TikTok Bans? OWN App Is the Future of Social Media!| Katia Zaitsev DSH #1229

Summary

Digital Social Hour Episode Summary
Episode: "TikTok Bans? OWN App Is the Future of Social Media! | Katia Zaitsev DSH #1229"
Release Date: March 10, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in an in-depth conversation with Katia Zaitsev, a visionary in the social media landscape and the brains behind the innovative OWN App. The discussion navigates the turbulent waters of social media censorship, the potential bans of TikTok, and introduces OWN as a groundbreaking alternative poised to redefine content creation and ownership.

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The TikTok Dilemma and Its Implications

[02:19] Katia Zaitsev:
"TikTok's all over the news. Is it being banned? Is it not being banned? It's created a fear of the unknown that's caused a huge ruckus and people are looking for new options."

Katia delves into the ongoing controversies surrounding TikTok, highlighting the uncertainty and anxiety it has sown among creators and users alike. The possibility of TikTok bans has not only disrupted content creators' livelihoods but also ignited a broader conversation about data ownership and content control.

[04:31] Katia Zaitsev:
"Individuals, creators, and small businesses are understanding the fear or the problems associated with not owning the content that you create, the audience, and especially when you're dedicating your whole entire livelihood."

She emphasizes the critical issue of content and data ownership, pointing out that over 6 million Americans have lost their livelihoods due to platform instability. The fear of losing revenue streams has pushed many creators to seek alternatives, signaling a significant shift in the social media ecosystem.

---

The Rise of AI and Its Impact on Social Media

[12:15] Katia Zaitsev:
"AI has gotten so good. What people are doing now with my most popular guests is they'll have them talking, they'll change the way their mouth moves and, like, pitch their product. But they're acting like they're on my podcast. Isn't that crazy?"

The conversation transitions to the rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence and its profound effects on social media. Katia discusses the emergence of deep fakes and AI-generated content, raising concerns about authenticity and the potential for misinformation. She warns of a future where AI could manipulate public perception, citing examples like AI-generated declarations of war.

[14:44] Katia Zaitsev:
"Deep dives are going to be dangerous because overnight we're going to see, you know, the president of any country, you know, declare war. Right. And it could be an AI."

Katia advocates for stringent protocols and ethical guidelines to govern AI usage, stressing the importance of maintaining human oversight to prevent AI from undermining societal structures.

---

Introducing the OWN App: A Paradigm Shift in Social Media

[17:56] Katia Zaitsev:
"OWN is a new social media app for the new era for content creators. It's a creator-first platform where every user on OWN owns 100% of their followers and audience and also 100% of the content they create."

Katia unveils the OWN App, positioning it as the future of social media. Unlike traditional platforms, OWN ensures complete ownership and control for creators over their content and audience. This innovative approach addresses the long-standing issues of data ownership and fair compensation.

Key Features of OWN App:

• Ownership and Control: Creators retain 100% ownership of their content and audience.
• Fair Compensation: OWN offers up to 50% more in payments compared to existing platforms.
• Zero Bot Proof: Ensures genuine interaction and engagement without automated bots.
• Merit-Based Algorithm: Focuses on content quality rather than user data, allowing even users with zero followers to go viral.
• Blockchain Integration: Utilizes blockchain technology for secure identity verification and IP tracking.

[28:33] Katia Zaitsev:
"Our creator fund is tokenized and operates as an engagement and analytics platform. We'll pay out creators fairly based on their engagement, regardless of their geographic location."

Katia introduces the Creator Fund, a tokenized system designed to reward creators based on their actual engagement metrics. This decentralized approach ensures transparency and equitable compensation globally.

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Addressing the Creator Economy Crisis

[32:34] Katia Zaitsev:
"Our Creator Fund is different. It's a tokenized creator fund, and it's going to read your engagement on our platform—likes, comments, shares—and create a merit score engagement rate to pay you out."

The episode sheds light on the declining revenue streams for creators on established platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Katia highlights the frustrations of creators who, despite having millions of views and followers, receive minimal financial returns. She underscores the necessity for a platform like OWN that prioritizes fair payment and genuine content monetization.

[33:18] Katia Zaitsev:
"We're providing fair and equal opportunity no matter if you're in the US, Mexico City, Canada, Africa, India, wherever the case is, but also fair compensation."

Katia emphasizes OWN's commitment to inclusivity and fairness, ensuring that creators from diverse backgrounds and regions have equal access to monetization opportunities.

---

Future Outlook and Call to Action

As the episode concludes, Katia shares exciting developments, including the upcoming launch of OWN at South by Southwest (SXSW). She invites listeners to join the platform's VIP beta list and participate in their token giveaway initiative.

