisers are primed for a slam dunk, too.

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YouTube has continued an annual tradition by issuing a report that breaks down its contributions to the U.S. economy. The latest edition of the YouTube Impact Report reveals that 2025 was a banner year for creators: In the U.S. alone, YouTube contributed $60 billion to the national gross domestic product (GDP).

Across YouTube, the creative ecosystem supported the equivalent of 540,000 full time jobs in the U.S. Those economic numbers are up year-over-year. In the YouTube Impact Report that covered the 2024 calendar year, the platform estimated its U.S. GDP contribution at $55 billion and said that its ecosystem accounted for 490,000 full time equivalent jobs.

“YouTube enables creators to turn audiences into businesses,” reads a blog post attributed to Alexandra Veitch, YouTube’s Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the Americas. “As their channels grow, they scale into local employers—hiring editors, renting studio space, and supporting local suppliers. This ripple effect adds up to massive economic impact.”

For YouTube, massive contributions to regional economies are nothing new. With its latest Impact Report, however, the platform is taking a page out of TikTok’s book by positioning its economic and cultural contributions as forces for good.

In the report, for example, YouTube notes that it has paid out $100 billion to creators, artists, and media companies over the past four years. And in all 50 states, there are at least ten channels that are getting one million monthly views or more.

YouTube also used the report to play up its educational merit. Per research conducted by Oxford Economics — YouTube’s typical partner for its Impact Reports — 73% of viewers said that they have learned about local history and culture via YouTube. Meanwhile, in the classroom, 94% of teachers who use YouTube claimed to incorporate the platform into their lessons. And at home, 78% of parents said that YouTube provides quality entertainment and education for their children.

If you want to know why YouTube is so eager to demonstrate both its economic impact and its contributions to the greater good, look to the courts. That’s where YouTube is currently appealing a landmark verdict that found it liable for teens’ social media addiction. The YouTube Impact Report isn’t exactly a court document, but if outside actors are going to cast YouTube as a toxic force among American teens, you can bet the platform will drum up some positive PR by pointing to its U.S. contributions.

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Would you pay 40 bucks to meet an anime girl?

Hololive is looking to cash in on custom meet-and-greets with its stable of virtual personalities, which are created by the company and piloted by real, hired talent.

The Tokyo-based production agency is offering ¥6,600 (~$40) virtual meet-and-greets during its ReGLOSS 3rd Anniversary Oshaberi Festival this September.

Meet-and-greets include one VTuber, will last 60 seconds, and have strict rules.

For example, fans aren’t allowed to give VTubers any virtual gifts or letters, and are not allowed to record any part of the interaction. (Per Dexerto, Hololive has threatened legal action against any fans who break the latter rule.) Fans who do want to memorialize the moment will have to pay an extra ¥3,500 (~$22) for a “Chat Memory” add-on where Hololive will record the meet-and-greet from its side and send the resulting video afterward.

A separate ¥2,500 (~$15) add-on will let the fan take a virtual photo with their chosen VTuber before the meet-and-greet starts.

Anyone who wants to meet more than one VTuber will have to purchase a separate ticket for each talent.

This offer from Hololive caught our eye because it’s unusual for the content creator space. Though, that being said, Hololive itself is unusual in the content creator space. Folks familiar with YouTubers, TikTokers, and even U.S.-based VTubers will know that most of them are their own person: The Markiplier you see on YouTube is Markiplier himself, Mark Fischbach, creating his own videos.

But Hololive operates on a model similar to the J-pop and K-pop industries. It creates virtual characters–often in themed groups or “seasons”/”waves” of newbies–and then hires people to fill those roles with no attribution or ownership for themselves. Creators who work for Hololive never reveal who they are behind the scenes, and if they decide to leave the agency, they have to leave their public VTuber persona, social media accounts, and success behind, because none of that belongs to them–it’s all Hololive’s IP.

