The evolution of media business models

Hello storytellers! If you’re anything like us, you probably find LinkedIn cumbersome to use and of little value. The Information seems to agree. They’re launching a social media platform that would enable their subscribers to connect with each other and create meaningful professional relationships. While The Information does have killer content and a valuable subscriber base, how the social media addition will shake out remains to be seen. A LinkedIn replacement is way overdue, but how would this platform compare to Twitter?

We’d love to hear what you think about this news. Will you use yet another social media platform and why? Reply to this email and let us know :)

Things you should know about

There’s a new Creator Marketplace in town: The company formerly known as Facebook is known to aggressively copy competitors, especially now that it’s trying to recapture some of its former glory. So, it should come as no surprise that Instagram just launched a Creator Marketplace to help brands connect with creators. So far, nothing new. But here’s where it gets interesting: Instagram’s marketplace will allow brands to search for creators based on how engaged their audience is and the demographics of the audience. Really curious to see how this one plays out.

Is TikTok a search engine?: As more people are empowered to tell stories, an unlikely Google competitor is emerging. Gen Z is showing a clear preference towards two things: authenticity and visual searches. In fact, 40% of Gen Zers are using TikTok or Instagram as their primary search engine. Why? Brett Dashevsky has an interesting take on this trend. Maybe Google’s reign is not so stable after all.

The evolution of media business models: With Facebook and Google eating up the ad spend that used to go to media publications, we’ve all been wondering what the future of media looks like. Direct subscriptions? Personalities over legacy brands? While both of these are already moving into the territory of established trends, there’s a new kid in town: Content to Commerce. Adam Ryan explains the evolution of this trend and how it will impact media companies going forward.

News from the Community

Nicole Casperson was featured in the first episode of Workweek’s Make Work Fun podcast. She talks about her passion for elevating underrepresented voices and shares some of her secret sauce for creating killer content. Definitely worth a listen.

Landon Campbell hosted a panel discussion at the Tech Chicago Cookout, alongside leaders from Google, Microsoft and the Obama Foundation. We wish we were in Chicago for this one!

KP is joining Day One as a Program Director. He will be putting his world-class community building skills to use and supporting bootstrapped early stage founders. Here’s to an amazing next chapter!

Do you have news you’d like to share with the community? Send it our way and we’ll add it to the next newsletter.

Just for fun

Picture a Viking warrior. If your mind conjured a tall, bearded, blond dude, you’re not alone. However, you might be off the mark. Studies show that some Viking warriors may have been women. After scientists did a DNA test on the Birka warrior - a skeleton that was buried with a sword, previously assumed to have been a man - they discovered that it was in fact a woman. While not presenting definitive evidence that there were female Viking warriors, this does show that gender roles were likely more fluid than we previously thought. Who would’ve thought Vikings were so woke?!

With love,

Team Salley