The microdrama mania is growing.
TikTok is testing a new paid standalone microdrama app called LimeShorts in the US, Business Insider reported on Friday.
The move comes as short-form, scripted vertical series keep exploding in popularity. The growth has attracted the attention of creators, brands, advertisers—and even Hollywood, which initially dismissed the format as too cheesy.
But LimeShorts is joining an already crowded field of other microdrama apps. As the chart below shows, almost all of the most popular apps in the US are from Asia, where the microdrama boom originated. The exception is No.1 app ReelShort, which is based in the US and had 6.9 million monthly active users during the first half of 2026, according to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
These apps are also competing with established social apps and entertainment companies. YouTube announced microdramas from creators such as Alex Cooper and HopeScope in March. Instagram hasn’t yet waded into the format in the US, but could be laying the groundwork with a new Series feature, which lets users organize Reels into episodes on their profiles.
Streamers including Fox and Paramount+ are also launching their own microdramas to keep pace. Meanwhile, DramaBox is part of Disney’s Accelerator program.
The draw for these companies is clear. Even before microdramas had a name, creator content—and viewer attention—on social media was already trending in that direction. Just look at Reesa Teesa’s “Who TF Did I Marry,” which became a mega-viral sensation in 2024, or Kendra Hilty’s 25-part series about falling in love with her psychiatrist in 2025. While most of these series have been unscripted, the format is similar.
Revenues are rising too. This year, microdrama apps are expected to generate roughly $4 billion worldwide, excluding China, up 33.3% from 2025, per an estimate from consultancy Owl & Co. Most of those revenues come from user payments, rather than advertising: On On LimeShorts, for example, users get the first few episodes for free and then can buy virtual coins to unlock more or pay $20 weekly for unlimited access.
But success for LimeShorts isn’t guaranteed. The top microdrama apps haven’t been overnight successes. ReelShort, for example, launched in August 2022.
A recent promotional push around the world has made microdramas go mainstream: 90% of microdrama budgets are spent on marketing, per COL Group International, which owns and distributes microdramas. That also underscores how inexpensive these shows are to produce, and why Hollywood is increasingly interested in developing them.
Still, there are a few things working in LimeShorts’ favor. For one, it already has a built-in promotional and discovery tool.
Most of that marketing spending goes to social platforms like TikTok, which is unsurprisingly where most people discover these shows. And while microdrama apps are clearly growing fast, their users still pale in comparison to TikTok’s roughly 200 million US accounts, meaning that TikTok has much more to gain than lose by rolling out a microdrama app.
Plus, as we’ve previously argued, microdramas could give TikTok a new entry point onto TVs, which has become the next big battlefield for social platforms as they try to capture streaming ad dollars. The episodic nature of these shows lend themselves better to bigger screens than scrolling through the “For You” feed does, even though they’re not shot horizontally.
And, hey, YouTube insists plenty of people watch Shorts on TVs!
🏎️ Soundbite: Formula 1 Edition
That ticket was never for you in the first place.”
That’s how Toni Cowan-Brown, a Formula 1 commentator and content creator, responded to the backlash from F1 fans against influencers increasingly attending races.
Last month, Alix Earle, Jake Shane and other influencers sparked controversy for attending the Grand Prix in Monaco as guests of athletic brand Alo, which chartered a luxurious superyacht. Some people complained they were taking away tickets—and from the experience itself—from fans with a real connection to the sport.
This type of reaction from hardcore fans isn’t new. It reminds us of how tennis fans complained about influencers sitting in prized seats at Wimbledon, or how football fans responded to seeing Taylor Swift repeatedly on the jumbotron at Kansas City Chiefs games
Cowan-Brown, a longtime F1 fan and expert on the sport, doesn’t see it that way: “It’s a marketing play,” she said of the influencers on the Alo Yacht.
New voices and types of content can broaden F1’s audience. That includes women, who Cowan-Brown credits for helping drive the explosion in popularity for F1 in the US. Many of them took to TikTok during the pandemic to discuss Netflix’s “Drive to Survive,” she said.
“When a woman enjoys the sport, she’s not just bringing a plus one. She’s bringing a plus three, a plus five, a plus 10,” she explained.
For our full conversation with Cowan-Brown, tune into the latest episode of Scalable, available anywhere you get your podcasts. Or, watch the YouTube video below.