With that in mind, it makes sense that Hololive would look for revenue in a similar place as J-pop/K-pop agencies. Those too charge fans to meet “idols,” and strictly control what can happen during meet-and-greets.

This happens in the U.S. as well, but not typically with content creators. Instead it’s traditional entertainment entities. For example, Creation Entertainment, the company that runs major fan conventions for hit franchises like Star Trek and Supernatural, charges steep prices for brief IRL chats and photos with stars. Just like with Hololive, recording those moments without permission is a big no-no.

You generally won’t see this kind of thing at your VidCon or TwitchCon. Instead, fans pay a ticket price to enter the con, and that often comes with a guaranteed number of meet-and-greets where slots fill on a first-come-first-served basis.

Does Hololive’s move mean your average American content creator will start charging to meet them? Probably not. The veil between Hololive’s VTubers and their fans is thick by design, and encourages scarcity. It’s rare that fans will get personal attention from any of the agency’s stars.

But for most content creators, including independent VTubers, things are much, much thinner. A fan can get a shout-out from a Twitch streamer for following, or get a response to a thoughtful YouTube comment. The only person controlling fans’ access is the creator themself.

What we’re most curious about here is if Hololive’s talent will get a cut of the meet-and-greet revenue–or if that belongs to Hololive, too.

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After the success of The Backrooms and Obsession, horror fans are wondering how deep the creator rabbit hole goes. How many more masters of terror are chugging along on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, just waiting for their chance to hit us with a big-screen jump scare?

Dead Meat plans to determine the answer to that question. James A. Janisse and Chelsea Rebecca‘s content brand has become a go-to YouTube destination for more than seven million fright-loving subscribers, and the husband-and-wife duo will leverage their creator horror expertise to launch a new contest.

In partnership with Atlas Entertainment‘s Atlas Literary and Hades Film, Dead Meat has announced Fresh Meat. That’s the name of a talent search that will ultimately combine a lineup of creator-led horror shorts to build a feature-length anthology. According to IndieWire, the resulting film will be released theatrically by Hades.

Submissions for Fresh Meat will open on July 25 and close a month later. English-language work will be considered, though entrants may hail from anywhere in the world.

Hades, a new horror studio aimed at Gen Z, will evaluate the submissions alongside Dead Meat and its fans. The resulting film, which is tentatively due out on October 12, will look to draft off the momentum generated by YouTube hitmakers like Kane Parsons and Curry Barker.

Though The Backrooms and Obsession became box office triumphs earlier this year, they weren’t the first theatrical horror projects helmed by creators. RackaRacka’s Talk To Me was a sleeper hit, Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks earned a distribution deal with Neon, and Markiplier struck it rich with his adaptation of the video game Iron Lung.

Those heartpounding thrillers have sparked bidding wars as Hollywood studios look to find more horror hits that are bubbling up on social media. Janisse and Rebecca have found ways to make themselves part of that movement. They recently broke new ground with their Dead Meat Horror Awards by turning it into an IRL event for the first time.

With Fresh Meat, Janisse and Rebecca will build on their shared identity as tastemakers in digital horror space. “This is our way of finding, highlighting, and amplifying people who can do these things — who already have done them — and helping develop their ideas and make them bigger,” Janisse said.

Fresh Meat will give contest winners a helping hand by offering them financial stakes in the anthology. A joint venture between Dead Meat and Hades Films will also give first-look consideration to certain shorts that can be developed into full-length features.

With those systems in place, Fresh Meat will expand the breadth of creator horror without sacrificing the independent spirit that defines the genre. A handful of creators will get a coveted big-screen opportunity, but with so many scares on the horizon, I suspect that the audience will be the Fresh Meat all along.

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It’s been nearly 100 years since Disney released its first short film, and the Mouse House is looking toward the future of Hollywood. In collaboration with creator economy talisman Jon Youshaei, Disney is hosting a multi-day showcase called Created in L.A.

