If you love country and dogs, you’re in luck — Dolly Parton launched Doggy Parton, a line of country-style clothing and accessories for pups.
In today’s email:
Confirmed: Twitter’s edit button.
Chart: Disney Prime.
Weekend Reads for your Grass Soda.
Around the Web: The first Eagle Scout, visual crosswords, improving your memory, and more cool internet finds.
🎧 On the go? Listen to today’s 10-minute podcast to hear Zack and Juliet discuss AI art controversy, OnlyFans’ wild revenue, and the pros and cons of Twitter’s edit button.
The big idea
Twitter caves on the edit button
It’s finally happening, friends. Twitter announced it’s testing an edit button, something former CEO Jack Dorsey said it’d “probably never” do.
A common Twitter gripe has been that the only way to fix a typo is to delete and repost, which is frustrating if it’s already going viral or spurring conversation.
Twitter’s edit button…
… will roll out among Twitter Blue subscribers, who get early access to features, later this month. It’s unclear when the rest of us will get it.
To alleviate concerns that people will edit tweets to spread misinformation or say something embarrassing after garnering likes and RTs:
Changes can be made for only 30 minutes after posting the OG tweet
An icon, time stamp, and label will show it’s been edited (like this)
Tapping the label will show the edit history
Why’s it matter?
Twitter’s finally giving the people their most requested feature, but also an incentive to join its $4.99/mo. subscription service.
It also somewhat aligns Twitter with other platforms. Facebook’s edit button came in 2013. Reddit lets you edit posts, but not titles. Youtube? Edit to your heart’s content.
In 2020, Dorsey said Twitter was different in that it began as an SMS platform. Because you couldn’t recall texts, Twitter should maintain that “vibe.”
But that vibe is fading. Apple announced that, with iOS 16, users will be able to recall iMessages.
For more buttons: Read about Netflix’s best button innovations, or The Button, a 2015 Reddit experiment from “Wordle” creator Josh Wardle to see how long users could keep a button with a 60-second timer going.
SNIPPETS
Starbucks named Laxman Narasimhan as its next CEO. He previously worked as global chief commercial officer of PepsiCo.
Poop: For some musicians with songs about poop, Amazon Music has become their most lucrative revenue stream, likely from kids yelling “poop” at Alexa.
Reddit acquired Spiketrap, a contextualization analytics company, in an effort to strengthen its advertising business.
Yikes: Thai influencer Natthamon “Nutty” Khongchak is accused of scamming 6k+ followers out of ~$55m in a foreign exchange trading scheme, then leaving the country.
Bank of America is piloting a program to help first-time buyers in Black and Latino neighborhoods purchase homes with no down payments, minimum credit scores, or closing costs.
Tencent and Sony now own a 30% stake in video game studio FromSoftware (“Elden Ring,” “Dark Souls”) with plans to push further into the global market.
iArtist: Controversy is brewing over a man’s AI-generated artwork winning first place at the Colorado State Fair’s fine art competition.
The world’s biggest offshore wind farm, near Yorkshire, England, is now fully operational with 165 turbines that will power 1.4m+ homes.
OnlyFans revenue soared 160% in 2021 to $932m. The number of fans jumped 128% to ~188m, and performers — who earned ~$4B — rose 34% to 2.1m.
Back to school: Entrepreneurs can become better business owners with a strong learning culture. Learn how you can build one from The Hustle blog.
chart
Selina Lee
Disney’s planning a new membership
In 1957, Walt Disney drew a diagram of Disney’s business model showing how its films fuel other revenue streams like merchandise, theme park visits, and publications.
Sixty-five years later, Disney is exploring a membership program to make those connections more official, per The Wall Street Journal.
Talks are in early stages…
… so it's unclear exactly how the membership would work, but CEO Bob Chapek has alluded to Disney’s “franchise flywheel” that gives the company multiple ways to reach customers.
For example:
If a customer repeatedly rides a Star Wars ride at one of its theme parks, Disney could promote relevant content on Disney+ and offer the customer exclusive Star Wars merchandise.
Disney’s no stranger to bundling
The company’s streaming bundle helped Disney pass Netflix in total streaming subscriptions last month.
If its new membership is anywhere near as successful as its streaming bundle, it can only mean one thing — more “Disney adults.”
Recs
Welcome to Weekend Reads…
… Recs to pair with your Friday Fresca, Saturday sake bomb, or Sunday Grass Soda.
ICYMI:
Selina examined what happens when a brand (like sunglass company Pit Viper) is co-opted by extremist customers.
Jacob revealed the results of our Chex Mix survey, where ~3k of you ranked your best and worst pieces.
Saphia wrote about how budding entrepreneurs looking for their first loan can build business credit.
“Due to the declining population of people who own houses with garages and have kids, drummers are probably going to become very rare in the next couple generations.”SOURCE