Have you heard? Streamers want answers after Kick community’s TwitchCon harassment

There’s a lot of news in the creator economy. Each week, we handpick a selection of stories to give you a snapshot of trends, updates, business moves, and more from around the industry. This week, one streamer drew praise from a Marvel superhero, but others behaved badly.

Creator commotion

“The amount of clips I’ve seen of Kick streamers harassing people at TwitchCon is insane.” That’s how Ludwig Ahgren described the mood at Twitch’s annual gathering. Reports of sexual harassment and stalking led to criticism of the Kick community from streaming bigwigs like Valkyrae and Tectone. One of the victims of those alleged transgressions, Felix “xQc” Lengyel, wants Kick to mete out “real repercussions” for the troublemakers. Will the platform listen?

Simu Liu thinks iShowSpeed is a “badass.” As the energetic streamer wrapped up his blockbuster tour of Southeast Asia, he met up with Shang-Chi himself in Singapore. Turns out the actor is fond of his streaming contemporary. It might not be too long before Speed shows up in the MCU.

MrBeast’s employees have thoughts about his production guide. The leaked document was the talk of the internet, but some former MrBeast staffers say a few points were missing from it. One ex-employee told Business Insider that Jimmy Donaldson himself often created bottlenecks even though he expressed his distaste for those slowdowns. As with so many of these situations, the truth may be more complex than what any one party alleges.

The biz

Chili’s makes bank with Triple Dipper TikTok videos. Mukbang-style clips that feature the chain’s new appetizer reportedly accounted for 40% of its growth during the previous quarter. I guess the Triple Dipper is this generation’s baby back, baby back, baby back ribs.

TikTok turns on the money faucet in South Korea. Twitch had to leave the East Asian nation due to prohibitive operating costs, but TikTok wants more Koreans to capitalize on its revenue streams. That’s why it lowered the barrier for entry into its Creator Rewards program. Top Korean channels like KIMPRO rank among the most-watched short-form hubs in the world.

Gary Vaynerchuk predicts the future of the creator economy. In a new podcast episode, the marketing guru looks forward to the next few years of monetization. Your mileage may vary when it comes to Gary Vee, but he’s been in this game for years and knows a thing or two.

The latest tech

Meta’s creator chatbots are becoming self-aware. At the Meta Connect event, Meta revealed that it’s adding generative video to the chatbots it’s building alongside creators, celebs, and public figures. I’m still skeptical that fans will be cool with an AI avatar replacing a human creator on messaging apps, but these developments have the potential to automate repetitive interactions.

Speaking of Meta Connect… Meta also announced that it’s bringing the YouTube watch party to VR. Now you can show all your favorite obscure videos to your VR friends, just like you can with your meatspace buddies.

Don’t even think about ordering that Fujifilm camera TikTok likes. The X100V is still sold out more than two years after it hit the market. Maybe you can get your hands the sequel to that camera, or you can just film your TikToks on your phone like the rest of us normies.

Hiring moves

Underscore brings in the former President of the Unwell Audio Network. The talent management firm has hired Moorea Mongelli, who helped Alex Cooper build her company into a podcasting empire. Underscore has a lot of podcast hosts in its network, and they’ll now get to work with one of the best in the biz.

5X Media expands its roster. The tri-continental studio now reps creators like Rami Zein (16 million followers on TikTok) after bringing manager Michael Moretti on board. So that’s a little more consolidation in the agency world, which already has plenty of it.

Ryff adds four new execs. The company known for its “in-scene advertising” has onboarded multiple ex-employees of the beleaguered firm BENLabs. The new hires will report to Ryff’s recently-appointed EVP of Global Sales and Customer Experience, Shirley Richter Hughes.

The internet is a strange place

Pi is playing Pokemon. How, you may ask, can a mathematical constant play a video game? It’s simple: Each number corresponds to a button, and those button presses are then registered one digit of pi at a time. So far, pi hasn’t made it that far in the game, but its Pokemon are super over-leveled. Math!

See ya, Skyrim grandma. The 88-year-old creator Shirley Curry says that she’s done with gaming videos because playing games now bores her. Ok Shirley, maybe you’ve had enough of Skyrim, but have you tried Elden Ring? It might be the cure for your armchair ennui.

The verdict is in: Bullying is so not Brat. Even though Brat Summer is now over, one of the creators who fueled the trend still has a lot to say. After Kelley Heyer posted a video in which she got on stage with Charli XCX, the internet shamed a woman who ambled into the frame. “Tearing other women down [and] being fatphobic, that’s not brat,” Heyer said.