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☆ How ‘Going Viral’ Became a Thing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Virginia Heffernan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Select a party anthem (“YMCA”), a quality in a dream partner (“ravenous”) and presto: your spiritual home. Too many people got Wyoming — more than actually lived in Wyoming — and this turn of events was so exciting that people stomped over to Facebook to protest. Then, according to Ben Smith in his engrossing and suspenseful book, “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” the team at BuzzFeed noticed something that changed media forev —Well, not forever. This is Ben Smith, after all. Co-founder of Semafor, former New York Times media columnist, onetime editor in chief of BuzzFeed News.

For the fourth year, Insider is recognizing the top PR reps for influencers and content creators. These publicists help bridge the gap between traditional media and the creator economy. These high-profile influencers use PR professionals to help them craft their images and land them media appearances. In our fourth annual power list, Insider is spotlighting top publicists and PR pros working with creators on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch. We chose the PR professionals based on factors like their roles, responsibilities, and impact on their clients and the creator economy broadly.

☆ The viral new ‘Drake’ and ‘Weeknd’ song is not what it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —One of the buzziest songs recently circulating on TikTok and climbing the Spotify charts featured the familiar voices of best-selling artists Drake and the Weeknd. But there’s a twist: Drake and the Weeknd appear to have had nothing to do with it. The viral track, “Heart on my Sleeve,” comes from an anonymous TikTok user named Ghostwriter977, who claims to have used artificial intelligence to generate the voices of Drake and the Weeknd for the track. The original TikTok video has seemingly been taken down, and the song has since been removed from streaming services including YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. Taryn Southern’s debut song “Break Free,” which was composed and produced with AI, hit the Top 100 radio charts back in 2018, and VAVA, an AI music artist (i.e.

☆ A 25-year-old entrepreneur shares the marketing budget she uses to build her successful professional and personal brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Alexandra York | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Alexa Curtis, the founder of a blog and mentorship company, shares her $5,000 monthly budget. She says social media, marketing, and personal branding are the most important investments. For her personal brand, she spends about $350 each month on a branding coach who helps her decide what message she wants to project through her work. But GrasshoppHer relies more on monthly and annual membership fees to grow, and the new business has more opportunities for sponsorships, Curtis said. courtesy of CurtisSince merging companies, "it's becoming less of a personal brand," Curtis said.

☆ The guy behind the viral fake photo of the Pope in a puffy coat says using AI to make images of celebrities 'might be the line' — and calls for greater regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An AI-generated image showing the Pope in a luxurious puffer coat went viral over the weekend. "I just thought it was funny to see the Pope in a funny jacket," he told the outlet. And while he hadn't considered the impact of AI images before, added: "It's definitely going to get serious if they don't start implementing laws to regulate it." He added that he had "no ill will" and "just thought it was funny to see the Pope in a funny jacket." "I figured I was going to get backlash," he told BuzzFeed.

☆ Bolloré Jr. readies Vivendi for asset purge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But the markdown gives Yannick more latitude to end his father’s ill-fated Italian foray while continuing to play hardball to raise the price tag. Here again, the move will give Bolloré junior more freedom to consider offers from potential buyers, which the European Commission will have to approve. At 70, the elder Bolloré, who remains in charge of the family holding that owns a 30% stake in Vivendi, is gradually implementing his succession plan. At 9.8 euros, Vivendi’s stock fails to capture the value of its various investments and trades below an analysts’ target of between 12 to 15 euros. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Sea sails past growth vs. profitability debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BENGALURU, March 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Singapore technology giant Sea (SE.N) on Tuesday reported its first ever quarterly profit, beating regional tech firms like GoTo (GOTO.JK) and Grab (GRAB.O) to the punch. The almost $1 billion swing from a fourth-quarter loss in 2021 to a $423 million profit in the final three months of last year is largely down to cost cuts. The company run by Forrest Li slashed sales and marketing expenses alone by $745 million, a whopping 62% drop. Whether that’s sustainable is unclear, though Li pointed out that the company had sold, closed or downsized a number of non-core operations and investments. It’s a welcome sign that upstart tech companies don’t always have to sacrifice profitability for growth.

☆ L&G looks overseas to fight Brexit discount
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That’s partly due to its concentration in the life sector – Wilson sold out of general insurance in 2020. L&G’s investment management unit has benefited from an international drive, with non-UK assets accounting for 43% of new money last year. On the life insurance side, some 39% of L&G’s gross premiums were booked overseas in 2022, with the U.S. a particular focus for Brexit-backing Wilson. The less L&G looks like a British company, the more attractive it will be to shareholders. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Kakao can end K-pop saga with near-$1 bln mic drop
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kakao and its entertainment arm are eyeing a 35% stake in SM via a tender offer worth $962 million. If Kakao succeeds, the company, which has the backing of SM's management, would become the label's top shareholder. Kakao Entertainment in January raised $930 million from investors including GIC in Singapore and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The envisioned partnership between Kakao, Kakao Entertainment and SM would cover global distribution, production and more for music and other content. Following Kakao's offer, SM Shares rallied 14% to 148,400 won ($114); they have nearly doubled since the start of the year.