[35:29] Katia Zaitsev:
"We're giving away 100 million tokens to content creators. Download the app, receive your affiliate link, and share it with your friends and followers to earn tokens."

Katia's passionate advocacy for OWN underscores a pivotal moment in the social media landscape, where creator empowerment and fair compensation are set to take center stage.

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Conclusion

This episode of Digital Social Hour provides a thought-provoking exploration of the current challenges in the social media realm, particularly focusing on the uncertainties surrounding TikTok and the urgent need for platforms that prioritize creators' rights and fair compensation. Katia Zaitsev's introduction of the OWN App presents a promising solution aimed at revolutionizing the creator economy, ensuring that content creators can sustain their livelihoods while maintaining complete ownership and control over their work.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Katia Zaitsev [02:19]:
  "TikTok's all over the news. Is it being banned? Is it not being banned? It's created a fear of the unknown that's caused a huge ruckus and people are looking for new options."

• Katia Zaitsev [12:15]:
  "AI has gotten so good. What people are doing now with my most popular guests is they'll have them talking, they'll change the way their mouth moves and, like, pitch their product. But they're acting like they're on my podcast. Isn't that crazy?"

• Katia Zaitsev [17:56]:
  "OWN is a new social media app for the new era for content creators. It's a creator-first platform where every user on OWN owns 100% of their followers and audience and also 100% of the content they create."

• Katia Zaitsev [28:33]:
  "Our creator fund is tokenized and operates as an engagement and analytics platform. We'll pay out creators fairly based on their engagement, regardless of their geographic location."

• Katia Zaitsev [32:34]:
  "Our Creator Fund is different. It's a tokenized creator fund, and it's going to read your engagement on our platform—likes, comments, shares—and create a merit score engagement rate to pay you out."

• Katia Zaitsev [33:18]:
  "We're providing fair and equal opportunity no matter if you're in the US, Mexico City, Canada, Africa, India, wherever the case is, but also fair compensation."

---

Stay Connected:

• Download the OWN App: Be part of the future of social media by joining the VIP beta list at OWN App Website.
• Follow Katia Zaitsev: Stay updated with the latest developments and announcements from OWN.

---

This summary captures the essence of the conversation between Sean Kelly and Katia Zaitsev, highlighting the critical issues in the current social media landscape and presenting the OWN App as a transformative solution for content creators worldwide.

Transcript

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[Katya]

Anyone that creates a profile on OWN has to be a human being. Right? So how you want to represent that brand is or that listeners?

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Katya]

Profile is up to you. Right? It could be a company, a brand, and so on and so forth, but the person has to be a human being. And how we verify that is through our ownID zero proof identity layer.

[Unknown Speaker]

Foreign guys got Katya here from OWN app. Thanks for joining us today.

[Katya]

Thanks for having me.

[Unknown Speaker]

Absolutely. It was cool meeting your team at the event.

[Katya]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

During ces. Right.

[Katya]

It was. It was such a good event. I'm so happy that we got to meet. What a busy week.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh my gosh. I went to like four events in a day.

[Katya]

It's. It's just. It's all scattered out too. Right. So you don't really like, essentially know where you're going. Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

You had to pick and choose your battles.

[Katya]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

The one we were at at Turpin's house was kind of far from everything.

[Katya]

It was.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I was like, all right, I'm not after this. I'm not going anywhere.

[Katya]

Yeah. Also, it was really cold.

[Unknown Speaker]

Freezing.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I was just in DC and it was brick.

[Katya]

Oh, how was dc?

[Unknown Speaker]

It was fun, but it was nine degrees.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

It was snowing when I left. They had to de ice my plane. It got delayed for like Three hours.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

But I like to be around the energy, you know, and I'm.

[Katya]

So much is happening.

[Unknown Speaker]

I know I filmed some good episodes out there. And a lot's going to be changing in the social media space, which we're going to dive into today. Right?

[Katya]

Yep. A lot's going to be changing, I mean, in technology in general. Right. Health space, financial space. But yes, for sure, the social media space and why I'm here to talk to you about it. Right. You know, we all know about the recent events.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Katya]

Right. So TikTok's all over the news. Is it being banned? Is it not being banned? Right. It's created a fear of unknown that's caused a huge ruckus and people are looking for new options. Right. And it's good in a way that me personally, I've been fighting this fight for a while in terms of data ownership and content ownership. But it's good to see that individuals, creators and small businesses are understanding the fear or the problems associated with not owning the content that you create, the audience, and especially when you're dedicating your whole entire livelihood. There's over 6 million Americans lost their livelihoods and small businesses that evening. And then they regained access over 12 hours. But some actually deleted the app so they couldn't redownload it. But if they kept that app, they lost their current revenue streams in app purchases and so on and so forth within the platform. And so it's created this whole craziness that happened during January 19th. That is. I think a lot of creators realize it's time for a change.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I know phones are selling for $10,000 now. If they have TikTok starting.

