TikTok's New Algorithm Shift, MrBeast's Creator Fund Move, and a Format Built to Go Viral
Your weekly intel drop on the creator economy - decoded, dissected, and weaponized for growth.
Welcome to The Briefing - where the creator economy meets cold analysis and hot takes. Take a look, and don’t be shy. Leave a comment… and I’ll reply! Wow. Eminem, look out. I’ve got bars, apparently.
✨ TREND WATCH
TikTok's Algorithm Shift: Engagement is Out. Retention is In.
TikTok is quietly pivoting away from surface-level metrics (likes, comments) and leaning hard into watch time and repeat views. Why it matters:
High-retention storytelling is the new clickbait.
Shortform is getting longer - clips between 90 and 180 seconds are performing better.
Hooks now need to open loops, not just grab attention.
Creative Takeaway: Treat every TikTok like the pilot of a binge-worthy series. Set up a question, hide the answer, delay the reveal. This is where "High-Stakes Story Loops" shine.
📈 CREATOR POWER MOVES
MrBeast Skips YouTube's Creator Fund. Builds His Own.
Jimmy Donaldson just announced a $1M fund for small creators - powered by Feastables, not YouTube. He’ll hand-pick 10 creators, help them scale, and fund their content.
Translation: The best creators aren’t just monetizing audiences. They’re building ecosystems.
This is "creator-as-VC." He’s using content capital to buy attention equity. And he’s not alone. Expect this to become a trend: Creators becoming the new incubators.
What you can do: Start thinking of your brand like an umbrella company. What product, platform, or people can your content amplify?
💡 VIRAL TEMPLATE OF THE WEEK
"The Thing You Think You Know" Hook
Use this to inject tension and curiosity into any niche:
"Everyone says [X] is the key to growth. But that’s not even close to true. Here's why."
Why it works:
Leverages contrarian tension
Opens curiosity loop
Sets you up to deliver a paradigm shift
Test it this week on TikTok or YT Shorts. Bonus if you show results after.
🌟 RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Tool: Captions.ai - Dead-simple AI video editing. Auto-cuts dead space. Highlights emotion. Instantly clips your longform into shorts. If Adobe Premiere and ChatGPT had a baby, this is it.
✉️ ICYMI:
Big updates on YouTube are incoming. Shorts is testing mid-roll ads. Monetization may get a big upgrade.
Twitter/X is boosting posts with longform text AND video. Try pairing threads with Shorts.
See you Friday for The Blueprint. We'll talk about plug-and-play content systems for YouTube Shorts.
And hey - if this helped, forward it to a friend who’s still blaming the algorithm instead of learning it.
Cheers,
Alex