Creators Are Growing, Despite Naysayers

Issue #337 | May 1, 2025

Every few years, hot takes flood the internet claiming that the creator economy has peaked. These headlines inevitably rack up millions of pageviews and shares. However, a new report published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, in collaboration with Harvard Business School professor emeritus John Deighton, shows just how wrong these headlines are. Not only is the creator industry not dying, it’s thriving in ways legacy media can barely wrap its head around.

According to the report, the number of full-time content creators in the U.S. skyrocketed from 200,000 in 2020 to 1.5 million in 2024. That’s a 7.5x jump in just four years, which is a growth rate that many traditional media companies would die for. While headlines bemoan the supposed demise of influencing and the “creator bubble,” the sector quietly became the fastest-growing segment of the 28.4 million internet-dependent jobs in the U.S.

This may be hard for some people who have been bombarded with articles about “deinfluencing” to believe. But while “deinfluencing” might initially seem like a grassroots revolt against content creators, it has been grossly misunderstood and mischaracterized by legacy news outlets desperate for a convenient narrative. Deinfluencing isn’t about ending creator culture. It simply represents larger trends of creators centering trust, transparency, and building authentic relationships with their followers.

Traditional media continues to push the idea that influencer culture is frivolous and fading. However, these cynical stories often come from institutions struggling to survive the very digital shift they failed to adapt to. Creator media revenue is now growing five times faster than the traditional media sector, the IAB report found. These multi-platform, next-generation creators are building media empires and product lines that rival legacy brands in cultural relevance and revenue.

Back in 2008, the internet contributed just 2% of the U.S. GDP. Today, it supports $4.9 trillion (18% of the economy) and it’s the leading driver of GDP growth. The digital economy has expanded beyond Silicon Valley coders and developers. It’s now driven by creators and platform-based entrepreneurs. Creator jobs now comprise 30% of all digital economy employment, while gig economy platforms like Uber, DoorDash, and Airbnb account for just 8%.

As Leora Kornfeld, principal research consultant and co-author of the study, said, “You decide what’s good, not hierarchies or intermediaries.”

Influencing isn’t dead, and digital work isn’t disappearing. More Americans than ever are earning their livelihoods in internet-mediated ways. As AI, media, and new platforms continue to evolve, the broader creator economy will likely only grow. It’s up to fledgling creators to take advantage of the opportunity.

– Taylor Lorenz, Passionfruit Contributor

LABOR

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EXPLORE PLANS

IN THE BIZ

Kickstarter is introducing a ‘Tariff Manager’ tool to help creators affected by Trump’s tariff rises.
WhatsApp now has more than 3 billion users a month.
Digital creator jobs have jumped 7.5x since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pinterest announced its plan to fight AI slop.

PLATFORMS

Snapchat Has Reached 460 Million Users

In the past year, Snapchat has had 38 million new users.

By Charlotte Colombo, Passionfruit Contributor

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Snapchat users - Snapchat now has 460 million users

PLATFORMS

TikTok Creators Are Now Generating $10 Million From Livestreams

30 million TikTok users watch livestreams daily.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Meltwater Summit is May 6-7 in New York City, New York.
Social Media Week is May 12-14 in New York City, New York.
WITS Travel Creator Summit is May 16-18 in New York City, New York.
VidCon is June 19-21 in Anaheim, California.

CREATOR SPOTLIGHT

Calling all creators! Want to be featured to Passionfruit’s community? ✨

Make sure to apply to our creator spotlight program! You can find more details and the application here. Happy creating!