Our 2026 Creator Economy Predictions

**Colin** (0:00)
Okay, before we get into these predictions, question for you, do you think you speak 2025?

**Samir** (0:06)
Do I speak 2025? Is this a TikTok trend that I don't understand?

**Colin** (0:09)
No, this is the New York Times, Colin.

**Samir** (0:11)
Okay.

**Colin** (0:12)
This is a quiz.

**Samir** (0:14)
Oh, I definitely don't speak 2025 Let me guess, let me guess, this is like 6'7, Rizler.

**Colin** (0:20)
I'm not gonna ask you those questions, those are obvious, but let's just start with question one, the easiest one. Imagine you're wearing a new outfit. What culinary term would you not want someone to use about your appearance? Cooked. That's not an option. Ate, served, chopped, devoured.

**Samir** (0:39)
Chopped.

**Colin** (0:40)
Chopped, correct.

**Samir** (0:41)
Ding, ding, ding.

**Colin** (0:42)
Wow, impressive. Okay, question two, a little bit harder. In 2025, what fairy tale inspired the new, impolite slang term for dating people who are perceived not to be on par with their mates?

**Samir** (0:57)
I barely understood that, but you want me to guess before you deliver it?

**Colin** (1:00)
No, there's, it's multiple choice. You're just guessing randomly.

**Samir** (1:03)
I haven't done multiple choice in like 20 years.

**Colin** (1:05)
Okay. Shrek-ing. Beauty and the Beast-ing. Cinderella-ing. Princess and the Frog-ing.

**Samir** (1:14)
I'm going to go princess and the frog-ing. Is that right?

**Colin** (1:16)
You would be incorrect, my friend. It is Shrek-ing. Okay, last one, and then we'll get into predictions. In 2025, which of the following scenarios might one crash out about? Select all that apply. Winning the lottery, getting bedbugs, running out of creatine powder, getting a promotion, forgetting a Netflix password, seeing your ex post a new partner, getting a free flight upgrade.

**Samir** (1:45)
Anything negative there, you would crash out about.

**Colin** (1:47)
Okay, so getting bedbugs.

**Samir** (1:49)
Bedbugs, losing your Netflix password, something about the ex.

**Colin** (1:54)
Okay, I can't even, oh yeah, I can't click on these. Okay, getting bedbugs, running out of creatine powder.

**Samir** (1:59)
Sure, you can crash out about that. Okay, so you probably have crashed out about that.

**Colin** (2:03)
All correct. Well done. Okay, turns out, you kind of speak 2025

**Samir** (2:10)
That's surprising to me.

**Colin** (2:12)
That is surprising. I mean, some of this is the New York Times. Some of these are pretty obvious.

**Samir** (2:15)
That feels base level.

**Colin** (2:16)
Yeah, I'll just read the question, number seven, before we move on, the Italian brain rot crew, an absurd group of AI generated creators, became a meme that flooded TikTok in 2025 Which three of the following names will not break out Italian brain rot stars?

**Samir** (2:32)
There's no shot at getting that.

**Colin** (2:34)
Tralero, Tralala, Bella Bella Carmela, Ballerina, Cappuccini.

**Samir** (2:40)
You can stop there.

**Colin** (2:41)
Bombadero, Crocodillo. Yeah, I mean, there's two more that I'm not gonna read, but that's like one of the most absurd questions I've seen. Anyway, I thought this was really funny. And something that the New York Times did that actually Hank Green did in a video that made me laugh. So I wanted to ask you some of these questions. But here we are, the end of 2025, another year in the books. And I would say a year that kind of surprised me in the creator economy, to be honest.

**Samir** (3:10)
Yeah, yeah, I think heading in to 2025, I was weirdly a little bit pessimistic, actually, about the creator economy. I felt like maybe it was a, not a fad that was over, but a story that people were less interested in, and that it had started maybe evolving a little bit less and changing and progressing. And this year it felt like it just shot way into the future.

**Colin** (3:38)
Yeah, I think it felt similar to, you know, there was eras over the past five years that people got really into. Crypto was an era. AI became a bit of an era. But I think what you realize is within those eras, there's things that stick. And it felt like the creator economy was one of those eras. Like, there was a moment where the creator economy was a very hot term. But I think what has stuck is just that, like, people who are good at making videos and telling stories are just good at making videos and telling stories. And we have always had space for that.

**Samir** (4:14)
And what has changed is watch time on televisions.

**Colin** (4:17)
Yeah.

**Samir** (4:18)
Right? That, like, viewer behavior sitting and watching on TV has just changed completely what the creator economy is, because now we're in the same environments on the same screen as some of these major streamers.