It seems like any and every industry can have its own awards show these days. And why not? Most of us appreciate a chance to bust out the sequins and satin from time to time. If you can celebrate excellent work or make some extra biz dev bucks at the same time, all the better. Snap is the latest social media company to launch its own take on the glitz and glam. The Snappy Awards Show will be held at the company’s headquarters on March 31. Comedian and content creator Matt Friend will host the event.
Snapchat has been adding more tools for influencers to build audiences, most recently launching individual creator subscriptions. An awards show seems to be part of that same agenda, spotlighting popular personalities from many different fields. There will be Snappys handed out for categories such as Spotlight MVP, Best Storyteller and Breakout Creator of the Year, plus awards for collaboration, cultural impact and success in single subjects.
Snapchat isn’t the first social media platform to honor the personalities using it. TikTok hosted its inaugural awards show in the US last year.
You Tube star Jack Doherty with his new Lamborghini in 2023
Instagram screenshot
A popular YouTube star was arrested on drug charges while trying to film content in the middle of a busy Miami Beach street early Saturday morning, police said.
Plantation resident Jack Doherty, 22 was on the 700 block of Washington Avenue around 3:15 a.m. when officers saw Doherty and a group of people attempting to engage officers as part of video content. Pranks are a recurring theme in his social videos. With Doherty’s 2,000 YouTube videos, he’s amassed 15 million subscribers.
Per police records, Doherty ignored officers’ commands to get out of the street. At one point, Doherty’s associates asked him to listen to police, but cops say he refused.
When police detained Doherty, they discovered he was carrying an amphetamine pill and a black container holding three cannabis cigarettes that altogether weighed four grams.
Doherty was arrested and transported to a Miami Beach Police jail. He faces charges for possession of controlled substances and resisting an officer with violence.
Later Saturday night, Doherty posted a TikTok video showing him bonding out of jail with the caption “I got arrested last night and now I’m free,” CBS News Miami reported.
Contact information regarding Jack Doherty’s representation was not immediately available.
Michael Butler writes about minority business and trends that affect marginalized professionals in South Florida. As a business reporter for the Miami Herald, he tells inclusive stories that reflect South Florida’s diversity. Just like Miami’s diverse population, Butler, a Temple University graduate, has both local roots and a Panamanian heritage.
YouTube has become the biggest platform out there, offering tons of opportunities for creators to earn a living. Back in June, the company reported that its creative ecosystem added over $55 billion to the U.S. GDP and created more than 490,000 full-time jobs.
However, many YouTubers have reduced their reliance on ad revenue and brand deals. There are several reasons for this shift. First, ad revenue can be unpredictable. With YouTube continually updating its policies, some creators find it challenging to secure ads for their videos, which can negatively impact their earnings. They’ve also realized that income from these streams can vanish unexpectedly.
Recognizing the volatility of platform-dependent revenue, many YouTubers are no longer just creators. They’re vertically integrated media companies with parallel businesses, including product lines, brick-and-mortar ventures, and consumer brands that can outlast algorithm changes and policy shifts.
In some cases, these side businesses are growing faster and more sustainably than their YouTube channels.
MrBeast
Image Credits:Beast Industries
Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, who has 442 million subscribers, isn’t just one of YouTube’s biggest stars — he’s its most aggressive entrepreneur.
What started with a merchandise store in 2018 — ShopMrBeast — has exploded into a business portfolio, including his now three-year-old snack brand, Feastables.
Feastables’ initial product was the “MrBeast Bar,” a chocolate bar that generated over $10 million in sales within its first 72 hours, selling over 1 million bars at launch. As of today, Feastables is more profitable than his YouTube content and even his “Beast Games” competition series on Prime Video. In 2024, Feastables generated roughly $250 million in revenue and over $20 million in profit, while his media business lost approximately $80 million.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
Other ventures include his packaged food brand Lunchly (co-founded with YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI), the toy line MrBeast Lab, MrBeast Burger, and the analytics platform Viewstats. He even attempted to buy the U.S. operations of TikTok by joining the American Investor Consortium, a group of investors led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley.
Now MrBeast is venturing into new areas. He plans to establish a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which could involve partnering with one of the major operators, such as AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Additionally, the YouTuber was spotted filing a trademark application for a mobile app that offers banking, financial advisory, and crypto exchange services.
Emma Chamberlain, who rose to fame as a teen vlogger in 2016, now has over 12 million subscribers and has found success in the beverage industry.
She launched her coffee brand, Chamberlain Coffee, in 2019, which offers a variety of products, including cold brew, coffee pods, ground and whole bean options, as well as tea and matcha. Notably, other YouTubers have followed suit, such as Jacksepticeye with his Top of the Mornin’ Coffee brand and Philip DeFranco with Wake & Make Coffee.