Created in L.A. will be a two-day affair. On September 17, the historic El Capitan theater will host a red carpet premiere for creator videos. Then, on the 18th, the action will shift to the Burbank Studio lot, where Hollywood execs and creator voices will headline a one-day conference.

The arrival of Created in L.A. coincides with a boom period for creators in the film industry. Horror maestros like Kane Parsons and Curry Barker are dominating the domestic box office, Colin and Samir recently hosted a get-together for creators with Hollywood ambitions, and YouTube is preparing to begin broadcasting the Oscars in 2029.

The conference segment of Created in L.A. will feature discussions about creator influence in the movie biz, but the first half of the event asks a different question: What if the videos creators are releasing on platforms like YouTube are the real future of cinema? The premiere at El Capitan will break new ground by receiving creator content with the same fanfare that accompanies the release of a new Marvel movie.

“This is historic. After 100 years, it’s surreal to see Disney open two of its most iconic venues — the El Capitan Theatre and the Walt Disney Studios lot — to creators, especially now that the worlds of Hollywood and creators are growing closer than ever,” Youshaei said in a statement. “I’m beyond grateful to work with Disney to bring Created in L.A. to life.”

Creator entries in the Hollywood canon present unprecedented challenges, which is why Disney’s involvement in Created in L.A. is so important. After previously signaling its interest in short-form content and creator partnerships, Disney is looking for the next-generation voices who can potentially become part of its moviemaking machine.

If that sounds like you, then there’s a Created in L.A. application with your name on it. Youshaei, a YouTube vet with a thriving channel of his own, noted that “every attendee is hand-selected.” More details can be found on the official Created in L.A. website.

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COVID changed things for our industry. Lockdowns meant millions of people suddenly found themselves at home with time to burn–and they spent that time both watching and making record amounts of digital content. With TikTok storming onto the scene, overnight virality became the achievement du jour, and glowing news coverage of instant sensations seemed to tell creators, Hey, if you don’t become a hit with your first video, just give up.

But Sheila D Yeah doesn’t give up.

If you look at her social media stats now, it’s clear that Yeah–a comedian and improv actress–is quite the burgeoning talent. She has ~363,000 followers on Instagram, ~50K on TikTok, and ~30K on YouTube. She also recently signed with Viral Nation.

Getting here, though, was a long road–and Yeah wants people to know that.

“If you look at my Instagram, which I usually post everything on, there’s 546 posts,” she says. “Only 20 of them are regular posts. The rest of them are skits. It took me 530 skits to get someone to pay attention. When people read my story, I want them to know to never give up. It took me 530 skits before I found someone to listen, and I had to prove myself.”

Yeah, who’s 36, has always been into performing. She went to a performing arts high school as a teenager and as an adult picked up some background roles in Hollywood productions. She also rapped, producing her own songs and starring in music videos.

She ended up in a business and technology program career-wise, however, and it wasn’t until 2022 that acting and comedy became her primary focus–and the centerpiece of her digital presence.

 

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A post shared by Sheila Young (@sheiladyeah)

It was “a series of unfortunate events” that led her to begin posting comedy content on socials, Yeah explains.

“All of my family essentially passed away in a little bit of time,” she says. “It was really my mother’s passing–she had brain cancer and it all happened within six months, from her getting her diagnosis to her dying, and it was super traumatic.”

Yeah began coping through comedy. In 2023, she started posting skits to her Instagram.

“They were just little goofy videos online to help my mental health out,” she says. “And they started going crazy, like more than my music ever did. The first video I put up had like 5,000 views.”

Now, Yeah’s content can bring over 10 million views–but at the time, 5,000 seemed life-changing. So she committed to what would be a grueling road, posting videos almost daily. She says this is where her experiences with Hollywood productions and music videos came into play. Being a background actor “essentially showed me how the cameras work, angles, lighting,” she says. “I was paying attention to everything–the dynamics, where people were standing. And I think that really helped me with my editing and doing comedy.”