Meta Matters
• Meta launched Facebook Verified, a free badge that shows a profile belongs to a real person. Facebook users confirm their identity by recording a short video selfie, which is compared to existing profile photos. Previously, people were only able to get the badge as part of a paid Meta Verified subscription, which also provides Facebook and Instagram users access to other features like account support. Instagram users still have to pay for a badge.
Meta hasn’t shared how many people subscribe to Meta Verified, but a third-party estimate placed the number of subscribers at fewer than 1% of Meta’s user base across its apps last year. Giving more people a verified badge is especially important on Facebook, where fake accounts on features like Marketplace and Dating can cause direct, real-world harm.
• Facebook also rolled out a new app called Seller, for people who sell items on Marketplace. Keeping up with messages and navigating selling goods within the main Facebook app can get overwhelming, especially for frequent sellers, so we can see how a dedicated app can be useful. Marketplace has been a bright spot for Facebook, which has been losing relevance with young people for years.
• Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said the company is cracking down on pranksters or other creepy videos filmed using Meta smart glasses. “We don’t want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform. So we’re trying to fight that every way we can,” Mosseri wrote on his Instagram Story.
The move comes after strong backlash from people, particularly women, who have accused the company—and Meta glasses users—of spying on or surveilling people without their consent. We go deeper into the controversy in this YouTube video.
The Round Up
Peacock will be included in a new YouTube Premium bundle in the US beginning early next year. As part of the deal, NBC Sports will also be a production partner for certain live sporting events on YouTube.
YouTube creators can ask the company’s AI chatbot to generate thumbnails for their longer-form videos. Creators who are part of YouTube’s Partner Program can also now start uploading custom thumbnails for Shorts, a feature available on Instagram and TikTok.
Arizona State University is offering a content creation major for students this fall within its journalism school. ASU is the latest university to embrace the creator economy: Syracuse University is launching its Center for the Creator Economy this fall and offering a minor in the creator economy.
The decision to launch the major comes as the news industry is under major upheaval and 81% of US teens get at least some news from influencers and content creators at least sometimes, according to the Media Insight Project. For aspiring journalists, understanding how to develop content for social media, podcasts and other forms of new media is now critical.
Midjourney, an AI photo and video generation startup, acquired social astrology app Co-Star, Bloomberg reported. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Co-Star’s two dozen employees are joining Midjourney.
Intangible, a Los Angeles management and production company representing writers, directors, actors and other storytellers, launched this week. It’s founded by Sean Woods, who previously worked at management and production firm Fourward.
Political Download
• Dylan Mulvaney, a trans creator, responded to President Trump after he mocked her at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday. Trump said he’d mistaken CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins, who received an award, for Mulvaney in the Bud Light ad, which sparked a conservative boycott of the beer in 2023.
“I am still his topic of conversation all these years later,” Mulvaney said in a video. “It seems to me that I might be like the one that got away for these men. Like, I am permanently burned into their retinas. I am microchipped into their minds.”
• The Democratic National Committee is working with over 500 creators as part of its expanded “Influencer & Creative” program to help amplify the party’s messaging ahead of the midterms and next presidential election, ABC News reported. Earlier this year, the Senate Democrats held their first Creator Economy Summit as they try to better compete with Republicans’ social and influencer strategies.
Watch our recent interview with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who is leading the Senate Democrats’ social media and creator efforts. He explains why Democrats got “shellacked” in the 2024 election cycle and how he’s trying to change that.
Regulatory Woes
🦈Gymshark, an apparel brand popularized on social media, could face a class action lawsuit over allegedly failing to disclose paid partnerships with influencers, Inc reported. Alo and Revolve were hit with similar lawsuits last year.
Talent Tracker
Kendrick Thompson joined Spotify as director of commercial technology. Before that, he spent more than nine years at Snap, most recently as head of CRM technology.
Sarah Penna is now head of tastemaker partnerships at Bindery Books, a publishing platform where influencers build communities around books and earn affiliate income. She’s previously worked at companies including Patreon and AwesomenessTV.
Airrack is hiring a head of brand partnerships. The YouTuber is looking for someone who has run brand partnerships “at scale” for a major creator or digital media company.
Amanda Perelli is joining YouTube’s Culture & Trends in a temporary role to help track and analyze internet culture trends. Perelli previously was a freelance writer (including for Scalable!) and covered the creator economy at Business Insider.
