5 Creator Economy Predictions for 2024

The creator economy is now a 12-figure behemoth that will become a trillion dollar market within 5-10 years.

Here are 5 predictions of my predictions for the creator landscape in 2024.

1. The Emergence (and Immediate Decline) of AI Influencers

AI influencers have been making headlines in 2023. We’ve seen Aitana, a “25-year-old AI model” reportedly making $11K per month.

I think we will see this trend explode in 2024 as the barrier to entry continues to get lower as it becomes easier to do, and the technology continues to dramatically improve.

There will be some savvy folks who make a quick buck taking advantage of the arbitrage opportunity, but I think this trend will decline even faster than it emerges. It’ll become quickly saturated, commoditized and boring.

While this is a gimmicky trend, the same technology can be applied to something that I think is very impactful - the digital twin. Let’s talk about that.

2. The Emergence (and Rise) of AI Digital Twins

Having a digital representation of ourselves is nothing new. Personal websites, social media profiles, etc. have served as methods for people to discover us and get to know us better. They’re an intermediary for interested parties to gather the data required before a personal connection is made.

I think that in 2024, we will all create an AI version of ourselves that can be used to interface with interested parties conversationally.

This can replace introductory calls for service professionals, exploratory calls for potential contractors, etc.

Right now, it’s fairly difficult to do. You have to fine-tune an LLM with a large dataset of yours and pair it with a realistic avatar with your replicated voice + lip-sync.

More than likely, 2024 is the year that platforms like Instagram will build a product to streamline this process, and by the end of the year this wave is in full motion.

3. Creator-Led Media Companies

I think we will see more creators starting media companies in 2024 to own a vertical.

Alex Cooper is an early pioneer here with the Unwell Network.

I have also been exploring in this area. I have been creating content around emerging tech, with a specific focus on how creators can leverage it.

I also own Metav3rse and Eluna that play in this ecosystem. This will allow me to create more market share for myself in this vertical.

In 2024 I plan on hiring a team around these to create more original content within the vertical, across several platforms.

4. Mixed Reality as a Medium

The Vision Pro was pushed back to March 2024, and even though there won’t be an extraordinary number of units produced, I think it create a real hype frenzy.

Creators and entrepreneurs alike will start imagining new ways to produce content for this medium, and early movers will benefit from a real arbitrage play.

I bought this Canon VR lens in preparation, as I want to explore different ways to tell stories in this new medium.

5. The Rise of Educational Content & IRL Streaming

I think that 2024 will be the year that IRL streaming gets taken to new heights.

It will be the last content frontier to be commoditized by AI, and is the most impactful way to develop a real relationship with your audience.

The idea is actually quite novel. It’s the evolution of reality TV. In the late 90s, TV execs realized that they could pack a bunch of personalities in a room, and have their producers piece together clips to tell some semblance of a story.

Today, 24/7 IRL streamers are the new reality TV – but this time around, their fans are in essence the producers. They clip the most interests parts of the stream and blast them on socials to piece together the story.

I also think that educational content is on the rise, and one of the best plays in creatorland. There’s a reason why some educational YouTubers with 10k subscribers make more money than spectacle YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of subs.

TikTok is making a concerted effort to push longer videos on the platform.

At a private event last month, this is what the company told creators:

• The growth rate for long-form creators on the app is 5x that of short-form creators.

• Users are spending half their time watching videos that are over one minute.

In addition, TikTok is ending its Creator Fund in favor of its Creativity Program, which requires participating videos to be longer than 60 seconds in order to receive payouts.

Why is TikTok pushing longer videos? It’s because longer videos generate more ad dollars. More than likely, TikTok will introduce mid-roll ads in the future.

Note: I’m seeing ~$0.60 RPM as part of this program, which is not bad at all for short-form content, but of course not competitive to YouTube‘s long-form RPM. So every million views I get, the platform pays me $600.

Quick Hits

This section includes things I have found interesting and helpful this week.

Joe explains why Mark Cuban selling the Mavericks may be part of a bigger plan to bring legalized casino gambling to Texas.

George explains how to spot high-agency people.

Roni explains how to create your own AI influencer.

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Have a great week y’all.

- Roberto