In 2023, Chamberlain Coffee had a significant year, introducing ready-to-drink canned lattes and reaching approximately $20 million in revenue, according to Forbes. The brand recently experienced even more substantial growth, opening its first physical location in January. Previously, it had only an online and retail presence at places like Target, Sprouts, and Walmart.
Although Chamberlain Coffee faced some challenges last year due to supplier issues, it’s expected to rebound, with projected revenue growth of over 50% by 2025, reaching more than $33 million, according to Business Insider. The brand is also aiming for profitability by 2026.
Logan Paul
Image Credits:Cliff Hawkins / Getty Images
Logan Paul (23.6 million subscribers) is now known for his wrestling career but was earlier known for numerous controversies, like an infamous 2017 video and an allegedly scammy NFT project, CryptoZoo.
He also gained attention through his energy drink brand, Prime, which achieved rapid viral success in 2022. The brand, co-founded by YouTuber KSI, surpassed $1.2 billion in sales in 2023, a figure far exceeding what most content creators earn from views, ads, and brand deals. However, it has since faced declining sales, regulatory scrutiny for its high caffeine content, and lawsuits from business partners. Sales have particularly cooled in the U.K., where revenue dropped by about 70% from 2023 to 2024.
His brother, Jake Paul, is also involved in various ventures, including co-founding the Anti Fund, which has touted past investments in OpenAI, Anduril, Ramp, and Cognition, among others. The younger Paul also owns a grooming line, called W, and a mobile betting platform called Betr.
Ryan’s World
Ryan’s World, hosted by 13-year-old Ryan Kaji, is another prominent YouTuber with a staggering following. Ryan rose to fame through his toy reviews and unboxing videos, which have captivated nearly 40 million young viewers.
In addition to his YouTube success, Kaji has expanded his brand through a line of toys and apparel that are sold in major retail chains and that reportedly generated over $250 million in revenue in 2020. Kaji and his family have since diversified their ventures, including launching a TV show and an app that provides educational content tailored for children.
Rosanna Pansino
Image Credits:rosannopansino.com
Rosanna Pansino is a popular baker on YouTube known for her baking tutorials and themed treats. With 14.8 million subscribers, she gained fame for her recipes inspired by pop culture, gaming, and movies.
Beyond YouTube, Pansino has released several cookbooks that have been well-received, expanding her Nerdy Nummies brand. She also sells baking tools at several retailers, such as Amazon.
Other YouTubers have ventured into cookware and food products as additional revenue streams. Notable examples include cook and author Andrew Rea, known by the pseudonym Babish, who launched his Babish Cookware brand in 2021, as well as comedy duo Rhett & Link, who sell MishMash Cereal.
Michelle Phan
Ipsy founders Jennifer Goldfarb (left), Marcelo Camberos, and Michelle Phan (right)
Michelle Phan gained fame in 2007 with her makeup tutorials, becoming one of the first beauty influencers to effectively monetize her content. In addition to her successful YouTube career, she co-founded the beauty subscription service Ipsy, which has become highly popular. Phan also has her own makeup line, EM Cosmetics.
Huda Kattan
Image Credits:Huda Beauty
Huda Kattan founded the globally recognized beauty brand Huda Beauty in 2013. She sold a minority stake to private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners in 2017 but bought it back in June after investor pressure to bring in senior leadership clashed with her vision for the fast-moving brand, which reportedly brings in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales each year.
Many influencers have created their own makeup brands. Other well-known makeup brands launched by YouTube influencers include Jeffree Star Cosmetics and Tati Beauty.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Social media platforms are constantly evolving to keep creators engaged, but the changes to their monetization systems aren’t always in the creators’ best interest. Recently, platforms like Meta (Instagram/Facebook) and X (formerly Twitter) made adjustments to their creator monetization platforms in an effort to keep us producing content that keeps users scrolling. But let’s be honest — these systems are designed to benefit the platform more than the creator.
Not everyone is on these platforms to make money from their monetization programs, but if you are — and you’re relying on these platforms for revenue — you’re playing a losing game. Algorithms control the visibility of your content, and whether you’re earning from ad revenue or just trying to reach more people, it’s the platform that ultimately calls the shots.
I’ve experienced this firsthand. Over the last year, I racked up 35.9 million impressions on X. You’d think with that kind of reach, the payout would be significant, right? Well, not quite. My total earnings? $115.24. That’s barely enough for a decent pair of sneakers.
The truth is, if you’re relying solely on platforms like Meta or X to build your livelihood, you’re going to be disappointed. These platforms are great for visibility, but they aren’t designed to make creators rich. It’s time to stop chasing likes, shares and viral moments and start taking control of your content and revenue streams.
Let’s get this straight — social media platforms are excellent tools for building awareness. They can help you reach new audiences, grow your following and gain visibility. But when it comes to monetizing that reach, the situation changes. The problem isn’t with creators not making good content; it’s that the platforms themselves control how many people see your work and how much you earn from it.
