Peggy K's Creator Weekly: Twitch monetization, AI tools in Chrome, Instagram-Facebook split in Europe

Here were are in the last week of January already! Dear readers, I hope the weather isn’t getting you down. Now that we have reached the peak of winter, I’m looking forward to spring. 

This week there are updates for Twitch streamers, more news for European social media users, new generative AI tools and tips for bloggers and YouTubers.

Top news and updates this week

• Twitch announced an expanded Plus Program for monetization

• European users can separate Facebook and Instagram

• Chrome has new generative AI features for tabs, themes and writing

• Submit your suggestions for new “mythbusting” videos from YouTube’s Creator Liaison

• X may offer Amplify video monetization program to more creators

• If you are using StreamYard’s video editing tools to repurpose your videos, you can now add captions to Reels and Shorts

• Are you seeing redirect errors in Google Search Console for your Blogger blog? Don’t panic!

• X is having trouble keeping up with the flood of sexually explicit deep fakes posted to the platform

• Open AI will implement C2PA’s digital labels on DALL-E generated images

• Google Meet captions are available in 32 new languages

• 404 Media requires an email to read their investigative journalism, read why they made that decision

Read on for details and additional updates!

To Do & Try

The Google Arts & Culture app has a new AI-generated art selfie tool. Take a selfie and have it styled as a work of art, a historical artifact or exploring space or Mount Everest. Learn more.

Twitch Updates their monetization options

Twitch announced their new Partner Plus Program in June 2023. It offered a better revenue share (which is usually 50/50), but only a small percentage of Twitch Partners were likely to meet the eligibility requirements. 

This week Twitch is expanding their Partner Plus Program (now just the Plus Program), adding a new easier-to-reach Level 1, with a 60/40 revenue split. Level 2 will offer a 70/30 revenue split. 

With the expanded eligibility Affiliates will now be eligible for the new program. 

Plus there is no longer a $100,000 cap on the 70/30 revenue share. Previously after reaching $100,000 in earnings, the revenue share would revert to 50/50. Not surprisingly they realized this limitation “served as a disincentive”. 

Twitch is also shifting the way it pays creators for Prime Gaming subs. A benefit of Amazon Prime is a monthly token that can be used for a paid subscription on Twitch. Twitch is shifting the payout from being equivalent to a paid subscriber to a fixed rate based on the country of the viewer (a Prime gaming sub from a viewer in Pakistan is worth $0.55, while a viewer in the US is worth $2.25). Most streamers “will not have a major impact on their revenue.”  The new rates go into effect in June 2024.

Separate Facebook and Instagram in Europe

Last week I wrote about changes Google is implementing in preparation of the Digital Markets Act in the European Union. 

This week Meta announced changes they are making to comply with the new regulations.

• If you have connected Facebook and Instagram you can separate them and manage them as separate accounts.

• If you use Facebook Messenger you can continue to use it, or use the stand-alone Messenger service.

• If you use Facebook Marketplace you can choose to use your Facebook information or not (if not, communication between buyers and sellers will use email.)

• If you use Facebook Gaming you can choose to not use your Facebook information. However, without Facebook you will no longer have features like multiplayer games or in-game purchases.

• You can choose to use Instagram and Facebook free with ads, or pay for a subscription to use it without ads. 

These changes only apply to users in the European Union, European Economic Area, and Switzerland. 

Learn more about Meta’s privacy tools and how to export your data.

Generative AI Features in Chrome

Chrome is getting new generative AI features: 

• Tab Organizer: Automatic suggestions for creating tab groups from your open tabs.

• Custom Themes: Use generative AI to create new themes for Chrome.  Adriana Porter Felt, Director of Engineering on the Chrome team, wrote about some of the challenges of setting this up (and she wants to see your creations).

• Help Me Write: AI-generated text anywhere on the web. 

It’s that last feature that I find concerning. I feel like the last thing we need is more AI-generated reviews and comments and blog posts and whatnot. We’ll see how that goes.

These features are available in Chrome M121 for Mac and Windows in the US. Learn how to use them.

