The creator economy has permeated nearly every industry and redefined how people think about making a living. But the landscape is changing, driven by shifts in relationships between the key stakeholders.

The South by Southwest festival returned to Austin, Texas, in full force this year, with discussions on the future of technology, brands, and marketing. Here, we lay out the top trends and takeaways.

Scroll through TikTok and you’ll see young users explaining why acting millennial online is “cringe,” or embarrassing. But millennials are still the biggest buyers on social media. As Gen Z grows up, they’re gaining on millennials a bit. But millennials will continue to outnumber Gen Z—and other generations—on social media through at least 2026.

On today's episode, in our "Retail Me This, Retail Me That" segment, we discuss why livestream shopping hasn't caught on in the US and the UK the same way it has in China, what TikTok is doing to make the US’s launch more successful than the UK's, and what shoppers are looking for from a livestream. Then for "Pop-Up Rankings," we rank the top four brands that have done livestream shopping well. Join our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sky Canaves and Carina Perkins.

As the possibility of a TikTok ban grows in the US, users are looking for other platforms to satisfy their short-video needs. In a Cowen survey, 26% of adult US users said they’d switch to Instagram Reels, and 21% said they’d head to YouTube Shorts. Meanwhile, 37% had no plans to use another short-video app.

An ultimatum by the Biden administration gives ByteDance no recourse but to sell TikTok—which China’s government doesn’t seem likely to allow—or risk being banned.

Beauty is proving resilient to the cost-of-living crisis as shoppers splurge on premium products to boost their mood and skin health. But it won’t escape unscathed, with consumers already streamlining their beauty regimes and searching for bargains online.

A TikTok ban would put influencer payment policies to the test: YouTube and Instagram are eyed as alternative platforms as the TikTok debate heats up.

Time spent with TikTok will reach 55.8 minutes per day among US adult users this year, per our latest forecast, about 9 minutes more than expected in last year’s update. In 2024, time spent will increase to 58.4 minutes, up 4.8% year over year. We also expect TikTok’s US user base to cross the 100 million mark this year.

“Let it be okay to also ask dumb questions, because there aren’t any.” That’s ThredUP CMO Noelle Sadler Delory’s advice for building a marketing team that understands creative, metrics, and its customer holistically. Delory and the CMOs of Marine Layer and Fernish also advocate for breaking down silos between performance and brand marketers so everyone understands the same metrics and speaks the same language.

Amid privacy changes and macroeconomic headwinds, social media will be the channel hurt most by the digital advertising downturn. For 2023, we have reduced our US social network ad spending forecast by $16.21 billion.

On today's episode, we discuss how social media engagement is changing, whether TikTok is the new Google for young people, if the "deinfluencing" trend is here to stay, whether YouTube Music can compete with Spotify and Apple Music, what the road to electric vehicles looks like, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, and analyst Max Willens.

Search is already a major component of retail media; social is the next integration. Advertisers still view social media as a discovery medium and retail media as a conversion-driver. But both platforms are “potentially full-funnel,” according to Liz Cole, executive director and US head of social at VMLY&R, speaking at our “Attention!” summit.

Finding the time to develop ad campaigns specific to a particular social platform is challenging. At HelloFresh, the meal kit brand has embraced a “don’t create ads, create TikToks” mantra to inspire creativity and give teams their valuable time back.

It’s no surprise that 18- to 24-year-old TikTok users spend a lot of time on the app—79 minutes per day, according to our latest forecast. But what’s not so obvious is that Millennials and Gen X users are gobbling up tons of TikTok videos, too.

On today's episode, we discuss whether it's time for Google to spin off YouTube, how people feel about targeted ads, what consumers think about using AR to shop, what an in-car TikTok app might look like, the US Supreme Court examining Section 230, paid health leave in the US versus the world, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Blake Droesch, Evelyn Mitchell, and Paul Verna.

TikTok offers a teen time limit as US ban talks boil over: Talk of serious action is heating up, and TikTok is waving olive branches to prevent the worst.

In the US, TikTok will capture the attention of its adult users for an average of 55.8 minutes a day, with YouTube close behind at 47.5 minutes, according to our forecast. At the other end of the spectrum, Facebook’s adult users will spend just over a half an hour per day on the platform, while those of Reddit will spend only 23.6 minutes with it.

The cohort experiences life through social media and mobile devices. Banks must adapt to win their dollars.

Gen Zers provide a pivotal opportunity for banks as at least 4 million of them will open accounts each year through 2026.