[Katya]

Yeah, starting. I'm wondering how that would actually work. If you had like with your Apple.

[Unknown Speaker]

Apple Idle, I think you could turn it off and like sign into a.

[Katya]

New account and you still could have the app. It's so crazy to start at 10k. So nut nuts.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm tempted, honestly. I got TikTok on like four phones and I don't use a couple.

[Katya]

Yeah, just a quick, you know, turnaround.

[Unknown Speaker]

Quick. 20 grand. Let's go.

[Katya]

Let's go. Right now.

[Unknown Speaker]

I've heard some interesting stuff. That TikTok isn't the same. Apparently they're censoring stuff now. So if you look up certain topics. I know the recent one I saw was like, Free Palestine. You can't even type that or something.

[Katya]

Yeah, and it's. I mean, they were always censoring. All the platforms censor in some kind of capacity. Right. But yes, it's more and more now and people are hoping that it's going to be bought by an American company. Right. But then in reality is just a data transfer or a content ownership transfer. So you have access to that data and ip. Right. So yes, it's all controlled by obviously a Chinese entity. But then it, even if it does get bought by an American entity, they'll just gain, they'll regain control of that as well. Right, right. And so hopefully it's to a good party if that happens. Right. But yes, they are censoring more always. They were in a little bit. Right. Depending on different political views and products that you want to sell and so on and so forth. And that's one of the dangers currently with social media in general.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. And then there's always that theory of they're listening to you while you're not using them. Oh yeah, I think Apple was it Apple one of big ones. All right, shout out to today's sponsor Specialized recruiting group. Navigating the professional job search is hard. You know, the perfect job is out there. You're just not sure how to find it. The good news is you don't have to go at it alone. You need specialized recruiting group [e-mail] srgpros.com they're here to guide you and help you find a role that fits all without costing a dime. Meet specialized recruiting group offering a tailored approach. To find your next role, go to srgpros.com srgpros.com and get on the right course. Your local specialized recruiting group team knows which businesses are hiring and can offer you a path to contract and full time roles. If you don't see the role you're looking for on the website, Specialized recruiting group also recruits for confidential roles. So give an office near you a call to learn more. Take the next step in your career by [e-mail] SRG pros.com got sued and then they found out they actually were listening.

[Katya]

Yep. Oh, there's lawsuits going on all the time. I don't know if you saw that meme. They're like, oh, everyone's afraid that TikTok's going to be banned, but Alexa is just listening around the corner.

[Unknown Speaker]

I've seen the undercover FBI agent meme.

[Katya]

Yeah, it's, it's just, well, that's the thing, right? They are listening. And I think what and everyone should understand it's not just creators. Right. When you create an account with any type of platform, not only social media, you are signing two contracts with them, right? Privacy policy and a terms and conditions. Right? And when you open, when, when you click those check marks, you have to read them, right?

[Unknown Speaker]

It's like 80 pages.

[Katya]

It's like 80 pages, right? But you have to understand them because you're signing essentially access to, you know, stuff that is your content or your data, whether it's your email, phone number, but the ones in TikTok in particular, you're giving, I don't know if you've read it before, you're giving them access to your phone, to your text messages, your email.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

The. All the content that you create, you're giving them irrevocable license to do whatever you want with your content. But Meta has the same thing. It's just owned by a US entity. That's so nuts. So it's really nuts. And I think that one we need to educate, but also more and more now because your online identity is so important currently, right? Probably in two years, maybe sooner, it's going to be more important than your offline identity. So if we don't have the right infrastructure put in place where you're in complete ownership and control of that, then you're really in trouble, right? Because it's not only if you decide to become a content creator, if you're opening any type of business, you need to have an online presence, right? You need to build your brand. You are your brand, right? You are your new media, right? And we're seeing it happen every day right now, especially with the rise of AI, right? We're getting robo calls all the time. And that's all because we don't have control of our data online, right? And you know, it goes on with such risks that we need to regain that because, fine, you and I maybe will figure it out, right? Because we're in the space or maybe more educated on it, right? But the average individual that might be, you know, making maybe a couple grand online, right, they're not gonna know how to stop that and they're not gonna be able to regain control. And that's when the troubles really start.