Creators need to understand that these platforms are ad platforms first, not creator-first. They profit from ads, not from paying creators. Recent changes on Meta and X reflect this, as both platforms have made tweaks to their monetization systems to keep creators engaged and pumping out content. However, these changes don’t really shift the balance in the creator’s favor.
The reality of revenue share on social platforms
Here’s how monetization on these platforms works:
Meta (Instagram/Facebook): They’ve introduced In-Stream Ads and Ads on Reels, allowing creators to earn from their content. But unless you have a huge following, those earnings will be minimal. They may give the illusion of helping creators, but the lion’s share of the revenue goes to Meta.
X (formerly Twitter): X recently made a switch to paying creators based on engagement from Premium users only. This means if your audience isn’t subscribed to X Premium, their engagement doesn’t count toward your earnings. In other words, the platform is asking you to push their premium service to make money.
The common theme? These platforms dictate your reach and earnings. Even with millions of impressions, you might still see shockingly low payouts. That’s the reality of relying on algorithms and ad-based revenue.
What content ownership really means
When I say “take ownership of your content,” I’m talking about moving away from platforms you don’t control. You need to be in charge of where your content lives, how it’s monetized and who gets to access it.
This is what true ownership looks like:
Your content resides on a platform you control.
You decide how it’s monetized.
You set the terms for who gets access and keep 100% of the revenue.
Social media platforms are useful for visibility, but if they change their algorithms or policies, your reach and income can vanish overnight. Creators who rely solely on these platforms are always at risk of having their hard-earned audience controlled by someone else’s rules.
I’ve seen creators with massive followings wake up one day to find their reach has been slashed because of an algorithm update. That’s the trap: You’re constantly at the mercy of decisions made by the platform, not by you.
The crazy part? Many creators are still sleeping on email. Even some of the biggest names in content creation are putting all their faith in social media platforms. But email is one of the most powerful tools for reaching your audience directly. Unlike social media, you own your email list. Algorithms can’t touch it.
Take Morning Brew as an example. They built their media empire by delivering free content through email. They cut through the social media noise, and today, they’re monetizing that audience through ads and sponsorships — keeping the majority of the revenue for themselves.
Email marketing gives you control and consistency. You don’t have to worry about reach being throttled because you own the relationship with your audience.
Why every creator needs a paid newsletter or course
If you’re serious about monetizing your audience, it’s time to move beyond relying solely on social platforms. Instead, focus on creating content you can own, like a paid newsletter or an online course.
Here’s why these models work:
Paid newsletters: A paid newsletter allows you to deliver exclusive, high-value content directly to your subscribers. This creates recurring revenue and puts you in control of what you’re delivering and how much you’re charging. Morning Brew is a prime example of how this model can be scaled. By giving away content for free, they built a massive audience, which they now monetize through ads and sponsorships.
Online courses: Have a skill or expertise? Package it up and sell it as a course. Online courses are a scalable product that keeps generating revenue even after you’ve created it. You can build a course once and keep profiting from it indefinitely.
How you can leverage social platforms for awareness
Just because I’m saying don’t rely on social platforms for revenue doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them. Social platforms are still one of the best ways to build awareness and get attention at the top of the funnel. Here’s how you can leverage them to support your monetization strategy:
Create awareness: Post engaging content that hooks people in. Your goal is to drive visibility, not immediate monetization.
Drive traffic to owned channels: Once you’ve captured attention, move your audience to your email list, website or paid newsletter — platforms you control.
Monetize on your terms: With your audience on a platform you own, you can monetize however you see fit, keeping all the revenue and growing your business sustainably.
The creator economy is evolving, and the future belongs to those who take control of their content and revenue streams. Social media platforms like Meta and X are great for building awareness, but you shouldn’t depend on them for monetization.
Instead, take control by moving your audience to a platform like email newsletters or online courses, where you own the content, the reach and the revenue. You’ll be free from the constant algorithm changes and in control of how much you earn.
Ready to take control of your future? Start building your audience and stop relying on social platforms to determine your success. The future of your business depends on it.
As the leaves start to turn and the air gets crisper, there’s no better time to snuggle up and create some content — whether it’s that podcast you’ve been thinking about doing forever, or a video you’ve been meaning to edit, or something entirely new that will take your social media engagement to the next level. Here, we’ve put together a list of the tech products that will make you look like a pro, even when you’re wearing sweatpants in your living room.
After nearly a decade as a digital creator, David Dobrik has set his sights on entrepreneurship.
Dobrik has over 20 million subscribers combined on his two YouTube channels – David Dobrik and David Dobrik Too, and was one of the highest-earning YouTubers in 2020, making $15 million from his content back in 2020.
The creator, who turns 27 on July 23, makes content with his friends, known as the Vlog Squad, doing various stunts and feel-good giveaways. He also gifted his friends Teslas, and in turn, continued to rack up the views.
In 2018, he garnered 60 million viewson a “breakup video” with his former girlfriend of three years and content creatorLiza Koshy. The two frequently filmed videos together and had fans invested in their relationship. But things then came to a halt.
