In the wake of TikTok transition issues and algorithmic upsets, established creators are looking to de-risk platform dependence to ensure they can expand outside of traditional creator spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Haley Kalil, aka Haley Baylee, wants to continue to add to the millions of followers she has amassed across several social media platforms (10 million on Instagram, 16.4 million on TikTok) with her off-the-cuff humor. But Kalil wants to do that off of people\u2019s screens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Intersection\u2019s LinkNYC comes in. As part of a new partnership, Kalil has agreed to let the media company share content she\u2019s already published across Instagram and TikTok on more than 4,000 LinkNYC screens across New York City, where Kalil, 33, is based. The deal is focused on exposure rather than compensation, so it carries no fee. The structures, which replaced payphones over a decade ago with kiosks that have free Wi-Fi and built-in LED screens, will host Kalil\u2019s content, much of which will be filmed on the streets of the city, through summer 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re a creator, you just want more eyeballs. You just want to keep growing your community. When they reached out and said, \u2018Hey, we can give you a platform that you could never reach on your own,\u2019 it was an immediate yes,\u201d\u00a0Kalil told Digiday. <\/p>\n
In an era of algorithmic unpredictability, betting on a single platform is no longer a viable business model for creators, said Amy Choi, CEO and founder of creator marketing consultancy ACE NYC. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen algorithm changes, potential TikTok bans and Meta\u2019s constant algorithm shifts erode creators\u2019 ability to reach their own audiences. Creators who\u2019ve built entire businesses on a single platform are incredibly vulnerable,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The move by creators to diversify beyond single platforms echoes a strategy long used by publishers who learned the hard way<\/a> that algorithm changes on Google and Facebook could instantly reshape traffic and revenue. Publishers\u2019 ongoing struggles with declining referral traffic from search, worsened by Google\u2019s AI Overviews,<\/a> serve as a cautionary tale that creators are increasingly heeding.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith this LinkNYC partnership, we\u2019re watching creators evolve across the full spectrum of screens: first from mobile\/social where they built their audience, to CTV\/streaming with shows and brand integrations and even Super Bowl commercials, and now with out-of-home placements like this,\u201d said Choi. \u201cEach screen serves a different function, and it\u2019s not about engagement or clicks, but ubiquity and cultural presence. This is actually old school reach and frequency strategy,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n This strategy is likely a good fit for a creator like Kalil, who is hesitant to become too corporatized. It doesn\u2019t require her to make anything that feels at-odds with her brand, as LinkNYC is hosting content she\u2019s already made and published on her social channels.<\/p>\n Emily Brown, associate director of strategy at Billion Dollar Boys, says there\u2019s an efficiency layer at play here, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBecause Haley isn\u2019t creating net-new content, LinkNYC is effectively amplifying creative that is already proven to resonate with audiences. That means repeated exposure across multiple touchpoints,\u201d Brown said. \u201cA consumer might see Haley on TikTok in the morning and then encounter the same content on a LinkNYC screen later that day. That kind of cross-media repetition drives recall, recognition and familiarity.\u201d<\/p>\n Kalil believes that the rawness of social media and the authenticness of her content doesn\u2019t fit in a corporate world, and she doesn\u2019t want to be \u201ccaptured in a cage by corporate America.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI understand being a business and the importance of it, and doing all those things in the background,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t ever like to overthink it, because at the end of the day, I\u2019m a girl with a phone, and that\u2019s what got me to where I am. I never want to lose that. I\u2019ve watched creators lose that, and they don\u2019t lose it on purpose, they just over-corporate themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, she\u2019s hyper-aware of how important it is to diversify her revenue sources. Choi says more creators should consider broadening their media and channel presence. \u201cEspecially back to \u2018traditional channels,\u2019 as it may unlock and inspire paid out-of-home partnerships,\u201d she said. \u201cCreators who think like actual media companies, not just content machines, are the ones who\u2019ll have staying power beyond viral moments.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the most important thing for creators is to have different pockets in which to make money,\u201d Kalil said. \u201cYou never know how the economy is going to go, where you might not get any offers that align with your values. I would hate to be in a place where I financially need an offer from somebody and I have to take it, and I have to compromise my morals. That\u2019s something that I don\u2019t want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Kalil\u2019s partnership comes barely a month after one of her main sources of revenue, TikTok, went, as she put it, \u201cwonky\u201d for a few days after its ownership transition. She says that, though she\u2019ll continue posting on TikTok and recognizes that algorithm shifts can sometimes open doors for other creators, being able to be seen outside of an algorithm is huge for a creator who is often dependent on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you can get visibility from something that isn\u2019t algorithmic, it\u2019s a success, because you don\u2019t have to depend on all these factors,\u201d Kalil said. \u201cSomebody could be walking to work and will see my content because it\u2019s playing on Link. That\u2019s a great investment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the wake of TikTok transition issues and algorithmic upsets, established creators are looking to de-risk platform dependence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80,40318],"class_list":["post-295515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology","tag-the-creator-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}