And after being in music videos, she was “so comfortable being in front of the camera,” she adds.

Having both on- and off-camera knowhow was her foundation–and the rest was improv.

“I don’t even like reading scripts,” she jokes (or, well, kind of jokes). Her skits are all improv–and Viral Nation is now parlaying that experience into booking Yeah for stand-up gigs.

Paul Telner, Viral Nation’s Head of Programming, describes himself as a “recovering stand-up comedian” and has glowing words for Yeah.

“Chloe Morris, the Head of Creator Relations at Viral Nation, was the one who brought me Sheila,” he says. “She was like, ‘You need to check her out.’ And I did, and I was just like, ‘Holy moly, what is going on with this young lady? She’s a genius!'”

Yeah makes sure to mention that she first got in contact with Viral Nation because of her longtime BFF turned logistics manager, Falen Ghirmai. Ghirmai “believed in me enough to relentlessly prospect, send emails, and open doors until the right people saw my work,” Yeah says. “She’s been by my side for nearly 23 years, ever since we met back home in the DMV, and she’s also a former TV personality herself. Beyond being my best friend, she’s an essential part of my day-to-day life, helping me stay organized, manage my schedule, coordinate emails, keep up with appointments, and make sure everything keeps moving as my career continues to grow. I truly wouldn’t be where I am today without her belief, support, and dedication.”

Telner adds that when he was introduced to Yeah’s cast of self-made characters, which populate her skits, he immediately saw they were “original and edgy and funny. She’s breaking barriers and doing a lot of stuff that no one’s really doing on social.”

 

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A post shared by Sheila Young (@sheiladyeah)

He and Viral Nation, which has been throwing serious effort into developing digital content creators and their IPs for broader distribution across mediums like TV and film, leapt at the chance to sign her.

“Sheila is an amazing human being,” Telner says. “She’s been through everything. She’s seen everything. And she pulls funny from that. Funny comes from a hard place, from a dark place, from a place where you’re like, ‘How the hell am I going to survive and make this work?’ And Sheila’s overcome all that and she’s fought, she’s really fought.”

Once Viral Nation brought Yeah in, Telner introduced her to Kevin Healey, Chief Creative Officer at Media Trifecta. Previously Healey ran Kevin Hart‘s Hartbeat Studios, and he also created SyFy‘s long-running prank show Scare Tactics.

“He’s sold a zillion shows,” Telner explains. “When I sent Sheila to him, it wasn’t a ‘Maybe.’ It was a ‘Let’s go.’ You have it or you don’t, and Sheila’s got it. So for us, it was a very easy move to rally behind her.”

Now, Yeah has developed a show with Viral Nation, Healey, and Media Trifecta, and they have plans to take the project out soon. Details about the show’s potential content are under wraps for the moment, but we can assume it showcases Yeah’s sharp improv skills and builds on the sort of content her dedicated digital audience already loves.

Thanks to their backing, “I’m not scared anymore,” Yeah says. “We’ve given my show to everybody who could listen, and now we have people who are like, ‘Oh my god, we believe in you. We love what you’re doing.’ It’s a great thing.”

Viral Nation is a Tubefilter partner.

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Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.

We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.

And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here. You can also download our YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report here.

The World Cup still has a place on our Gospel Stats Brand Report this week, but it’s simmered down from the takeover last week. Instead we’re back to mostly regular programming: MrBeast in spot #1, a little travel, a little food, and a little video gamin’.

Check it all out right here:

#1 If You Build It, I’ll Buy It!
Channel: MrBeast Gaming
Brand: Feastables
Views: 49,775,638

Now this is a new twist on If you build it, he will come.

While Jimmy Beast is busy cranking out 50-streamer collabs on his main channel, his side channel MrBeast Gaming has been cranking out Minecraft videos on a regular basis. And they all tend to follow the same formula: He puts a bunch of Minecrafters head to head and whoever survives the longest/builds the best thing walks away with the prize.