Image credit: Getty Images | David Dobrik smiling on a red carpet.
In 2021, Dobrik was hit with a slew of allegations and claims around foul play in his videos with few safety precautions. One subject claimed she was assaulted during filming. One of his pals claimed to be badly injured while filming one of his videos and hit the creator with a $10 million lawsuit that has yet to be resolved.Dobrik then took a break from the public eye.
Now, Dobrik is revamping his brand from happy-go-lucky creator to businessman — he opened a pizza shop and signed on for several equity brand deals — and now requires his subjects to sign consent forms, he told Rolling Stone.
Here’s more about Dobrik’s businesses and latest projects.
Where Did David Dobrik Grow Up?
Dobrik grew up in Košice, Slovakia, before his family relocated to Illinois when he was five years old, per Rolling Stone. In the U.S., his father started a real-estate photography business while his mother took care of the family. He played tennis and worked as a waiter in high school.
“His family and my family, we’re not the richest. We survive by our means,” Dobrik’s longtime friend Ilya Fedorovich told the outlet. “I think that one of the reasons that he’s supersuccessful now is that he didn’t have much when he was growing up, but he wanted a lot.”
He started posting videos on Vine when he was16. He then continued his education at the College of Lake County in Illinois before dropping out of his first yearto move to LA and be a creator full-time. Although Vine shut down in 2017, his star was already growing on YouTube.
In 2021, former friends claimed they were bullied into uncomfortable situations while filming. Content creator Trisha Paytas, who was often filmed while she was dating his friend, Jason Nash, told Vulture: “I have more PTSD from David and Jason than I do hooking on Santa Monica Boulevard.”
Additionally, allegations rose against former Vlog Squader Dom Zeglaitis after a woman claimed he sexually assaulted her for a video encouraged by Dobrik, per Insider Business.
Zeglaitis denied the claims and noted in 2022 that he and Dobrik hadn’t spoken since the allegations. Entrepreneur was unable to find legal documents in relation to the claims.
He apologized for his involvement in a video titled “Let’s Talk” in March 2021, claiming that consent is pertinent to his content. Following the allegations, Dobrik lost thousands of followers and brand deals from partners including EA Sports and Dollar Shave Club, per Vulture.
Dobrik was brought under scrutiny again following the release of a documentary titled “Don’t Try This At Home” by former Vlog Squad member Jeff Wittek in April 2021. He claimed he was badly injured and broke part of his face and skull in a wakeboarding accident that was being filmed for a video. Dobrik claimed on his podcast that he paid thousands for Wittek’s medical bills, but he denied Dobrik’s claims.
At the height of his YouTube days, Dobrik was getting paid thousands to post on behalf of brands, like SeatGeek, Fan Joy, Dollar Shave Club, EA Sports, Chipotle, and more.
But after doinghundreds of brand deals,he never had a stake in the companies he promoted, he told Forbes.
“There are so many things that I could have done to set myself up for the future. One thing is with equity. With SeatGeek, there was a company that I was part of a lot. But never, ever did it cross my mind to ask for equity. So that’s what I wish that I would have been a lot better at,” Dobrik told the outlet in August 2022.
“I was never good at putting myself in positions where I was getting equity and I was also getting the cash to promote,” Dobrik continued. “Now, when I do things, especially when it’s a longer relationship that I have with a company; then there will definitely be cash options and then equity.”
With his hiatus from the limelight (he hasn’t posted on YouTube in over a year), Dobrik has been focused on growing his business portfolio.
Dobrik told Forbeshe partnered with Happy Hour Tequila Seltzer in a cash deal and said he also partnered with a supplement company founded by his childhood friend called Xeela Fitness. The brand currently sells just pre-workout and protein supplements.
Then there’s Doughbriks, a Chicago-style pizza restaurant located in Los Angeles that Dobrik worked on for two years before the restaurant’s grand opening in November.
“Doughbricks came about because I’m from Chicago and I love pizza,” Dobrik said. “This is something that is really new to me. A physical object for a digital person. That’s why I think it’s crazy because everything is online. Any product is always online.”
Dobrik’s restaurant brought in huge crowds on opening day, with one family driving 200 miles for a bite, according to NBC News.
Dobrik hasn’t posted a new episode of his Views Podcast since April 2022. Despite transitioning away from YouTube, he’s active on TikTok with 26.3 million followers.
What Is David Dobrik’s Net Worth?
Dobrik was crowned one of the highest-paid YouTube stars of 2020, racking in $15 million for his content.
During an episode of the Views podcast in 2019, Dobrik said he was making about $275,000 a month from YouTube.
He gave fans a tour of his $9.5 million mansion in Los Angeles that has its own Hawaiian Punch fountain. He also collects various memorabilia, including a $10,000 fully functioning Iron Man suit.