[Unknown Speaker]

Agreed. Yeah. I'm glad you brought up the robocalls. I'm on do not disturb all day. I get 20 calls a day.

[Katya]

It's. And even I even download that. There's like a robo killer app, right? And that prevents that. But that's because we're subscribing to things and then we're not reading the terms and conditions and they have. We're just pressing it because. For convenience, right? And there Is I spoke to an executive at Google and when she, you know, looked at what we were doing and so on and so forth, and the problem is, is that currently, right now, how everything is structured in the age of technology, in the age of speed. Right. We want something, everything to be easy, accessible, very quick. Right. We will sacrifice our privacy for convenience. Right. And essentially that's why we're checking those boxes, because it's just convenient, easy, want to get through. Right. But until there's a solution out there. Right. Or solutions out there. Because I believe that all companies need to be structured this way. And there's a solution that is completely secure but also convenient, users will move.

[Unknown Speaker]

Agreed. Yeah. I might have to start using ChatGPT to summarize some of these terms and conditions for me.

[Katya]

Yes. Well, and that's the thing. That's another thing. Don't put your IP in ChatGPT because if you read that one. But it's good for. In terms of definite legal and ease of use. But yes, summarize those. And especially with social media, I mean, meta is not any better. It's a little bit better than TikTok, but you know, it's just so funny. I don't know if you saw rednote the rise.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I heard about it. I didn't get it.

[Katya]

No, don't get it. Because it's even worse. Even if you delete it and you post, they have unlimited license to do anything they want with your content.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

They could make advertisement, AI agents, whatever.

[Unknown Speaker]

I remember when I used to use dating apps when I was single and like, like you would delete the app, but you'd still be there.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Like they still have all your data.

[Katya]

Your profile is still there even if you delete it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Is that legal? Because people would. People would send me screenshots of my profile while I was dating.

[Katya]

Apps there. Maybe someone created another profile.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, it could have been a fake one. Well, that's an issue now. I heard on these apps, I heard there's a bunch of fake AIs sending people to their adult content sites or whatever.

[Katya]

Yep. You know, that's exactly. We're seeing that all the time. We have some influencers that, you know, have pages on TikTok or other platforms and same thing, they did an ad and the next day they're seeing an AI agent create a whole different advertisement for a certain product to sell on Instagram.

[Unknown Speaker]

Crazy.

[Katya]

And they don't, they can't, they can't get it out. You have to go through so much, you know, Loopholes to really get.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Katya]

That content back and that. And put down from those platforms, the.

[Unknown Speaker]

AI has gotten so good. What people are doing now with my most popular guests is they'll have them talking, they'll change the way their mouth moves and, like, pitch their product. But they're acting like they're on my podcast. Isn't that crazy?

[Katya]

It's insane.

[Unknown Speaker]

Like, they're doing that with Rogan, too.

[Katya]

Yes, and Rogan too. And also, I don't know if you've seen how they put different celebrity characters in, like, the. The trailer. Severance.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, I didn't see that.

[Katya]

Oh, my God. I actually, they put, like. I forget the actor's name, but John Wick's character. Within seven.

[Unknown Speaker]

Keanu Reeves.

[Katya]

Yeah. Keanu Reeves. Yes, within the main character of Severance. And honestly, I couldn't tell. It's getting. And it's getting more accurate on daily basis. In a year, two years, five years, forget it. Right. Deep bakes. And it's going to be dangerous because overnight we're going to see, you know, the president of any country, you know, declare, you know, war. Right. And it could be an AI.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

Right. And then what?

[Unknown Speaker]

That's crazy.

[Katya]

And then what? People believe it and it's going to start, you know, chaos.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Katya]

Right. So we need to get under control.

[Unknown Speaker]

As a business owner, you got to prepare. So there's actually podcasters that are AI now.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And these companies offer to buy my podcast so they could train their models. They're offering me, like, hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Katya]

Oh, my.

[Unknown Speaker]

So basically, in a few years, a lot of podcasts will be AI.

[Katya]

Yeah. Wow.

[Unknown Speaker]

Isn't that crazy?

[Katya]

That is crazy. I don't know if we want to get into the topic of also AI girlfriends and boyfriends.

[Unknown Speaker]

I've seen that.

[Katya]

I've seen that. There's. I think they're going to say one in, like, five men will have.

[Unknown Speaker]

I can 100% see that because, like, the stats on virgins are crazy now. It's like 40%. And I saw the one at CES. Did you see that one?

[Katya]

I didn't see it.

[Unknown Speaker]

There was an AI robot companion.

[Katya]

Oh, how did it look?

