Have you heard? Michelle Khare gets into the Emmys, Jordan Howlett gets real with brands, and Dems get on Twitch

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, one creator gets some well-deserved recognition, another becomes a government target, and a third has some sound advice for brands.

Creator commotion

Michelle Khare gets Challenge Accepted into the Emmys. The creator’s Streamy-winning show will be on the ballot in the outstanding hosted nonfiction series category at the next Primetime Emmy Awards. Getting on the ballot is one thing — some of Khare’s contemporaries may want to remind her that actually earning Emmy nominations and wins is a whole different beast.

Hasan Piker was detained at O’Hare airport. The left-wing streamer was held by border agents (despite being a U.S. citizen enrolled in Global Entry) and was asked about topics like President Trump and Hamas. In Piker’s own words: “It wasn’t a very warm welcome.” Clearly, someone in the Trump administration is keeping an eye on the progressive side of Twitch.

Jordan Howlett says brands should let creators be themselves. Speaking at Social Media Week, the social star said the “hardest thing” about working with brands is when “there are a lot of rules and things you have to follow.” Translation: Brands that want to get a bump from creators can’t have it both ways.

Politics as usual

Younger Senate Democrats want their elders to get on Twitch and Snapchat. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) reportedly told his septuagenarian colleagues that they need to get active on social media. Booker said that Democrats are closing the “engagement gap” between them and the Republicans, but relative youngsters like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) can’t be counted on to do all the heavy lifting.

YouTube’s political viewership has swung left since the 2024 election. According to data from Ad Fontes Media and Pixability, left-leaning YouTube channels have seen a 25.6% viewership uptick since the first two months of the year. Over the same period, right-wing traffic is down 10.08%. Journalist Ezra Klein has been one of the biggest winners, more than doubling his viewership over three months, while The Heritage Foundation has moved in the opposite direction.

TikTok adds conservative voices to its U.S. Content Council. The right-wing newcomers are reportedly lobbying for relaxed policies on speech and moderation. Given that TikTok has already courted President Trump in hopes of fending off a federal ban attempt, this latest move shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The ad world

For U.K. children, YouTube ads are major drivers of purchase intent. London-based agency Precise TV followed up its U.S. PARK report with an equivalent survey across the pond. 72% of the respondents — who ranged in age from two to 12 — said they prefer YouTube over any other platform. 35% of surveyed parents said the last item they bought for their child was the result of a YouTube ad. The kids just keep on watching

Twitch tests picture-in-picture ads. The streaming hub is adopting one of YouTube’s tactics to solve a recurring problem. Twitch viewers don’t like when interruptive ads break into the stream at inopportune moments, but they seem far more receptive to PIP ads that run in the corner of the screen without interrupting the broadcast.

QVC hosted a “Super Brand Day” to promote TikTok Shop. The home shopping channel used a plethora of celebrity cameos and real-life experiences to help promote its new TikTok Shop channel. Welcome to consumer commerce in the age of short-form social media.

Platform headlines

Pinterest sponsors the year’s first screen-free prom. At Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco, Pinterest sponsored non-profit HalfTheStory‘s effort to get teens off their phones during prom. Thanks to the support of the digital pin board, seniors at Lick-Wilmerding were able to focus on dancing rather than DMs.

ByteDance has a target for TikTok’s 2025 sales: Meta. The Beijing-based parent company of TikTok wants its short-form video app to increase revenue by 20% year-over-year, which would bring its sales up to $186 billion. That pace would allow TikTok to keep up with Meta, which is projected to rake in $187 billion during the 2025 calendar year. Anything Zuck can do, Chew can do better.

The founder of OnlyFans has launched a new platform. The platform known as Subs.com has a subscription-based business model that looks a lot like OnlyFans. The difference, it would seem, is that Tim Stokely‘s new venture is looking to avoid being pigeonholed as a home for adult content. Instead, it will host a diverse roster of creators.

The internet is a strange place

At Yellowstone, it’s getting hot, and I’m not just talking about the geothermal activity. Can geographic features post thirst traps? Can thirsty posts serve as marketing for America’s national parks? The answer to both those questions is yes, according to the anonymous creators who impersonated the official Yellowstone account to post randy nature shots. Given how much play this story has gotten, the actual Yellowstone should hire these pranksters.

TikTok is fostering solidarily between Black people and redheads. Two groups that deal with cultural bias and prejudice have united as part of TikTok’s “Gingers are Black” trend. The resulting videos offer intriguing context regarding American identity politics, even if some might find the conclusion to be simplistic.

Google’s supercomputer says we’re living in a multiverse. Well, that settles it. I’m going to call up Dr. Strange and find the version of myself who’s two inches taller and doesn’t procrastinate so much.