📣 Autistic Creators Speak Out

CREATOR ECONOMY NEWSLETTER


Many neurodivergent creators use social media platforms to combat stigma and spread awareness around their lives. Hashtags like #autism, #autistic, and #neurodiversity gained billions of views on platforms like TikTok in recent years.

However, while TikTok has been a place of great representation and community for neurodivergent creators, it’s been a double-edged sword. As Passionfruit contributor Charlotte Colombo explains this week, oftentimes autistic creators’ comments sections are flooded with viewers babying them and gushing about how “adorable” they are.

Colombo also explores how this infantilizing gaze applies to the significant number of accounts that are dedicated to an autistic person’s life but are controlled by a parent, partner, or caregiver. She shares why she thinks these portrayals are problematic and also shares the perspectives of many creators and social media users fed up with infantilization on the platform.


THE HIGHLIGHT

The infantilization of autistic people on TikTok needs to stop


ONE GREAT TIP


TIPS AND TRICKS

​​TikTok star Evan the Card Guy shares how he hooked 16 million followers

“I started doing what I like to call interactive magic or interactive content.”

By Grace Stanley, Newsletter Editor


TOOLS REVIEW

woman holding chips up to microphone in front of pink background ASMR

How to make tingly brain-massaging ASMR videos

There’s never been a better time to get started making your own.

By Rachel Kiley, Passionfruit Contributor


IN THE BIZ


TIKTOK MADE ME DO IT

Content for Creators.

News, tips, and tricks delivered to your inbox twice a week.

Newsletter Signup

Latest Newsletters

  • Holding Space for Your Audience

    Holding Space for Your Audience

    CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #295 | Dec. 3, 2024 You know, as someone who works in queer media (ba-dum tss), it’s clear that the Wicked movie has the internet in a fingerhold (booo hisss). Surviving its much-debated melodramatic press tour and Spongebob-themed extramarital allegations, the Wicked franchise has undeniably doused the world in pink and green. As Charlotte Colombo writes this week, even if…

  • Zzz…

    Zzz…

    CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #294 | Nov. 28, 2024 – The Passionfruit team TIPS & TRICKS 5 Creators on How to Plan for Time Off During the Holiday Season  Creators are businesses in themselves, and often feel like they can’t take a break. But with the proper planning, creators can take time off too. By Jen Glantz, Passionfruit Contributor READ…

  • Gen Z Creators Are Embracing Brain Rot

    Gen Z Creators Are Embracing Brain Rot

    CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #293 | Nov. 26, 2024 Recently, the term brain rot has evolved from a basic synonym for being chronically online, to a fully-fledged meme and ironic slang language. Words like gooning, rizz, sigma, gyatt, and skibidi have formed a new cultural lexicon that’s shooting content creators to popularity and permanently warping online and offline…