Dobrik’s net worth is estimated to be $25 million.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
If you are reading this, you’re likely aware you need to invest in creator talent to curate a more relevant brand presence. You also realize that there is no clean-cut playbook to building creator relationships with creators and, moreover, effectively working with them.
Creators are becoming a high-demand resource as brands are in dire need of “creative directors” that can curate an online presence that’s authentic, purposeful and relatable. And for a reason — they are unique entities that extend beyond vanity likes and views. They are creative production powerhouses invested in providing valuable content to their highly engaged communities.
The role of a creator has evolved quickly over the past few years. We’ve observed the slow death of the Kardashian-esque “influencer” — and the rise of a more approachable “creator” (think: MrBeast, Dylan Mulvaney or Alix Earle) has been the response to the large-scale rejection of influencer figures. In a way, influencers have morphed into creators — at least those who’ve embraced this major shift in user expectations — as authenticity, raw aesthetics and niche communities become the new staple.In other words, users are tired of associating influencers with unattainable lifestyles and unrealistic expectations — and the creators are here to fill the need for connection and community where influencers fell short. And brands need to keep up, whether they like it or not.
Not only have the expectations changed, but the path to becoming a creator has become more accessible than ever. Compelling storytelling skills, a niche perspective and a smartphone with a camera are virtually the only qualifiers for anyone to dip their toes into content creation — a radical change from the requirements of becoming an influencer from a decade ago.
Yes, there is a plethora of talent out there. With the rise of TikTok and content formats like short-form video, the barrier to entry into the world of content creation is lower than ever.
But just because the pool of talent isn’t shallow doesn’t mean that finding the right talent and engaging them well becomes easy. So here are three strategies that will help streamline your work with creators.
Creators are, essentially, spokespeople for brands. They become the face, the manifestation, the representation of the brand through short-form video — which means that choosing who to work with is a point of a lot of pressure for brands.
There are a few ways to take a deep dive into the who, what and why behind each creator. To begin with, taking a look at their current social media presence is a simple starting point. But in doing so, look beyond the vanity follower number and ask yourself instead:
What is their engagement across platforms? How is the community reacting?
Do they strike a chord with the community they plug into or foster?
Do they have a unique point of view or storytelling ability?
Going a step further, it’s essential to leverage tools such as the TikTok Creator Marketplace that will give brands insight into demographic data and account performance. This allows brands to understand what kind of audience the creator has created, how exactly the audience engages and what overlap there is between the brand’s ideal audience and the community in which the creator has established a presence.
Last but not least, it’s important for brands to learn to leverage TikTok SEO to identify what creators already capture the high-intent traffic that they seek to capture. Specifically, identifying key search terms for TikTok Search and identifying creators who currently rank for them.
Establishing such alignment between the brand and the creator is key to a successful partnership in the long term.
With the rise of creators, brands striving for a strong social presence, and short-form video in general, user attention has become the hottest commodity on the market — and the competition for it is fierce. This means that brands are under pressure to maintain a high quality and quantity of production to ensure they consistently deliver on the communities’ expectations for engaging and valuable content. This also encourages brands to provide timely commentary on relevant conversations across platforms, further humanizing them and offering them a seat at the table for ongoing community discussions.
This means that content creation is moving from a nice-to-have to a must-have — and a sure way to ensure a full-time dedication to upholding the volume. This model (a shift from the traditional campaign-based partnerships) is still on the rise and is only becoming more and more popular as creators on their end also begin to seek more stability, long-term brand partnerships and professional growth. Whether it’s bringing a creator in-house or working with an agency offering in-house creator capabilities, brands need a strategy to help them stay competitive in an oversaturated content space.
3. Strike the balance between creator freedom and brand control
One big challenge for brands is to manage trust in the creator’s creative process while publicly safeguarding the brand’s persona.
Working with a creator requires brands to push the boundaries of their comfort zone because the winning content always carries an element of the creator’s personality or unique delivery — and it’s up to them how they ease a brand’s message into their own community and style. It can be challenging for a brand to experiment with humor, timeliness, vulnerability and authenticity. But this kind of relinquishment of creative control — a shift in the power dynamics of the brand’s narrative — is crucial to effectively partnering and building a sense of kinship with creators and, by extension, their own communities.
For brands to satisfy their need to drive the narrative, however, it’s important to develop a clear briefing process that guides the creator rather than controls them. A few key elements a successful brief should include are:
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Artificial intelligence is all the creator economy seems to be talking about these days — including my team. At a recent company-wide event, I was inevitably hit with questions and ideas from team members who wanted to discuss what the future would look like now that language models like ChatGPT and image generators like DALL-E are part of the mix. Like many others, I’m also exploring these questions — especially as they relate to the many creators we want to help succeed.
There are still many questions to be answered, but what’s clear is that these transformative tools will impact our products and services and the creators who use them.