☆ New Carlsberg CEO’s task: stay ahead of Heineken
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Carlberg’s (CARLb.CO) new boss may struggle to maintain its newfound fizz. The $21 billion Danish brewer revealed on Tuesday that Chief Executive Cees 't Hart will retire after eight years at the helm. The company now trades at nearly 11 times its expected EBITDA for 2023 according to Refinitiv data, a premium to arch rival Heineken (HEIN.AS). In 2022, Heineken grew revenue in its Asia-Pacific market by 70%, while Carlsberg’s sales in the region rose by 22%. If the new boss can’t keep pace, Carlsberg shareholders will face a painful hangover.

☆ This chronically online writer believes he gamed Twitter's For You algorithm. Here's how he made his tweets go viral.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Ryan Broderick noticed engagement on his tweets sharply dropped in recent months. There were a few things Broderick noticed about tweets on the For You page. Broderick also saw that Twitter's algorithm was prioritizing "already-viral" content, which he suspects might be the reason why everyone was seeing the same tweets. This Insider reporter saw Broderick's tweets about Marvel and his theory about Twitter's algorithm on the For You tab before following or interviewing Broderick. Broderick encourages the idea of other people using his method to try to game Twitter's algorithm and further highlight the problem.

☆ US blacklisting is no match for TikTok virality
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States’ web of trade restrictions has a TikTok-sized hole in it. The Commerce Department added another 28 Chinese firms to its trade blacklist on Thursday, requiring licenses to acquire U.S. wares. Yet social media app TikTok, which government officials have repeatedly voiced national security concerns over, hasn’t been hit with trade curbs. TikTok parent ByteDance is based in China and has eluded that list, largely because the Commerce Department’s tools affect hard goods, not software. Meanwhile, negotiations between U.S. regulators and TikTok over a security deal have dragged on for years.

☆ HQ Trivia imploded fast but its legacy lives on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But like HQ Trivia, these efforts rarely seem to last. Video Ad Feedback What is HQ Trivia 02:32 - Source: CNNThe short life of HQ TriviaTwice a day, for 30 minutes, the world stopped as players watched one or more people receive what could be a significant amount of money instantaneously on HQ Trivia – and viewers had their own shot at the pot, too. Unlike HQ Trivia, however, Wordle does not require its users to share that experience at the exact same moment in the day. BeReal may arguably be HQ Trivia’s most lasting legacy, despite it not being a trivia game. The aim is different – creating authenticity – but like HQ Trivia, it prompts users to be in the moment.

☆ Clinics are trying to sell trendy weight-loss injections by flooding TikTok with videos about semaglutide
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The video, which has nearly 60,000 likes, is among a proliferation of TikTok posts tagged with the names of semaglutide weight-loss drugs, including Wegovy and Ozempic. "What drives the video to go viral is if you can generate some kind of discussion," he told Insider. Unlike official ads, partnerships, or promotions, TikTok posts receive little oversight from government agencies or medical boards. All four said the TikTok posts are driving an influx of patients to their clinics. Oden told Insider that her videos are "drumming up quite a bit of new business" among patients of all ages.

FaZe Clan has laid off 20% of its staff as it found itself with less capital than expected. Esports organization FaZe Clan has laid off roughly 20% of its employees in a restructuring that began in December, a company spokesperson confirmed. In the memo to staffers, FaZe CEO Lee Trink wrote that the company expects to report a year-over-year revenue increase of more than 25% for 2022. As I described, I'm extremely proud that we expect to report the revenue growth for 2022 will show an increase of over 25% from 2021. As we embark on 2023 with a more streamlined, nimbler organization, our key focus is on the core aspects of what makes FaZe FaZe, and what has allowed the brand and the business to grow at an incredible pace over the past five years.

☆ All you need to know about ChatGPT, the A.I. chatbot that's got the world talking and tech giants clashing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by San Francisco-based startup OpenAI. These are tools that allow users to enter written prompts and receive new human-like text or images and videos generated by the AI. With a whopping 175 billion parameters, GPT-3 is one of the largest and most powerful language processing AI models to date. watch nowWhat makes ChatGPT so impressive is its ability to produce human-like responses, thanks in no small part to the vast amounts of data it is trained on. No generative AI application has quite managed to achieve the kind of influence and virality that ChatGPT has.

☆ HBO's 'The Last of Us' co-creator Craig Mazin on adapting the video game for hit series
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Teddy Farkas | Fahiemah Al-Ali | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailHBO's 'The Last of Us' co-creator Craig Mazin on adapting the video game for hit seriesCNBC's Carl Quintanilla sits down with 'The Last of Us' Craig Mazin – the showrunner, co-creator, executive producer, writer, and director behind the HBO hit-series. The two discuss the challenges of adapting a beloved video game into a primetime TV show and how Mazin's experience building HBO's Emmy-award winning 'Chernobyl' and passion for the game itself sparked a partnership with co-creator Neil Druckmann. They also discuss preparing the star-studded cast for their roles, developing content to appeal to both an existing fan base of gamers and new audiences alike, and why Mazin says he never creates for virality.

