Paid to Post Politics

Politicians tapping creators isn’t new. What’s different for the midterms is that more campaigns and political groups are offering creators payment, including to those who rarely post about politics.

As of mid-October, a whopping 83% of creators in the US were already doing, planning to do or would accept paid political work, according to data from influencer marketing company Fohr, provided exclusively to Scalable. And nearly half (47%) of those who were approached for political work during this election cycle don’t regularly talk about politics in their content. 

“Because politics isn’t their main focus, the moments they do talk about it carry real weight,” said James Nord, founder of Fohr. For groups with less money to spend, smaller, non-political creators can also help reach much wider audiences.

One example: Ifeanyi Ifediba, a graduate student who mostly posts about sports, anime and campus life, recently agreed to make a political ad that urged voters to vote yes on Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time tax on billionaires in California. He was paid $250, according to the New York Times. 

Even so, most of creators’ work, like visiting a politician on Capitol Hill, inviting them onto their podcast or joining a candidate at a rally, remains unpaid. And despite the receptiveness toward it, over 80% of creators surveyed by influencer marketing agency Collectively had not been offered a paid political partnership ahead of the midterms. (Similarly, Fohr’s survey showed that just 29% of creators had been approached about any kind of political content ahead of the midterms.)

Plus, creators’ openness to supporting a candidate comes with a catch. Over half (59%) of creators in Fohr’s survey said they would charge a premium for a partnership with a candidate. Just look at the $400,000 paid earlier this year to progressive influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina by Tom Steyer’s unsuccessful campaign for California governor, according to financial disclosure forms cited by Semafor. 

The rise of paid political partnerships raises all sorts of concerns, from proper disclosures and fact checking to losing trust with followers. Seventy-six percent of US registered voters said that they were concerned about an influencer making money from a campaign, PAC or social media platform for political content, per July data from the Rainey Center. 

That’s despite the fact that audiences increasingly expect creators to use their platforms to talk about political and social issues. In fact, staying silent can now also be seen as its own political stance—or as tone-deaf.

Still, speaking out about something you believe in isn’t the same as being paid to do it. There’s also a big difference between endorsing a candidate and supporting an issue. 

Creators often tread that line carefully. For example, many would rather talk about an issue that’s personal to them, such as clean water or family care programs, than back a specific candidate or even party. Some just tell followers to get to the polls, without specifying who to vote for. During the 2024 US presidential election cycle, Alex Cooper didn’t endorse Kamala Harris despite having her on “Call Her Daddy.” Instead, she opened the episode with a disclaimer that she isn’t trying to change her audience’s political affiliation.

We see this caution as a potential limiting factor to creators’ influence. It may also partially explain why more creators were approached by issue groups than candidates in Fohr’s survey.

And even when candidates do approach creators, they often tend to prioritize cause-based work. Sarah Drory, communications director for California Rep. Ro Khanna, told us that his creator partnerships are more focused on issues and building relationships, rather than asking creators to endorse Khanna. Drory added that Khanna’s office hasn’t done any paid work with creators.

Looking ahead to 2028, we expect the debate over whether to pay creators to intensify—along with a push to regulate this activity. Texas and California already require creators to disclose paid political posts, and California recently added fines for those who don’t. 

But we don’t expect that to dissuade creators or politicians from working together.

Vibes are different than votes, as we said on our midterms podcast episode.

Creators, from lifestyle influencers to podcasters, can help shape how people feel about a candidate, but ultimately people vote for a myriad of reasons. A creator’s post, paid or not, is just one piece of it. 

Tune into our full podcast for our full analysis of creators’ influence in politics, available now across podcast platforms. 

We’ve been noticing a flood of announcements from creators and creator-led media companies about livestreaming election coverage. 

The strategy makes perfect sense. Outlets like the New York Times run live blogs and TV networks go wall-to-wall on election night because people want to follow results in real time. It also tracks with livestreaming’s comeback this year as creators look for new ways to stand out.

Take Jubilee Media. The YouTube-focused digital media company is hosting its first-ever livestreamed coverage of the midterms on YouTube tonight. Piers Morgan, meanwhile, is in Washington to host a live, four-hour election night special of his YouTube-focused show “Uncensored.” And former Vox political correspondent Liz Plank and tech executive turned creator Loren Piretra are teaming up to co-host their own election livestream.

As we wrote last week, it’s tempting to slap a single label on this year’s midterms after 2024 was dubbed the “podcast election.” We floated the “clipping election” or the “texting election” before landing on the “everything election.” Let’s add one more to the list: the “livestream election.”