Creators who innovate and find useful, ethical ways to harness AI (or, more accurately, machine learning) tools will prosper. That means embracing this experimental moment to discover and systematize thoughtful, ethical, original and strategic uses for machine-learning programs.
Through our work with creators, I’m at the center of many discussions about how AI might transform the industry. Here are three important things every leader and entrepreneurial creator must consider when incorporating machine learning tools.
Clearly, there’s enormous curiosity about and demand for tools like ChatGPT. More than a million people logged on to the platform within the first five days of its release. Buzzfeed’s stock soared by 200% after the company announced AI would generate a significant portion of its future content. But the important question is not whether to use machine learning. It’s how.
Much early use has been surface-level queries and exploration. But this honeymoon period will quickly give way to more deliberate experimentation. Funders, customers, clients and team members will all be deeply invested in finding the most useful AI assists. The nuance is in the values, parameters and processes devised in these early days of ubiquitous machine learning. Companies and creators who think differently about using AI will lead the way.
Using AI for outsized returns
Because AI is now available to all, creators can’t expect exceptional results if inputs or queries are generic. For example, I asked ChatGPT to produce a course curriculum on being a good CEO and received surprisingly good outputs, but anyone can ask that question and get a similar result.
Creators experimenting with longer, more detailed inputs or asking machine learning programs to review existing content, projects, data or theories are more likely to generate unique and impactful outputs. Similarly, those who input unique or proprietary data sets, who ask the generative programs to find problems with or poke holes in ideas or expand on existing projects, will achieve the best results.
On a broader scale, the ethical framework creators use will determine the AI’s ultimate value, beginning with how they define success.
Forget about whether AI-assisted content could be considered “stolen” or whether creators should disclose machine-generated or assisted content. There are serious ethical questions at the input level, including datasets, guardrails and success parameters. This is particularly relevant in content creation, where short-term goals of increasing revenue and grabbing attention may take priority over deeper ethical concerns.
Remember Microsoft’s failed Twitter bot, which spewed hateful, untrue and racist garbage into cyberspace? In this case, the issue stemmed partly from the inputs we fed the machine. Similarly, failing to target more robust and meaningful outcomes than clicks and views could undo decades of progress in corporate ethics and responsibility. In the past, business leaders were considered solely responsible for revenue, but today there’s a growing recognition that they must also be accountable for other social and environmental impacts of their business. If the success parameters of AI are defined purely by dollar signs and eyeballs, it may undo much of this great work.
Because they are nimble, entrepreneurial and relentlessly creative, content creators will lead the way during this new era. That’s why their priority should be to develop and refine processes and protocols to generate quality outputs regarding ethics and content.
Remember the early days of SEO when you could beat the search engines by hacking the algorithm — for example, by filling a page with keywords even though the content wasn’t particularly valuable. That short-term strategy worked until the algorithms were updated to better find true value for end users.
If you apply a similar principle to AI — those that win with it, in the long run, will be those that provide differentiated and valuable outputs.
Some of the most interesting potential uses for machine learning in content creation will never be seen by an audience. They involve enlisting AI as a thought partner, not just a content mill.
Creators can use machine-learning tools as sounding boards, asking questions that will lead to better outcomes. For example, to seek out logical mistakes and fallacies in a piece of content or list counterarguments to a proposal. They might input their proprietary datasets to instantly analyze audience preferences and needs (a powerful proposition when reflecting on the importance of community to a successful creator business). Alternatively, these AI could generate unique insights from public domain data. Say you’re teaching a cooking class. You could use machine-learning tools to find out what recipes and approaches are working on popular social platforms. With enough data and information, you might predict the next big trend.
Importantly, entrepreneurial creators might use AI tools as mentors, tapping into the aggregate wisdom of thousands instead of one person’s experience. Content generation is an exciting productivity hack, but these deeper uses hold the potential for true and lasting transformation. By keeping purpose in mind and digging deeper, leaders and entrepreneurs in the creative industries can guide the development and implementation of AI technology toward positive outcomes that benefit both the industry and society.
This is truly an exciting time of experimentation, but human nature — not computer programming — will ultimately determine how AI-assisted use unfolds.
Welcome to “Splurge/Save,” a series in which we quiz beauty obsessives about the top luxury (“splurge”) and drugstore (“save”) products in their routines.
Amy Chang — the Los Angeles-based digital content creator known to her many followers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok as @bondenavant — has some opinions when it comes to beauty products. She’s tested just about everything worth trying, and her fans know they can trust her for honest takes on formulas, treatments and trends. It’s Chang’s grounded, relatable presence, on social media platforms that can often feel overwhelming, that keeps fans coming back.
Born in South Korea but raised in Minnesota, Chang says her passion for beauty stems from her “Sicilian and French Canadian” mother.
“She always has a full face, even if we’re outside in the woods hiking,” Chang tells Fashionista. “She always has lipstick on — she reapplies it throughout the day, even when she’s home alone. This I still don’t understand, but she says, ‘Amy, I just apply it for myself.’”
