We are carrying on Jasmine’s tradition of picking a word that we think will define the creator economy in the year ahead. For 2026, Jasmine picked control and Kaya picked focus.
If you’re curious about why we chose those words, tune into our podcast on Thursday. You can watch on YouTube or Spotify—or listen anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Now, let’s get into our predictions for the creator economy in 2026.
Microdramas will explode
These vertical video shows with 60 to 90 second long episodes are already hugely popular—and lucrative—in China. Dhar Mann recently teased that he has something cooking in the space. We predict at least one other big name creator will release a microdrama next year.
TikTok and other social platforms will look to capture that attention, such as by brokering direct deals with microdrama creators to develop or exclusively host their shows. TikTok is already taking steps in that direction: It added microdramas to a new Minis section, allowing users to sample shows without leaving the app. Instagram recently released its own microdrama in India.
That means standalone microdrama apps like ReelShort and DramaBox, which charge users to watch shows, could feel the squeeze as similar content becomes more available (for free!) on the apps where viewers are already spending their time.
The first creator IPO
We predict Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, will file for an initial public offering in 2026 for his holding company Beast Industries.
He’s been seemingly laying the groundwork for an IPO, including tapping former investor Jeffrey Housenbold as CEO—a move Kaya noted at the time signaled potential IPO ambitions. Housenbold previously worked at SoftBank and led Shutterfly through its 2006 public offering as its CEO. The two recently appeared together at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
Expect the move to be met with excitement and skepticism. Both are warranted: A creator-led IPO would be a huge win for the creator economy, but there are few—if any—other creators who could currently pull this off.
The rise of hybrid-business models
More people, including journalists and corporate employees, will become independent creators next year. This new wave of creators understands the pitfalls of going solo from unpredictable income to a lack of resources, so they won’t do it totally alone.
Instead, many will have backers or partners like traditional media companies, which are in need of reinvention, or investors, who increasingly see creators as the future of media. Just look at Andreessen Horowitz’s New Media Fellowship program or Slow Ventures’ $60 million creator fund.
We also predict that more creator-focused funds will launch next year.
An AI influencer breaks into the mainstream. Plus, AI becomes actually useful
After some attempts at making virtual influencers go viral in 2025, we predict an AI influencer will break into the mainstream this year. Cue controversy.
We also expect 2026 to be the year AI actually becomes useful to creators. Digital clones could be a case in point: Instead of being used as stand-ins for human creators or as a way to scale creator content, digital clones could morph into AI assistants trained on a creator’s library of content.
These assistants could also help creators run the back end of their businesses and work as front-facing agents to respond to messages from fans, engage with audiences and make personalized recommendations.
Big M&A
More Fortune 500 companies are going to become interested in M&A deals in the creator economy in 2026. Omnicom could potentially acquire an influencer marketing firm now that it has finalized its merger with IPG, following similar moves by WPP and Publicis.
Other companies, including consulting firms or commerce giants, could also look to expand their creator efforts by acquiring smaller companies. McKinsey & Company recently brought on Monica Khan, who previously worked at Spotter and Meta, as a creator economy senior advisor, for example.
Smaller influencer marketing firms will also seek buyers or merge with competitors to grow and survive.
Static content makes a triumphant return
We bet people are going to want a break from video content. It has taken over our social feeds and even platforms that have been focused on audio, like Spotify and iHeartRadio, are leaning in. Static content could also give brands and creators a way to stand out among a sea of neverending, similar-looking posts.
Photo carousels, in particular, could surge. They have a longer shelf-life than short videos as platforms can serve the same post to users multiple times.
Data from Metricool supports this: Engagement on Instagram was down across all types of content in 2025 compared to the previous year, indicating user fatigue and trouble breaking through. But carousels performed better than both Reels and single image posts in reach, impressions and even interactions.
• Instagram pushes into podcasting with dedicated tools. Podcast clips already frequently go viral on the platform and many podcast creators have built strong audiences there. Sister app Threads is also ramping up its podcast efforts.
• TikTok will launch a new app for connected TVs. With YouTube’s dominance in the living room, and Instagram coming to TVs, we bet TikTok will be next. We also think microdramas could be TikTok’s entry point to larger screens as serialized content is more fit for—and could be offered exclusively on—TV.