• Instagram is offering some creators between $50,000 and $500,000 to post long-form videos to its new Features product, Business Insider reported. It’s a familiar playbook: Instagram has offered similar bonuses to creators to post Reels, including around the short-lived TikTok ban. We’re still wondering what Instagram’s longer-term monetization plan is for Features because as we noted last week… Cash bonuses only get you so far. 

• Meta quietly launched an AI fashion app called Style Sketch, which helps users create outfits from their existing clothes. The app connects to Instagram to build a virtual closet from posted photos or users can add photos manually. 

in partnership with Pop.Store

Every creator knows the Sunday night spiral: What should I post this week? Why are my Reels flopping? Should I be doing carousels again? Wasn’t I supposed to post yesterday?

Growing on Instagram means playing several roles at once. You’re the strategist figuring out what’s working, the analyst tracking every algorithm shift, the script writer, the talent, the editor and the person who has to remember to actually post. Most creators can’t afford a team to cover all of those roles, so things slip: the posting schedule gets inconsistent, the ideas run out and growth stalls.

Pop.Store’s ECHO-ME is built to close that gap. It analyzes your Instagram account to understand what’s already resonating with your audience and builds a personalized weekly growth plan covering what to post and when. It also keeps tabs on algorithm shifts and emerging trends in your niche, so you can adjust your strategy as the platform changes.

Then it does the work. ECHO-ME writes ready-to-shoot Reel scripts, scene by scene. It also creates carousels, Stories and AI-generated videos. When it’s time to post, it sends you a notification, so you can stay consistent.

Think of it as an AI growth manager and content team rolled into one. 

ECHO-ME is powered by Claude and GPT-6 Astra, and it’s free to start. Learn more here.

Reddit plans to require all users to create accounts and be logged in to access most content on the social media platform, a major change from how it’s been operating. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told CNBC that search traffic from Google went “down meaningfully” during the third quarter due to AI summaries. This seems to be playing a big role in these plans.

SuperMe, a startup offering a network of AI profiles built from the expertise of real people, raised $20 million in funding led by Forerunner Ventures. When a user asks a question, the platform determines which expert is the best to answer it. Then, it creates a group chat with its AI profile. No profiles exist without the expert’s involvement and the profiles are trained off of things they’ve publicly said, such as their LinkedIn posts, YouTube videos or blogs.

Magnet Originals, a creator company providing advice and production support for media personalities, launched on Monday. Its goal is to help existing names like singer Justin Tranter and former NBA star Byron Scott grow, while also incubating emerging talent.   

Studio Jadu, a startup backed by Khosla Ventures, launched its AI animation studio, which aims to back small bands and independent artists to produce original shows. 

Disney is hosting a shopping event on TikTok Shop from Nov 4-10. Disney Store, which sells official merchandise from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and other franchises, first launched on TikTok Shop last year. The inaugural “Super Brand Day” will also include Crocs, Old Navy and other brands and livestreams from creators.

TikTok announced a new content partnership with the Women’s Tennis Association. On Tuesday, TikTok will exclusively livestream the draw for the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, Calif.

On stage with AdWeek, Rahma said his partnerships with brands are what make his business possible. He self-funded early episodes of his long-form show “Keep the Meter Running,” which cost about $2,000 to produce. 

His advice? Skip the studio or network, and “find some brands that want to take a chance.” 

Karen Read, who was found not guilty in the death of her police officer boyfriend, is launching a podcast early next year with her lawyer Alan Jackson and digital media firm Pave Studios. The weekly podcast will focus on true crime cases with Read bringing her perspective as a wrongly accused woman. 

Denzel Washington topped Morning Consult’s list of the 90 most popular celebrities and influencers in the US, while Adam Sandler was the most valuable celebrity endorsement. Creators didn’t appear on the list until the 47th spot, which went to “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans. MrBeast came in at No. 58. We need to dig into the methodology behind this ranking!

Serena Kerrigan, a creator best known for dating content, signed with CAA. 

Meta on Friday settled another lawsuit over youth social media addiction. The case was set to go to trial this week in Los Angeles. On Monday, Snap, which was the only remaining defendant, also settled. 

Michelle St. Jacques is MrBeast’s first CMO. Since February, she has been president of consumer goods at his holding company Beast Industries, including overseeing his chocolate company Feastables. St. Jacques, who is based in Chicago, will continue that role on top of the new marketing duties, according to Business Insider. 

Before joining MrBeast, she was chief commercial officer and CMO of Molson Coors and a senior brand leader at Kraft Heinz. (In March, we predicted creators would start bringing on their own CMOs soon.)

Peter Sellis is joining X to lead product. Sellis spent about 7 years at Snap, including as vice president of product, later joining Discord and Microsoft AI. Nikita Bier, X’s most recent head of product, responded to Sellis’ post joking: “Welcome to the mental hospital. Godspeed!”

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