At 19, Chang temporarily dropped out of college and got a job working at a Shiseido counter, where she recalls first falling in love with skin care. “That little seed of passion was there, it just needed another push,” she says. “When I went back to college, I got an internship at L’Oréal, at Shu Uemura in their PR department, and thought that this was going to be my path.” She spent years working in beauty and then hospitality public relations in New York City before experiencing burnout.
“My boyfriend at the time — now husband — asked me to move to L.A., and I was like, ‘Sure, let’s do it. Let’s go on another adventure,’” she says. “I knew I didn’t want to go back to an agency life, so I started a blog about beauty and wellness, things that I was exploring in this new world of L.A., like Botox and fillers and lasers and smoothies and juice cleanses.”
What initially began as a “passion project” eventually grew into a full-time career as a beauty content creator.
“I think I was just always searching for connection with other women, and my blog allowed me to have that,” Chang says. “I met so many interesting women along the way, and I had the best time talking with them and sharing what I’m exploring and what works and what doesn’t.”
Chang’s product vetting process is thorough and practiced, though it differs depending on the formula: “Cleansers, I can get a pretty good sense after the first couple of uses of how my skin is going to respond, so I feel like I’m switching out much more frequently than any of the other products. Serums, I give at least a month to see, ‘Okay, what is this doing?’ If I’m not seeing anything after a month of consistent use, I’m kind of like, ‘Okay, this is not happening.’ I need to be seeing something there, even if it’s just a little improvement.”
Whether she’s choosing to cover a product on her channels organically or deciding to partner with a brand, Chang always asks herself three questions: “Is this a product that I would spend my own money on if I didn’t already, if it was gifted? Is this a product that I would re-purchase? Is this a product that I would recommend to my sister, my mom, my best friend? If it’s yes to all three, then I bring it to my audience.”
Ahead, Chang shares her top “splurge” and “save” beauty picks across a wide variety of categories.
Photo: Courtesy of Amy Chang
Mascara: “I have non-existent eyelashes. You can’t even see them. This is just the byproduct of being Asian. They’re straight, thin, limp, short. My budget-friendly one that I love is No. 7 360 Waterproof Mascara in Dark Brown ($10.99). It does such a great job of lifting and providing a little curl. It doesn’t smudge. And dark brown is the thing — I feel like this past year, I’ve really opened myself to brown eyeliner and brown mascara, and it has been a game-changer. It’s such a soft look for daytime, and it makes me look like I don’t have anything on my eyes. Black is more dramatic; I wear that for nighttime.
“For high-end, I love the Tower 28 MakeWaves Mascara ($20). I don’t know if it’s because the founder is Asian and so she probably was creating this product for herself, but I love it. It builds up really well. It gives a nice curl, and it holds and lengthens my short lashes.”
Cleanser: “The ‘low’ is an OG in my household: the CeraVe Cream-to-Foam Cleansing Face Wash ($14.99). It works for everyone in my family. I’ve dealt with dermatitis. My kids have dermatitis and eczema patches. I use it on them, on myself, on my husband. I even use it as shampoo on my kids, and it’s phenomenal. I love that product.
“For ‘high,’ I really like the Philosophy Purity Foaming Cleanser ($27). At first, I was kind of like, ‘I don’t know about Philosophy brand.’ There’s something about the bubble baths. It seemed very… not serious skin care, right? But then I tried this cleanser, and it’s so good. I have sensitive skin, and it has salicylic acid in it. It’s extremely gentle. It helps to clear up clogged pores and blackheads. It’s one of my favorite cleansers now.”
Sunscreen: “Beauty of Joseon ($10.29) is a Korean SPF that went viral last year for a reason. I mean, it’s $10. It has the lightest texture. There’s no white cast. It’s just a beautifully crafted SPF. The only hesitation I have with it personally is that there’s no tint, and for someone like myself who’s dealing with melasma and pigment, wearing tinted SPF is really essential because it protects against that blue light which can stimulate the melanin production of pigment.
“On a day-to-day basis, I really do reach for the EltaMD Tinted SPF 41 ($36.50) for sensitive skin. I’ve been using it for years. I love it because it’s formulated to be used post-laser and chemical peel. That’s actually when I first got introduced to it — I had a Fraxel laser done, and my dermatologist recommended I use this SPF. I also really like the SkinCeuticals Fusion SPF 50 ($36). It also has a tint, so I feel good that I’m getting that extra protection from the blue light. It has more of a watery texture to it.”
Shampoo and conditioner: “The luxury one almost pains me a little bit to recommend it because it’s so expensive. Well, I love it. It’s the Augustinus Bader Shampoo ($55). The thing is that it’s a shampoo that the more you use it, the better your hair will get. Typically, shampoos are like a face cleanser: You want one that’s not going to be damaging, that’s going to be gentle — yeah, it can contribute some benefits, but because it’s a wash-off product, it’s not going to be as dramatic as a hair serum, so you really just want to find something that’s gentle that works for your hair type. But this, I actually notice improvements in my hair with continued use.
