Top creator news updates for January 2022

Since the beginning of 2022, we’ve been putting out weekly episodes of The Creator Update, our three-minute video recap of the latest news from the creator economy. In every episode, hosts from the Google for Creators team round up timely need-to-knows about new creator promotions, along with relevant content creation tools, features and platform updates.

You can always check out the latest Creator Update on Thursdays on the Google for Creators YouTube channel. But if you’re a binge-watcher, this monthly blog post has all the latest episodes to watch, along with recaps of all the key highlights from each show.

So let’s catch up on the top creator news updates in January, starting with today’s episode.

Jan. 27:

• Koji launches a Truth or Dare app for creators to interact with and earn money from their communities.
• YouTube’s Media Kit allows creators to download a PDF featuring a summary of their channel’s key metrics, including subscribers, unique viewers and average watch time per clip.
• Instagram and TikTok are testing subscription models that will let creators monetize exclusive content.
• Important dates to keep in mind for February content planning: Black History Month, Lunar New Year, New Fashion Week, Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day.

January 20:

• According to the Financial Express, creators are expected to earn more money in 2022 than any other year due to creator funding programs from companies like YouTube, Meta, Pinterest and Linkedin.
• YouTube's new feature lets you compare performance trends of similar videos.
• Instagram is testing a feature that will allow users to rearrange the order of their photo grid.
• Twitter is trying out a search bar on the home screen of the iOs app. Twitter also just put out a U.S. Event Calendar for 2022.
• A new TikTok survey shows that ads made for TikTok that featured creators saw higher recall, higher engagement, and longer view rates than ones that did not. TikTok is also testing a repost feature that’s similar to a retweet on Twitter.
• Media-tech company BBTV’s Pay to Crypto gives creators the ability to collect payments in cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, Ethereum and USD Stablecoin.

January 13:

• Twitter’s Tweet Takes allow users to add TikTok-style video reactions and photos to tweets.
• Instagram announced it’s 2022 priorities: doubling down on video, particularly Reels, and introducing more monetization tools for creators.
• LinkedIn, which now has 722 million subscribers, launched Audio Rooms, a Clubhouse-style feature that lets users host live discussions on LinkedIn.
• YouTube has updated Super Thanks, its monetization feature that lets viewers make donations to favorite creators. Now, users can add a custom message when they purchase a Super Thanks.
• Creators take note: A new tax rule goes into effect this year. Digital payment services like PayPal, Venmo and Zelle are now required to report earnings (if they total $600 or more) that people made for goods and services sold.

Hope you enjoyed and learned something from these January episodes of The Creator Update. Watch all our latest videos by subscribing to Google for Creators on YouTube, and sign up for our monthly newsletter to get the latest from Google for Creators in your inbox.