TikTok dodges ban talk

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TikTok showed up at SXSW–but didn’t talk about the ban

Our team just got back from SXSW in Austin, where TikTok made an appearance–but stayed quiet on the one topic everyone wanted to hear about.

At a private, invite-only “leadership summit” on Monday (plus a happy hour), TikTok execs hyped up Symphony, its AI tool suite for creators. Speakers included Blake Chandlee, president of global business solutions, and Esme Lean, head of small and medium-sized businesses.

What they didn’t mention? The looming U.S. ban or Trump’s April 5 deadline for ByteDance to sell off TikTok’s U.S. operations. That silence is nothing new–TikTok also skipped the topic at CES earlier this year.

Elsewhere at SXSW, TikTok’s global head of business marketing, Sofia Hernandez, spoke at an event on leadership and creative marketing but dodged any talk of a shutdown. Meanwhile, some creators aren’t waiting around to see what happens.

Chase Ridgeway, a 23-year-old in tech sales, started posting on TikTok last October and quickly hit 100,000 followers. About six weeks ago, he started uploading the same videos to Instagram Reels–just in case. He’s already at 75,000 followers there but still feels the loss if TikTok goes: “That community of people I interact with every day will be taken away.”

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Instagram rolls out Made with Edits tag–but it won’t boost your reach

Instagram’s latest move in its TikTok rivalry? A new video editing app called Edits, set to launch March 31. Some creators already have early access, and Instagram has started tagging videos with a Made with Edits label–similar to how TikTok promotes CapCut edits.

Clicking the tag prompts users to pre-download the app, which promises high-resolution editing (up to 2K). Even Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri have posted reels with the tag this week.

But don’t expect it to boost your content in the feed. Instagram confirmed that reels edited with Edits won’t get special treatment in the algorithm–at least, for now.

Sean Evans is over explaining why Hot Ones is as big as TV

After a decade of interviewing A-listers over spicy wings, Hot Ones host Sean Evans is still fighting the same battle–getting advertisers to take YouTube as seriously as TV.

Speaking at SXSW, Evans vented about brands undervaluing his show. “The hurdle that I think we all want brands to get over is this idea that there's some difference between eyeballs that exist on YouTube versus eyeballs that exist on linear TV,” he said. “It’s absolutely worthy of comparison, and in a lot of ways, it dunks on those shows.”

YouTube has been the No. 1 TV destination for two years, according to Nielsen, and Hot Ones has featured Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, and Lady Gaga. But Evans says some advertisers still hesitate, clinging to outdated media playbooks.

The show wasn’t always a hit. Evans recalled how, in the early days, he and co-creator Chris Schonberger worried they’d get canceled before they even figured out what Hot Ones was. “If this were on a network, we probably would have been canceled before we ever got a chance to figure it out.”

These days, Hot Ones is thriving. Evans and an investor group bought First We Feast, the studio behind the show, from BuzzFeed last year for $82.5 million. And Evans? He’s still scrolling through YouTube comments, treating audience feedback like his own personal Nielsen rating.

As for handling the spice? No tricks. “I just ride it out,” he said. “As painful and miserable as it can be, it’s still a whole lot better than my life before this.”

More updates

• Instagram chief Adam Mosseri hosted a private dinner in LA with top creators like David Dobrik, Loren Gray, Josh Richards, and Dixie D’Amelio.

• Substack now has 5 million paid subscriptions, with a surge in video creators joining amid TikTok uncertainty and 82% of top earners using audio and video.

• TikTok creator Jake Shane drew nearly 2,000 attendees in Austin for his Therapuss live tour during SXSW, with more stops ahead.

• Alix Earle invested in SipMARGS, a canned sparkling margarita brand, as it relaunches with $3M in funding led by Palm Tree Crew.