Video Creator and Live Streaming Updates

Want more inside scoop on how YouTube works? Creator Liaison Rene Ritchie is asking for creator questions to answer in a new season of Mythbusters. You can submit your questions on YouTube, Threads or X/Twitter.

The YouTube Creators channel has a new quick tutorial on how to trim and cut your videos using the YouTube Editor.

The TikTok video composer has a new Cutout option that lets you replace your background. 

If you are editing recorded video in StreamYard, you can now add automatic captions to Shorts and Reels.

Tumblr Live is now officially gone. As recently as last August, Tumblr was expanding their live streaming option to more countries, but it never really took off. In November Matt Mullenweg announced that they would be focusing fewer resources on Tumblr. 

Surprising no-one, Mr. Beast’s experiment in posting video to X was a success in part because the video was enrolled in X’s Amplify video promotion option (sponsored pre-roll ads and a visibility boost) which is only available to select partners. Regular creators can only earn from ad revenue sharing when they upload a video. X has said they are planning to open Amplify to more creators, but it’s not likely to be available to everyone. Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day and Tubefilter have more on the story.

Podcasting

Apple will be automatically adding podcast transcripts for podcasts in English, French, German and Spanish. Creators can add their own transcripts using the RSS Transcript tag. There is no option to opt out.

Web Publishers and Search

If you are using Google Ads and want to show personalized ads in the European Economic Area you need to make sure your website is using a Consent Management Platform certified by Google. Learn more.  (Note that this is also required for AdSense Publishers)

If you have a Blogger blog and you are seeing page redirect errors in Google Search Console, don’t panic! Google Product Expert dwsmart explains what that means and why you probably don’t need to do anything to fix it.

If you are collaborating editing a Google Sites site, you can jump to where your collaborator is by clicking their avatar at top right.

Bing Webmaster Tools has an overview of what stats you can find in Site Explorer.

Photos and Image Design on the Web

Flickr is turning 20 in February and they are promising perks, a photo contest, and in-person photo walks.

Social Media

This week X was flooded with AI-generated sexually explicit images of Taylor Swift. X is removing the posts, as they violate their policy on non-consensual nudity, but the platform has been criticized for taking down the images too slowly. The images came from a Telegram group “dedicated to abusive images of women”. Casey Newton at Platformer points out that this is the entirely expected direction for harassment and revenge porn. It’s easy to make, easy to share and hard to stop.

To keep your account secure, X has added passkey support for users in the US on iOS devices. 

You can now turn off DM read receipts in Instagram.

Meta says they are investing in privacy. 

Instagram and Facebook now turn off the ability of teens to receive DMs from people they don’t follow or aren’t connected to on Instagram. Parents can control this setting for supervised accounts.

If you want to make it easier for people to share your site on Threads, new tools let developers create share buttons. I’m using one created by Lucas Puskaric. Get your own.

More AI Updates 

Soon OpenAI will implement the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity’s digital credentials for images generated by DALL-E 3. That will identify them as AI-generated. C2PA was founded by Microsoft and Adobe in 2021.

404 Media reports that YouTube removed more than one thousand video ads with AI-generated celebrities promoting scams.

Communication and Collaboration

You can get live captions in Google Meet in 32 new languages. You still need to select the language the person is speaking in the caption settings. See the full list of caption languages.

Spaces in Google Chat will no longer be able to duplicate an existing Space name (existing Space names will not be affected).  There is also an improved Space creation interface with context-dependent “next steps” to complete the setup.

If your meetings are via Microsoft Teams they announced new customizable video gallery views, and the new option to hide your own gallery view (I can’t believe they didn’t have that before now). They are also improving meeting invites, making it easier for free account users to join Teams for Work meetings (and vice versa), and improving the video and audio setting controls.

More Reading

Read this! 404 Media, which offers excellent original tech journalism, now requires you sign in with your email to read most of their work. They explain that “through our own reporting, we are realizing that in order to combat the fracturing of social media platforms, a Google discoverability crisis fueled by AI generated spam and AI-fueled SEO, and a media business environment that is in utter freefall, we need to be able to reach our readers directly using a platform that we own and control. To do that, we need your email address.” 

(Yes, they have my email)

Thanks for reading!