In this video, five experienced builders are challenged to construct a digital version of a Tesla. Whoever does it best gets the real-life version of the car, plus a chance to win a $250,000 house.

Like most MrBeast Gaming uploads, this one promotes his chocolate line Feastables. Feastables ads run year-round, but we’re expecting them to ramp up since Halloween decor is already appearing in retail stores. Guys. It’s July. C’mon!

#2 FIFA Street Food Battle: Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia #ad
Channel: Max the Meat Guy
Brand: FIFA
Views: 41,905,756

The World Cup isn’t just happening on the soccer pitch. Max the Meat Guy‘s FIFA-sponsored video pits Uruguay and Saudi Arabia against one another in a battle of street foods. He flies to Saudi Arabia for some local chicken shawarma, then returns to his YouTuber kitchen to make his own version of Uruguay’s national dish: chivito.

We won’t spoil the winner, but we will say Max uses the tail end of this 47-second Short to direct viewers to the rest of his FIFA content, which he’s uploading throughout the World Cup. His partnership with FIFA–plus the partnerships we already covered last week–make it clear FIFA’s PR team thought out of the box when partnering with creators. It would’ve been easy for the org to only partner with the sports-obsessed, but instead FIFA spread its sponsorships across creators from every niche.

#3 An anxious traveller’s dream companion… my ​⁠@raybanmeta AI glasses #raybanmetapartner
Channel: Unnati Malharkar
Brand: Ray-Ban Meta AI
Views: 40,474,596

Gen Z accounts for a major slice of U.S. leisure travelers, and brands know it. Meta has been pushing its AI glasses for months, and now it’s showing off their apparent travel utility by partnering with Unnati Malharkar. Its promise? That if you’re a Type A anxious traveler, you can have its Ray-Ban wearables help manage your trip.

But travel isn’t the only spot Meta’s hitting. It also partnered with Content Machine this week for a “Day in the life of a gym bro” video that clocked in at #292.

#4 They loved it!!! @michaels What party should we plan next? #ilovesainthonore
Channel: Alexandra Lourdes
Brand: Michaels
Views: 34,409,357

Max brought the savory, now Alexandra Lourdes brings the sweet: Her Las Vegas dessert shop Saint Honoré Doughnuts & Beignets became the stage for a Michaels collab this week.

As you may or may not know, Michaels has a pretty sprawling section of cake-decorating supplies, and Lourdes shows off the shelves with some footage of her shopping around for things to help her decorate a few donuts. She also wraps in party planning by using Michaels’ supplies to turn the donut-decorating into a playdate for her daughters.

Tapping a pro baker is a smart move for Michaels, and one that paid off in views. The creative company also sponsored video #15 this week–an upload from Mr. Kate that’s also about party planning.

BONUS #2,664 This New “Beyblade” Game Is Going Viral… And It’s Awesome.
Channel: ilinnuc
Brand: Mall of Toys
Views: 58,541

Man it smells like the 90s in here. Slayblade the game isn’t an actual Beyblade IP; it’s just inspired by the iconic toys–which, by the way, are still in production today.

But for all us kids who gathered around at recess to watch our little spinning death machines duke it out, Slayblade is wish fulfillment. And Mall of Toys, which sells Beyblades, teamed up with gaming creator ilinnuc to bring his nostalgic audience straight over to its digital storefront. If viewers are inspired by his Slayblade video, they can check out Mall of Toys’ expansive Beyblade catalog.

It’s a clever strategy–especially if ilinnuc’s video awakens some latent Beyblade collectors. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check my attic…

…and there’s a lot more data where that came from. If you like our Weekly Top 5, you’ll love everything else Gospel has to offer. Start with our newly released YouTube 2025 Sponsorship Landscape Report, wfrom hich you can download right here.

