TikTok might be the fastest-growing social media app, but none other than MrBeast reckons it could be overtaken by another well-established platform.
The infamous YouTuber – real name Jimmy Donaldson – discussed the topic on a recent episode of the Full Send Podcast, where he opened up on a whole manner of topics.
And when host Kyle Forgeard turns talks to TikTok, MrBeast had some thoughts – especially after he brought up the fact that 'people say it's going to overpass YouTube'.
"I thought the same but YouTube Shorts, they've really taken some huge strides," he explained.
The video-sharing platform launched its short-form version in 2020 as an answer to the popular format of TikTok, and it's been steadily gaining momentum ever since.
Although plenty of people still favour TikTok, MrBeast reckons YouTube Shorts could take over thanks to one major factor – money.
You see, earlier this month YouTube announced that Shorts creators can now qualify for its Partner Program, which allows users to earn ad revenue in the same way they can with long-form videos.
"So starting in January, if you get like, hypothetically, a billion views on TikTok, whatever that is, that's like $1,000. A billion views over here on YouTube? I mean, that could literally make you like $100,000."
Another of the hosts then asks, "Is TikTok going to adapt to that, you think?" to which MrBeast replies, "Yeah, I think they're going to be forced to."
Although later on in the episode, he explains why he thinks TikTok will struggle to keep up with the revenue offered to YouTube creators, where he says people will be able to 'gain subs, get more views on your long form and make f***ing money'.
"Charli [D'Amelio], Addison [Rae] – all these people, if they can just literally do what they're doing but over on YouTube and make a bag off of shorts and then on top of that, that boosts long form which makes even more money, you're gonna be crazy to be a TikTok first content creator," he said.
Though the podcasters sounded dubious, suggesting TikTok may change its ad strategy to keep up, the 24-year-old chimed in: "You really think TikTok over here printing tens of billions of dollars is just overnight going to go, 'You know what? Half of these tens of billions, we're just gonna give it away.'"
Summarising his point, he declared: "All I'm saying is, once this Partner Program kicks into effect on Shorts, I think you're gonna see a lot of big TikTokers coming over here."
Whether his prophecy is accurate is yet to be seen, but the TikTok community certainly has some thoughts on his ideas.
"I don’t wanna see professional creator content though," wrote one. "I wanna see funny, random, everyday people’s videos! TikTok algorithm is better."
Another commented, "Rare L by Beast. He thinks creators drive rev. Users drive rev," while a third simply wrote, "TikTok is way better than YouTube."
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