[Unknown Speaker]

Not that good yet, but I feel like in, like, a few years, it'll be like Black Mirror.

[Katya]

Yep.

[Unknown Speaker]

Or that one new movie on Netflix with Megan Fox. Did you see that one?

[Katya]

That's a good movie.

[Unknown Speaker]

I could see that happening.

[Katya]

I could 100 see that happening. And also, especially that's the dangers of AI if they're trying to put emotion, human Emotions into it. And it's true. It can do exactly what happened in that movie.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

Right. And obviously not tomorrow, but within five, 10 years. 100%.

[Unknown Speaker]

I mean, just learn so fast.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

You know, it's, it's already the best thing at chess, it's the best at video games. You could do that in every industry.

[Katya]

Yeah, yeah. So it, it's, it's dangerous and there needs to be protocols set in place where there is some kind of, you know, control or, or restrictions in terms of what, how, how capable it can get.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Katya]

Or else we're going to be in a lot of trouble. I, I, that's fearful fear. First of all, I'm not an XAI person. Right. Because I use it too. Right. And I think it is good to utilize AI to make your life easier and be more productive and stuff like that. But to replace the human race, that's when it gets really dangerous.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, it's gonna be scary going Terminator in a few years, man.

[Katya]

Yep. Well, we see us in a couple years and be like, ah, so that's.

[Unknown Speaker]

A good segue with the OWN app. Like are you gonna allow AI on the platform?

[Katya]

We're going to be utilizing AI right On the platform and that's going to be. So I guess I could maybe give a little overview of what it is. Yeah, let's explain it. Explain it. Yeah. So OWN is a new social media app for the new era for content creators. It's a creator first platform where every user on own owns 100% of their followers and audience and, and also 100% of the content they create. We pay up to 50% more. We're zero bot proof. And also we have a new algorithm that's based on merit rather than users data. And what that really means, it means that you can go viral with zero followers. And also for the user, since it is bot proof as well, it's going to give you true content discovery based on what you really want to see rather than having biased algorithms or pay to play ads kind of target you. Right. So it's, it's a new, it's a completely new system for the new era of the growing creator economy. Will we allow AI, you know, individuals. So the person that creates. So we have multi level technology on our app. Right. So anyone that creates a profile on OWN has to be a human being. Right. So how you want to represent that brand is, or that profile is up to you. Right. It could be a company, a brand and so on and so forth, but the person has to be A human being. And how we verify that is through our own ID zero proof identity layer. Right. And it's a multi level system utilizing blockchain technology. Right. That verifies that you are who you are and also those individuals actually follow me and I follow them. And every content that I post is tied to my identity. So every time it's reshared or reposted, you could track to the original content creator. So it solves a major IP issue and also provides monetization opportunities that if someone does reshare it or creates a reaction video, the original content creator gets paid for that as well.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, wow.

[Katya]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's cool.

[Katya]

So it's. Yeah. Which has not been done before. Everything's going to be automated in that sense. In terms of AI, of course, the app is going to be utilizing AI. It's going to verify if one it's going to be using into kind of in two folds. Right. We have zero censorship on our platform, but we're not going to allow any illegal content. Right. That's going to be on our platform. Right. So the AI will detect that and essentially then, you know, report a ban or a warning and so on and so forth. So that's how we'll be leveraging AI. Also, we're partnered with Digital Twin where they're going to be creating AI agents and integrating AI agent within the app for the influencers to communicate with our content creators as well. So there's going to be multiple ways that we'll leverage AI, but again, to better the platform and not to replace humans and so on and so forth.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. It's going to be interesting to see which platforms will adapt to this new era. I think X has done really well. They're getting the most traffic they've ever gotten.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I think the, the truth, like you said, no censorship is what's next. And you're seeing it because Facebook just announced that no more fact checking, Right?

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Because they were probably losing a ton of users, I'd imagine, from the fact checks I was. Some of my videos are getting shadow banned, you know, fact checked. It's crazy.

[Katya]

Yes, it's. I mean, you saw probably the Rogan episode with him. Right. And I mean, shout out to Zuck for apologizing and, you know, moving with the new wave. Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's a smart businessman.

[Katya]

He's smart. I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not going to say anything bad about anyone. I think that it's, it's gonna, you're gonna really tell in the next Couple years. Who are gonna be, you know, the leaders in the new wave. Because technology is evolving, people are evolving and it needs to match. Right. There needs to be education, but also the platforms need to accommodate this new wave. But it's true, it's gone out of control. The censorship of these platforms. We had influencers that were partnered with, but also just, you know, some stories that they shared with us. For example, there's this one girl who has a clean tampon brand. Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, no artificial stuff.

