INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
VidCon, the annual summit in Anaheim, CA for social media stars and their fans to meet each other drew over 75,000 attendees over last week
A small subset of those where entertainment and tech executives convening to share best practices and strike deals.Of the wide range of
topics discussed in the industry-only sessions and casual conversation, five trends stuck out to me as takeaways for Extra Crunch members:
the prominence of TikTok, the strong presence of Chinese tech companies in general, the contemplation of deep fakes, curiosity around
virtual influencers, and the widespread interest in developing consumer product startups around top content creators.Photo by Jerod
Harris/Getty ImagesTikTok, the Chinese social video app (owned by Bytedance) that exploded onto the US market this past year, was the
biggest conversation topic
Executives and talent managers were curious to see where it will go over the next year more than they were convinced that it is changing the
industry in any fundamental way.TikTok influencers were a major presence on the stages and taking selfies with fans on the conference floor
already know each other (rather than being centered on your existing friendships) is a fundamental differentiator.Kathleen Grace, CEO of
democratic in convening users across countries on equal footing.Esports was also a big presence across the conference floor with teens lined
up to compete at numerous simultaneous competitions
They also emphasized the diversity of revenue streams Twitch enables creators to leverage: ads, tipping, monthly patronage, Twitch Prime,
and Bounty Board (which connects brands and live streamers).