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If you’ve followed Kai Cenat‘s Mafiathon events over the years, then you know that the variety streamer loves to one-up himself. Every time he brings back one of his signature formats, he tries to do it bigger and better than ever before.

In 2026, Cenat is applying that ethos to Streamer University. The 24-year-old Bronx native has kicked off the second year of his scholastic event, and with a star-studded lineup in tow, this edition of Streamer U promises to be even bigger than last year’s inaugural class.

Streamer University launched in 2025 with a simple premise: What happens when you combine the aesthetics of a scholastic setting with the personalities of big-name creators? Cenat and his friends provided a definitive answer to that question by turning Streamer University into must-watch entertainment. After generating 27 million hours of watch time across all participating accounts, Streamer University drew attention across the social media landscape.

Cenat took a long time to concoct the sequel to Streamer University, but after an eight-month break, he returned with a Hogwarts-inspired trailer for his upcoming event. The Harry Potter vibes lingered as Streamer University students set off for school.

The streaming world doesn’t look exactly as it did when Cenat first launched Streamer University a year ago. While large-scale collabs have long been popular among streamers, that format took off after Cenat dismissed his first class. MrBeast pitted 50 streamers against one another in a massive competition, and French streamers united to raise €16 million for charity.

Not to be outdone, Cenat has ensured that Streamer University 2026 is a who’s who of top-tier creators. The list of students includes Jasontheween and PlaqueBoyMax, classes will be taught by professors like Lizzo, FaZe Adapt, Cinna, and Ludwig, and notable faculty members will lead a long list of student clubs. If you want to study musical arts with T-Pain or play basketball with Lethal Shooter, Streamer University is the place to do it.

Even the Streamer University setting has evolved. Cenat has traded the University of Akron for a new host: Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.

In one sense, Streamer University is the evolution of Cenat’s Mafiathon format. Amid a creator culture that’s obsessed with tentpole events, Cenat is ensuring that his collabs are as splashy and groundbreaking as possible. He’ll lead the way by broadcasting Streamer University happenings on his personal channels.

If, for some reason, you don’t have time to experience this year’s class, don’t worry. Cenat has ensured fans that he plans to make Streamer University a yearly event for as long as possible.

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If you love to share your Spotify Wrapped, but you don’t want to wait until December to dive into your personal listening statistics, you might want to consider paying up for a Spotify Premium membership. Users in that tier can now access a conversational, AI-powered chatbot that can tell you when and how often you’ve listened to specific tracks.

Premium subscribers can access the chatbot from the Spotify app’s Home screen, where a search bar prompts users to “Talk to Spotify.” The bot offers a typical assortment of contextual functions. Users can have the AI assistant generate a playlist inspired by their favorite artists, skip to a previous section in a podcast, or provide audiobook recommendations.

“Just say the word,” reads a tweet from Spotify. “Eligible Premium users can now talk to Spotify to discover, learn, and listen in new ways.”

The Spotify bot’s relationship with Wrapped adds an interesting wrinkle to what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill AI product. Premium users can ask the bot to tell them how many times they’ve listened to a particular song, and they can discover the genres and artists they’ve been playing most often.

Those details were previously reserved for the end-of-year Wrapped posts, which have evolved from curiosities into veritable phenomena. With its appealing blend of nostalgia, data, and personal reflection, Wrapped has become popular enough to extend beyond Spotify. Last year, YouTube put a capstone on 2025 with personalized recaps, which looked a lot like Spotify Wrapped posts.

All of a sudden, Wrapped clones are everywhere, but Spotify has taken steps to ensure that periodical wrap-ups are closely associated with its platform. It celebrated its 20th birthday with a lifetime edition of Wrapped that included personalized playlists filled with each user’s all-time most-listened-to tracks.

Now, through its AI chatbot, Spotify is ensuring that Premium users can feel the Wrapped rush whenever they like. And if you want to really get into the weeds, you can start tailoring your listening activity to customize your year-end Wrapped. All you need to do is Talk to Spotify.