[Katya]

No, they can't. Yes. No. Yes. No artificial stuff. And they couldn't say the word blood anymore.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really?

[Katya]

Yes. Wow. And so that's a new one. Red stuff. So on TikTok. Right. So. And you know, this girl's making 20 million in revenue a year.

[Unknown Speaker]

Damn.

[Katya]

From that. Right. So. And she can't. And she's trying to normalize it. Right. So it's just. It's unnecessary. Why should that happen? Right. And it is. It's the new wave. And yes, platforms need to come accustomed with it. You know, everybody has an opinion. Right. But just because I don't agree with you, it doesn't mean that you're wrong or I'm. Or I'm right.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I couldn't say vaccine the first year of the podcast.

[Katya]

Yeah. Especially on YouTube. Especially on YouTube. Right. I mean, nobody was able to talk about it until just like recently.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Katya]

I think just since Trump got elected, there's a lot more that people could probably even talk about.

[Unknown Speaker]

I could have mentioned autism, I could have mentioned J6 vaccine. Any cure for diseases. That's. Yeah, it was nuts.

[Katya]

So how was Joe Rogan able? He was able.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's in a different category because he's so in there with Spotify.

[Katya]

Okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

So like, I don't think he can't really. They tried to cancel him. They tried to. I forget what happened. It was like a year ago.

[Katya]

But I mean, you're pretty good at your fear. Like up there.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm up there. But I still got to play by their rules because YouTube has a three strike system.

[Katya]

Okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

So I've gotten a couple strikes. If I lost the YouTube, it'd be a big loss.

[Katya]

Yes. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm at their mercy for now.

[Katya]

Yeah. So YouTube has been quiet during this, all this TikTok ruckus.

[Unknown Speaker]

I feel like they've been quiet. I know their CEO passed away. Right. Like last year. So they're under new ownership. We'll see how they pivot.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

But I think they'll be forced to because you got apps like Rumble and Kick that are gaining a lot of traction right now. And upcoming apps like yours, I'd imagine so.

[Katya]

Yeah, exactly. Right. And you know, I think it is. It's. There's a new race. And now you could. You could speak about YouTube or Instagram and X, I guess, and TikTok, of course, course, as the social media legacy apps, just like the legacy media NBC and so on and so forth. Right. So they're either going to evolve. Right. Or fall. Right. The thing is that censorship bots AI is one piece of the pie. Right. But also it's the way their infrastructure is structured. They're going to have to really revamp to make it more creator friendly because there's apps like mine that are coming out that are offering better opportunities, like paying them more and so on and so forth. Because it's more than just ownership. And censorship is giving creators the opportunity to make higher revenues as well.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, there is. I'm friends with a lot of creators. You are too. There's a lot of frustration with some of the payouts on certain platforms right now. It's a lot less than what it used to be, apparently. And I've seen the numbers myself and it's interesting, right?

[Katya]

It's. It's a lot less. We have creators that used to make four or five times more than they used to, and it's anywhere in between. One, it's becoming a little more oversaturated. Right. But also lack of transparency that these platforms are offering to the creators. So you don't actually know what you're going to create. Right. One, one. It's not equal around the world, Right. I don't know if you know, but the TikTok Creator Fund is not paying all creators all around the world. Only us and certain regions around the world have access to it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, wow.

[Katya]

And also recently, same thing. They're getting paid significantly less than they used to. I think it's like $20 per a million views. Right. When creators are the new brand, they are the new media. Right. And so, you know, that all just needs to. Needs to shift towards them.

[Unknown Speaker]

I get 100 million views a month just off Instagram.

[Katya]

Wow.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. 40 million unique accounts reached a month and get $2.

[Katya]

No, you're joking. On Instagram.

[Unknown Speaker]

A month. Yeah. And I talk to other people, big on Instagram and it's similar numbers.

[Katya]

Oh, my God.

[Unknown Speaker]

Like five bucks or whatever.

[Katya]

Oh, my God.

[Unknown Speaker]

I don't know if that's partially because the video length. I'm not sure because my clips are under a minute, but either way it's, it doesn't matter.

[Katya]

That's a huge reach.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. And even Tik Tok, I used to make like 2,000amonth. Now it's like couple hundred. So that's down like.

[Katya]

And you're getting how much on TikTok?

[Unknown Speaker]

At least 10 million a month on TikTok.

[Katya]

Yeah. And that's their creator fund structures. How's YouTube paying you?

[Unknown Speaker]

It's a few thousand, but it's way less than it used to be. Especially like long form on YouTube. Used to be able to make a living just off YouTube. Now it's like super tough.

