Mashable 101: The creators shaping the internet in 2026
By

Crystal Bell
Digital Culture Editor
Crystal Bell is the Culture Editor at Mashable. She oversees the site's coverage of the creator economy, digital spaces, and internet trends, focusing on how young people engage with others and themselves online. She is particularly interested in how social media platforms shape our online and offline identities.
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Credit: Ian Moore/Mashable/Getty Images
Mel Mitchell serves comedy with a side of commentary.
A stand-up comedian, actor, and digital creator, Mitchell has amassed more than 1 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, where her videos move fluidly between cultural critique and character-driven humor. Whether she's breaking down a pop culture moment or reenacting a familiar online interaction, the throughline is the same. The joke lands because the observation is precise.
That precision comes from stage work as much as screen time. Mitchell began doing stand-up in 2018, using comedy to process personal loss and instability. "Laugh to keep from crying" became a motto and a method. It's still visible in her work today, where even the sharpest jokes carry an undercurrent of lived experience.
Mashable Trend Report
Over the past year, her career has expanded quickly. Mitchell has opened for comedians Roy Wood Jr. and Zainab Johnson, as well as for artist Ari Lennox, and she also completed a tour with KevOnStage. In 2024, she headlined and sold out shows in Atlanta and continued to draw crowds in New York and beyond. At the same time, she has moved into on-screen work, filming the series Scare Tactics with Monkeypaw Productions and appearing in TikTok's talk show series Tik Talk. She even launched her own podcast, Jokes On You.
Brand partnerships with companies such as Nike, Apple, and Bumble have further extended her reach, but they follow the same logic as her content: the voice remains consistent and authentic.
Mitchell's rise reflects a broader shift in how comedy works now, where the internet is just as important as the stage work. It's a good thing Mitchell excels at both.
From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage or see more of this year’s Mashable 101 to discover the internet's most exciting voices.

Crystal Bell is the Culture Editor at Mashable. She oversees the site's coverage of the creator economy, digital spaces, and internet trends, focusing on how young people engage with others and themselves online. She is particularly interested in how social media platforms shape our online and offline identities.
She was formerly the entertainment director at MTV News, where she helped the brand expand its coverage of extremely online fan culture and K-pop across its platforms. You can find her work in Teen Vogue, PAPER, NYLON, ELLE, Glamour, NME, W, The FADER, and elsewhere on the internet.
She's exceptionally fluent in fandom and will gladly make you a K-pop playlist and/or provide anime recommendations upon request. Crystal lives in New York City with her two black cats, Howl and Sophie.



