“For the budget-friendly one, I’m a really big fan of Kristin Ess Extra Gentle Shampoo ($11). I think there are five or six different surfactants in it. When you shop for a shampoo, one of the best indicators if it’s good or not is how many detergents they use, because if there’s two different types of detergents to get a foaming action, they need a lot of each of those two detergents. But if you have five or six different kinds and you just need a little bit of each one, there’s less possibility that you’re going to get an irritation or a reaction to that detergent. It also has a lot of film-forming humectants, which add moisture to the strands. When people think about hydration for hair, they’re always thinking butters and oils, which, yes, are great, but you really need things that will bind water to the strand, too. Butters and oils can really weigh down strands. It’s the film-forming humectants that really give that moisture that makes hair kind of flexible and bouncy.
“For conditioners, I love the accompanying conditioner for the Augustinus Bader [shampoo] ($55). I also really like the Briogeo Mango Cherry Conditioner ($30). If you have fine, thin hair, you want one that doesn’t have too many of these rich butters and stuff, because it’s going to weigh it down.”
Scroll to Continue
Retinoid: “I just recently got back on the retinol train after a very long hiatus. I’m using the SkinCeuticals 0.3 Retinol ($70), which I think is just one of the best if you have sensitive skin. It’s a targeted delivery system.
“For the budget-friendly one, I like the CeraVe ($20.99). I find that it’s a little intense. I go slower with those budget-friendly ones. I think they try to pack a little more punch into them.”
Eye cream: “For the ‘low,’ I’ve loved The Inkey List Caffeine Serum ($13.79) for years. The only drawback is that it doesn’t have anti-aging benefits to it, but it gives you that immediate payoff of helping with dark circles because that’s my problem. Caffeine is a vasodilator, so it helps with improving blood flow. And it’s $10 and it just brightens it right away.
“On the higher end, when I’ve been using nightly, I love the Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye ($70). It’s so funny because I feel like this product has been around forever, but they recently reformulated it and added in this technology that has this antioxidant blend that helps block the blue light. With studies coming out and finding that blue light damages collagen and elastin and helps to stimulate that pigment, I think about all the time in the day I spend in front of a screen — I wake up, grab my phone, go to the Peloton screen, to the TV screen, to my computer screen, back to my phone screen at night and then I go to bed. There literally is no break. It’s very sad.”
Body scrub or wash: “The Kopari KP Volcanic Ash Scrub ($26) is hands down my favorite body scrub. That’s really good.
“I’d say on lower end for body wash, I really love the Raw Sugar Body Wash in Watermelon and Fresh Mint ($7.99). It’s really gentle, it smells great, it’s only $10 and you get this huge bottle.”
“I really love the Rare Beauty Eyeliner ($22). It’s really wet, so you have to be careful, but it’s amazing at getting that really sharp winged eyeliner look.”
Blush: “The one that I’ve used the longest and really stayed true — I feel like I always come back to it — is Nars Orgasm ($32). That’s just an OG. I love that one.
“For the ‘low’ pick, I like the W3ll People Stick Blush ($22). I just tried it the other day and it’s really nice.”
Foundation: “Kosas Revealer Foundation ($42). I like that it’s really hydrating. On days that I use it, I don’t use any moisturizer. I’ll just put my SPF on and then I’ll put my foundation on. I really like the Summer Fridays Skin Tint ($42). It’s super sheer. That’s for the days where I feel like my skin is looking great and I don’t actually want that much.
Essence or toner: “I love the SK-II Pitera ($185). That’s really great because it has that fermented yeast that has the B vitamins. It’s so expensive. And for the longest time, I was like, ‘Come on. Really? Why is this so expensive?’ But then I used it and actually noticed a huge difference in the redness on my face, especially around my chin and nostrils. And it did help with my pigment, oddly. I can’t deduce exactly what’s causing it, which really perplexes me because I’m like, ‘How could just the B vitamins and this fermented yeast do this?’ But I think it helps with the skin barrier, really strengthening it. That’s how it helps with the pigment and the spots and the redness.
“I really like the Cocokind Rosewater Toner ($17.99). I’m a big fan of rose water. I constantly spray it on my scalp, on my face; when my girls get itchy, I spray it on them.”
Highlighter: “Everyone is just obsessed with the Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter ($46). I use it in a shade lighter than what they recommend for my skin because it really gives a lot of brightness to the face.
“There’s the viral dupe, and it works just as well — it’s called the L’Oréal Lumi Glotion ($15.99). It works just as well at giving that same kind of high beam, strobe light, really big brightness to the skin. The difference is the consistency: The Lumi Glotion is very thin and lightweight, and the Charlotte Tilbury one is thicker.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Please note: Occasionally, we use affiliate links on our site. This in no way affects our editorial decision-making.