[Katya]

It is, it is. And you know, it's. I can't believe, I can't believe I'm hearing that saying that from you. Because you have a huge following.

[Unknown Speaker]

So. So luckily I'm able to monetize in other areas. But the average creator. Exactly. But the average creator doesn't have that. Yeah, they're relying on views for money as their number one source.

[Katya]

Exactly.

[Unknown Speaker]

So it's really tough to make a living just all views right now.

[Katya]

And then, you know, not everyone has the business acumen to also get the opportunities for the business sponsorships and yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

It'S not an easy thing.

[Katya]

No, you need to have the right managers and make sure the right managers are the right managers. And you know, there's individuals that go viral overnight and you're not essentially able to, to get the right payment structures. And that's something that, you know, we're hearing on a daily basis. We had a random viral moment of just talking about what we do on TikTok out of all places. And you know, we were hearing all these stories. Right. And everyone's asking how can I monetize? And I'm from Canada, I'm from Mexico City. Do I have access to the monetization opportunity? And you know, I could, I'm. And I'm just going to go through with them. Right. You know, we have five different revenue streams for our content creators. Number one, we're going to market with tipping and we are going to allow the creators to have 80% of the tips rather than taking over 50% that TikTok takes. Licensing users can license their content on our platform. When you sign that terms and conditions and privacy policy with us. We don't have co licensing opportunities or any access to that content that you create. You can license it to brands and so on and so forth on our platform. Number three, we have sponsorships and ads. There's a matchmaking that we'll have that will Match make you with the sponsorships and different advertisers that are based on the type of content that you create. Number four is own shops. We'll have the own shops within our platform. So e commerce platforms, any affiliate links or your own shops to sell merch and so on and so forth that'll be available to your followers. And lastly is our creator Fund. As you know, we were just talking about and I thought it was a great segue to discuss it because it's so important. I just, I still can't believe how you told me how you got paid.

[Unknown Speaker]

$2 for your honey and that's common on Instagram. Yeah. I've never heard of any big payouts on Instagram.

[Katya]

That's. Yeah. So what we're doing here is providing fair and equal opportunity no matter if you're in the us, Mexico City, Canada, Africa, India, wherever the case is, but also fair compensation. So our creator fund is different. It's a tokenized creator fund and the way it'll operate, it's an engagement and analytics platform. They'll be integrated into our platform called the hashtag Create Fund. And what it will do is read out your engagement on our platform so your likes, comments, shares and so on and so forth and create this merit score engagement rate. They'll pay you out via tokens and you don't need to have a minimum of certain amount of followers or a minimum of a certain engagement to even qualify it. You are from day one get certain amount of views. You'll be paid out via that by our system.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

Right, so. And it's going to be simple for the ones that don't understand tokens. It's going to showcase all in USD. It's a three step process. You can withdraw super easily. My chief creative officer and co creator Sarah Mick designed the app. She also created Tinder and Bumble.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

And yeah, invented the Tinder swipe. So we're making sure that the user experience, the individual is not going to know that it's a decentralized platform or there's tokens. Actually we don't even like to say it, but it's the only way to move forward and to provide equal fair opportunity and payment structure globally and worldwide is through this model.

[Unknown Speaker]

I love that. Yeah, that sounds like a creator fund we can all get behind.

[Katya]

Yeah. Well that's the thing. And in the future that's why we called it Crate Fund is because later on we hope that other platforms are going to adopt it. It's a global creator fund. So if YouTube wants to utilize it. Twitch X and Instagram or whatever new platforms that come up there. It's going to be open as an SDK to all. So we could actually make an impact in the creator economy.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's awesome.

[Katya]

Pay out creators and small businesses fairly on the engagement that they work. Like how many years did you work to get that hundred million monthly views.

[Unknown Speaker]

Started Instagram in high school. So it's been 10 years. Yeah, we got our 10 year reunion this year.

[Katya]

Well, congratulations. Right, and that's 10 years of you working your ass off to get to this place. You should be compensated for it. And that's what we're doing here.

[Unknown Speaker]

I love it. You're going to do a South by Southwest activation too?

[Katya]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

And we're having an event.

[Katya]

We're having an event together. Yes. So our office is in downtown Austin or a little bit east. Downtown Austin, 10 minutes walk from the convention center are. It's a complex and you're going to love it. There's a bunch of pods in the back, but yes, we're turning it into a crater house. So we're going to have multiple events from the 7th onwards. We're going to have an event together with you on the 11th.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's already almost sold out, actually.

[Katya]

That's amazing.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, so it's going to be packed.