• Spotify will make moves to attract not just podcasters, but all types of video creators. Chef Nick DiGiovanni found himself on one of Spotify’s top podcasting charts in 2025 without actually having a podcast. He won’t be the last, and it will be intentional. As the lines blur between podcasts, video series and other types of content, Spotify will see an opportunity to expand its number of creators, while at the same time boosting its ad business.
• LinkedIn will follow TikTok, Instagram and YouTube and launch collab posts so that users and brands can co-share posts together. (As LinkedIn power users, we are dying for this feature!)
• Meta will start to monetize Meta AI. In its first quarter earnings call, Meta said it would be at least a year before it launched ads or other paid features. That time frame is just around the corner. Plus, Meta’s ad growth will be harder to maintain next year, which could also be one reason why it’s reportedly planning budget cuts in its metaverse division in early 2026.
What We Got Right And Wrong in 2025
Creators x Hollywood
Kaya hit the nail on the head with this one. She forecast that movie studios and streamers would work with more social media creators—from casting them in traditional roles and building new reality TV shows around them to licensing their content and launching more ad-supported streaming channels. She even predicted Mark Rober would get a streaming deal. All of these things happened!
Kaya also predicted that direct investments in creators and their companies would rise. We saw several such deals, including investors backing the holding companies of MrBeast and podcaster Steven Bartlett.
Jasmine predicted that YouTube and Netflix would take pages out of each other’s playbooks as they battled for the living room screen. That included Netflix striking deals with more creators and YouTube adding more premium content and features. She also said that the lines between long and short videos would blur, in part as creators developed more TV-like content. That was all correct.
Jasmine also predicted that YouTube could revisit Originals. That didn’t happen, but YouTube did find other ways to support creators in Hollywood, including helping them nab Emmy nominations. The premise of the prediction was that YouTube could be under threat from losing some of its top creators to streamers. That’s more true than ever: Podcasts included in the Netflix-Spotify deal can no longer post full episodes on YouTube!
TikTok’s turbulent 2025
Kaya and Jasmine were spot on with their predictions about TikTok’s fate in the US. Kaya predicted that the Supreme Court would uphold a US law that could ban it. Jasmine said President Trump would be a lifeline for TikTok. Need we say more?
But Kaya missed the mark when she predicted Elon Musk would try to buy TikTok. On a related note, Jasmine was also wrong about Musk’s X and Trump-owned Truth Social forming an alliance in 2025—though she did hedge that bet by saying Trump and Musk could have a falling out first. They did.
Creator monetization moves
Jasmine correctly predicted that Threads would launch ads and DMs. She also correctly predicted that Meta would start to monetize messaging, but missed on the app and monetization model. (She chose ads in Instagram Channels; Meta launched Stories ads and paid Channels in WhatsApp).
Kaya predicted Instagram and YouTube would launch major shopping features this year to compete with TikTok Shop. YouTube did launch some shopping features, but Instagram has stuck with driving purchases through ads.
Jasmine also made several correct predictions about how the influencer marketing space would evolve, including legacy talent agencies accommodating creators, in-person creator events rising and the beginning of the end of the “million follower” era. Read more of her predictions and how she did here.
We also discussed the key themes and highlights of 2025 in our most recent podcast episode.
Here’s what you may have missed during the holiday week…
The Round Up
New York will require social media apps to show warning labels about their potential harm to young people’s mental health under a new law.
Instagram’s plan to win back teens has included marketing campaigns, product changes and installing a “living museum” in Meta’s offices to help employees understand teens’ lifestyles, such as instructions for how to take teen-style selfies. Read The Washington Post’s full report here.
FaZe Clan is in turmoil again. Many members of the influencer collective exited after contract talks with new management broke down.
The Ringer’s “The Bill Simmons Podcast” will go live every Sunday on Netflix starting January 11 as part of the company’s previously announced deal with Spotify. Afterward, the video version of the sports podcast will be available on Netflix and Spotify with the audio version publishing elsewhere. This deal gives a glimpse into how Netflix could structure other deals as it pushes more into podcasts, as well as live programming and sports.