☆ Black women on TikTok want to know, ‘Where’s our Alix Earle?’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Uwa Ede-Osifo | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

TikTok creator Danessy Auguste has spent the past few weeks feeling confused over the frenzy surrounding influencer Alix Earle. But for white women, their least successful videos, on average, still have the capability to reach millions of viewers, Boffone said. What would it take to get a ‘Black Alix Earle’? Adding another dimension to the Alix Earle discourse, one influencer posed a provocative question:“Do we deserve an Alix Earle?” Niké Ojekunle, who goes by @specsandblazers on TikTok, said in a video. Communal support with trends such as #BlackGirlFollowTrain have already allowed Black women to intentionally engage with one another’s content.

☆ A woman is going viral on TikTok for calling out objectifying comments after a prospective work client accidentally shared his Zoom screen
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

On Zoom, prospective clients accidentally shared their screens with objectifying messages about Sharpe. She called them out in a viral TikTok, and is using her newfound virality to spark conversation. "If we're going to continue to work together, I want to work with a woman sales representative," Sharpe said in the TikTok video, which has 7.5 million views. Sharpe told Insider she let the meeting run on for 15 minutes before she decided to call out the comments. Sharpe shared a screenshot of the apology in a follow-up TikTok, which stated that the vendor could not provide a "skilled enough" woman to assist her.

☆ Kim Kardashian's Skims campaign with 'The White Lotus' breakout stars shows the power of pop culture in marketing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Kim Kardashian's shapewear brand, Skims, launched a campaign with stars of "The White Lotus." Watson added that with this campaign, Skims is leveraging characters who are both relatable and aspirational to evoke that perception of the products. Here's why the latest Skims campaign works and what other business owners can learn for their brand marketing, according to Watson. For fans of 'The White Lotus,' we feel this source of pride, like 'here's our friend getting a platform.'" "You're not going to be able to emulate the reach of Kim Kardashian overnight," he said.

Now, over the past two months, videos showing Borzois, and inanimate objects that look like them, have taken over TikTok. Jacob Chattman, a longtime Borzoi owner and content creator, said Borzois "embody the existential crisis of being way too aware of everything." Sad Borzois, Kambourian said, have recontextualized “Cellophane,” a devastating song in its original form, for many people. Like Chattman, Kelly said many sighthounds have a “magical” quality to them. “They just have such a different personality than other dogs,” Kelly said.

☆ Meet Keith Lee, the pro fighter with social anxiety who became TikTok's 'food godfather' and savior of local Las Vegas restaurants in a matter of months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Keith Lee, 26, rose to new heights of TikTok at the end of 2022 as his videos gained exposure. Now at 8.6 million followers, the 26-year-old professional athlete began posting on the video-sharing app in 2020 to help with his social anxiety and interviewing skills, Lee told Insider. "Weight has always been a big focal point for me as a professional athlete," Lee told Insider. When he noticed his food review videos gaining traction on TikTok, he decided to commit to filming reviews more often. Although Lee said he understands the power of TikTok, he told Insider he's still adjusting to his new status as a trusted food reviewer.

☆ Temu's low prices catapulted the Chinese app to the top of the US download charts. Here's what we know about it — and how it could avoid its competitors' pitfalls.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Temu, a new shopping app from Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, is making waves in the US. In December, Temu had 9 million US downloads, topping Amazon, which had 4.2 million downloads; Shopify's Shop app, which had 3.4 million downloads; and fellow Chinese player Shein, which had 3 million downloads. Like Shein, Temu also boasts a large selection of products, with its app description claiming that it offers thousands of new items a day. Shein was the most downloaded app globally in 2022, with 229 million downloads, while Amazon was the top app in the US. Notably, Pinduoduo was also a top downloaded app globally, ranking seventh with 79 million downloads.

☆ Microsoft reportedly plans to invest $10 billion in creator of buzzy A.I. tool ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft plans to invest $10 billion in OpenAI, the startup behind popular artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, according to a report from Semafor. A bet on ChatGPT could help Microsoft boost its efforts in web search, a market dominated by Google . Brian Nowak, the bank's lead analyst on Alphabet, wrote that language models could take market share "and disrupt Google's position as the entry point for people on the Internet." OpenAI, which was founded by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sam Altman in 2015, launched its ChatGPT to the public in late November. Five days after OpenAI released ChatGPT, Altman said that the chat research tool crossed 1 million users.

☆ 9 tech predictions for 2023 from seed investor in Uber, Pinterest, and other top companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Scott Belsky | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

2022 was a pivotal year for:Collaborative web apps disrupting every function of the enterprise. Internet browsers will shift from generalized to specializedAs web apps, communal browsing, and decentralized technology continue to grow, browsers have become too generalized and antiquated for the future of web apps. Web apps offer virality and infinite possibilities for product-led growth, and are finally powerful enough for sophisticated apps like Photoshop. Browsers will be reimagined for collaboration and higher performance web apps — like Arc from The Browser Company. Content creators will own their audience and some will become "platform-less"Content creators with mass audiences are seeking novel ways to own the relationship.

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