[Katya]

It's going to be packed. It's going to be super fun and yeah, it's. I'm super excited because this year's focus, I don't know if you know, I mean. Well, it's a trend with a lot of conferences. They are. There's a creator economy focus. Right. So they're flying in so much creators and different opportunities that are going to be handed out to different.

[Unknown Speaker]

There's literally a creator economy conference in Vegas.

[Katya]

Yeah. Is that on may or, sorry, April 5th or is that another one?

[Unknown Speaker]

It's during affiliate summit week, which is February.

[Katya]

Okay. Okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

So there might be. There might be another one. Yeah.

[Katya]

This year I'm seeing them everywhere. They're inviting us to come in and so on and so forth. So it's. It's a big year.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, like you said, it's a big problem. So they need to find a solution.

[Katya]

Everyone's looking for solutions and usually when that happens, there's conferences, get togethers that are created for brands, advertisers, creators to come together and figure out a solution because there's no actually proper way either to monetize properly and efficiently. Right. And that's the problem that we're solving.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. I mean People would be shocked that how many creators I know that are broke or struggling right now, just because they have millions of followers and get a ton of views doesn't mean they're making money.

[Katya]

It's. It's insane. And so that's why I love that you say that's because I was on a call this morning and they're bringing that up to me like, well, you know, there's so many creators that are making so much money. I'm like, they're not making money. That's like they used to. Right. But they're not anymore. So everyone's like, where do I go? Yeah, right. And then I go there and then I have to play by the rules and I get censored, I get banned or whatever the case is and I'm not even making money. And you guys are putting so many years hours in creating, editing, posting, and then you're not getting paid for it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Katya]

So it's probably why everyone's going to only fans.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. No disrespect, but no, you brought up a good point. Because it's also that suppression factor.

[Katya]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Because they used to be able to guarantee these brands a certain amount of views, but now those posts are getting shadow banned or not shown to their followers. Maybe 1% of their followers.

[Katya]

Yep.

[Unknown Speaker]

So like having followers is almost irrelevant on certain platforms.

[Katya]

It is, it is, it's. It's a pay for play mechanism that these platforms have designed and is actually moving more towards because they're losing money too. Right. So they're designing in a way that to get visibility and reach, you have to pay ads, pay for play to get that proper reach. But even so you pay it and you get the views, but you're not getting compensated. So what are we doing here?

[Unknown Speaker]

For real?

[Katya]

It's, it's, it's enough. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's a vicious cycle because if you don't pay for it, your views are down.

[Katya]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

If you do pay for it, you could get your views back, but you're not making money.

[Katya]

And then you need to go show the brand sponsorships to get that, this, that, that. So it's, it's just like a back and forth game that, you know, just needs to be solved.

[Unknown Speaker]

Absolutely. Anything you want to close off with here. That was fun.

[Katya]

Yes, that was fun. Yeah. I would love for right now we are in our VIP beta list, so go on www.I'm sorry. So yes, this is super fun. I would love everyone to go download the app. We're currently in our beta stage. We Have a bunch of individuals signed up. We're launching in February. We're also launching our creator fund in February. And right off the bat, when we're launching and also big splash during south by Southwest, what we're doing and what we're hoping for is to give a Kickstart and a relief to creators on our platform, not only in the US that are being affected by the TikTok ban, but everyone in the world. So with our Creator Fund, I would like to announce here that we are giving away 100 million tokens to content creators.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Katya]

And how that's how you're able to allocate it is to download the app, receive your affiliate link, and share that link with your friends, your followers, and every person that clicks on that link and downloads the app, you get a token. So share it with your millions of followers. You get one token per download. And you know you can get thousands and you know, millions of tokens, of course, depending on your reach and how many individuals that you have. But even if you do get even a couple. But we want to kickstart our app by giving back. Right. I think that's important. And starting to build that trust of the creator first platform rather than the platform first platform. And yeah, that's what we're doing.

[Unknown Speaker]

I love it. Well, we'll link the app below for you guys to download and I'll see you guys at South By Right.

[Katya]

Yes. And also I'd love to give you this gift.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, thank you.

[Katya]

And I love you to start owning your on own. Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Feels good getting all these views and not getting anything, you know?

[Katya]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Thanks so much. We got a hoodie in here.

[Katya]

You got a hoodie. Got a fun hat.

[Unknown Speaker]

Cool. Love hoodies. As you can tell, always wearing a hoodie.

[Katya]

Yes. So. And a fun hat. Own it here.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yes, I own it, baby. All right, thanks so much.

[Katya]

Thank you so much.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, have a good one. Okay, girl. Guys, Peace.

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