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Two years after it initially studied eating disorder videos on YouTube, the Center For Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) has returned with an update. The nonprofit has published a report that tests the volume of eating disorder content within YouTube’s recommendation engine.

In a 2024 study, the CCDH simulated a 13-year-old girl’s YouTube account and found that one out of every three videos recommended to that account contained harmful eating disorder content. CCDH researchers also claimed that YouTube “failed to act” in the majority of cases where harmful videos were flagged.

At the time of the initial study, YouTube was already taking steps to crack down on rule-breaking eating disorder videos and derank those videos in its recommendation engine. Then, by enlisting help from parents, YouTube promised to make its platform safer for vulnerable young users.

The latest CCDH dispatch serves as a progress report. Once again, researchers set up dummy accounts that represented teenage girls. Those accounts were then “seeded” with search terms that might be used by someone who’s looking for eating disorder content.

The good news is that YouTube’s updated policies have had a noticeable impact on its moderation efforts. In the 2026 study, only one out of every nine algorithmic recommendations featured harmful eating disorder content. And for search terms like “ed inspo,” “edtok,” and “ed wieiad” (the second word stands for “what I eat in a day”), YouTube displays crisis resource panels that help teens address disordered eating habits.

The CCDH believes, however, that YouTube still has more work to do. Some videos in categories like “thinsporation” and “extreme calorie restriction” were served to teen accounts, and dozens of harmful videos lacked the necessary crisis resource panels.

“Harmful eating disorder recommendations have fallen significantly on YouTube, showing the platform is capable of making its recommendation systems safer,” said CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed in a statement. “But progress is not the same as success. YouTube is still recommending content that glorifies starvation and eating disorders to children.”

As with other topics studied by the CCDH, eating disorder content is a tricky problem to solve. YouTube is clearly making progress, but the platform must remain active and vigilant to limit harmful recommendations to its most vulnerable users.

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TikTok was one of the first social media companies to add labels to AI-generated content. Those tags were first teased in 2023 and added to the app a year later.

Unfortunately, AI labels don’t seem to be as effective as TikTok wants them to be. A 2025 study found that “having labels did not significantly change [user] engagement behaviors.” Another report from the same year concluded that “labels that simply informed participants that content was generated using AI tended to have little impact on respondents’ stated likelihood of engaging with their assigned post.”

Most critically, the deluge of AI slop on TikTok isn’t subsiding, labels be damned. Kapwing recently reported that more than half of the posts recommended to new TikTok accounts are low-effort, AI-generated videos.

TikTok is responding to all those findings by trying a new approach. The app’s latest transparency measures include educational pieces of content that are meant to improve AI literacy among users. In tandem with partners like NoFiltr and Rasberry Pi Foundation, TikTok is teaching its community how to recognize AI-generated content — and how they themselves can use the technology responsibly.

Alongside that effort, TikTok is continuing to crack down on accounts that misuse AI. The app reported that it removed 86 million fake accounts during the first three months of 2026, and it plans to improve its detection tools to support future takedowns.

TikTok’s desire to move beyond AI labels is prudent, but will its new measures be visible enough to be impactful? YouTube, for example, has educational AI materials of its own, and it has helped users cultivate social media literacy by turning its Hit Pause hub into one of the world’s most-watched channels.

Ultimately, TikTok’s AI literacy efforts may not move the needle so long as the app continues making it easy and profitable to post genAI videos. What’s needed is a sustainable, long-term solution, and one of TikTok’s external partners may be able to provide a push in the right direction.

TikTok was one of the first major social apps to add C2PA labels to its videos. Those tags make it easier to identify AI-generated content as it moves across platforms. Now, TikTok is doubling down by joining the C2PA’s Steering Committee. That move will promote the proliferation of C2PA labels across the internet, but even if all of the Big Tech firms put their heads together, the high volume of AI slop on the internet will continue to present problems that are tricky to solve.

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