Birthday Anxiety and Invitation Fatigue
it's the lorde's day
Doechii and Tyler, The Creator debuted a new song at Paris Fashion Week; TikTok star Bella Poarch is making her film acting debut in the horror movie Six Till Midnight; Lorde celebrated her album release date by performing a surprise set at Glastonbury; i-D interviewed Gigi and Bella’s newly discovered sister; and this is coming to you a little late because my apartment lost power around 5 p.m. last night and has yet to be restored so I'm attempting to write this using a hotspot, but I have terrible cellular service at home, which is usually totally fine unless I'm trying to hotspot…because the internet is out…because the power is out. Anyway: Happy Friday!
STUDENT LOAN DELINQUENCIES HIT RECORD AS LATE PAYMENTS PILE UP, bloomberg
Student loan delinquencies have hit a record high, with 31% of federal borrowers — about 5.8 million people — now over 90 days past due, according to TransUnion. That’s more than double the pre-pandemic delinquency rate of 12%, and up sharply from 21% in February 2025. Facing inflation, rising living costs, and a return to full repayment, many Gen Zers have seen credit scores drop by an average of 60 points (and that’s before BNPL history factoring into credit reports). If trends continue, 1.8 million borrowers could default by July, triggering wage garnishment or tax refund seizures by the federal government. It’s useful context for the Wall Street Journal’s widely shared piece on Gen Zers trading bars for at-home pizza parties and $20 press-ons from Target for $85 gel manicures. One Gen Zer told the Journal that “trying to save money has become kind of cool,” and maybe that’s true, but it’s also become a necessity.
THE HIDDEN PRESSURE MESSING WITH TEEN BIRTHDAYS, vox
Birthdays have become emotionally fraught thanks to social media expectations around “performing closeness.” As Harvard’s Emily Weinstein explains, birthday posts signal a teen’s popularity, social rank, and relationship status through visible metrics like reposts and comments. Many teens feel pressure to post content that reflects the closeness of a friendship — one 19-year-old says it’s “like a declaration in society that this person is my friend” — or stress when they receive fewer public posts than peers.
RSVP SOS, businessinsider
Invitation fatigue has become a defining social dilemma among Gen Z, who now rely heavily on Partiful (“Facebook events for hot people”) to coordinate plans across fragmented friend groups. Partiful’s playful, meme-heavy “vibe” is part of the appeal, but the casualness of the platform makes RSVPs a headache. Hosts say they’re overwhelmed by “maybes,” no-shows, and awkward follow-up nudges. (This is what I was talking about when I said we’re all committing to too much! We’ve been socialmaxxing and it’s exhausting.) Meanwhile, on the Slate podcast ICYMI, the hosts asked this week: “Is Partiful canceled?”, pointing to backlash over its founders’ past at Palantir, the controversial data firm linked to ICE and Peter Thiel — and if so, they wonder, why do none of the alternatives, from Apple Invites to Canva cards, feel remotely appealing?
MEET MELTED SOLIDS, THE SCRAPPY AGENCY BEHIND ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S PRIMARY-WINNING CAMPAIGN, adweek
Zohran Mamdani’s win was powered by Melted Solids, a two-person Brooklyn-based agency known for DIY-style political storytelling aimed at young voters. Their content included a Valentine’s Day registration video hidden in chocolates and a viral plunge at Coney Island to advocate for rent freezes. Co-founder Anthony DiMieri, who also co-produces
The campaign’s success has helped cultivate genuine, organic enthusiasm online. One X post cracking, “you can just tweet ‘Zohran Mamdani’ immediately get 1000 likes,” drew over 17 million views, and sparked tens of thousands of reposts as users tested the claim.
THE KEY TO THE YOUNG MALE VOTE: BEER, wsj
I understand the points being made in this op-ed — that current laws encourage dangerous binge drinking, erode campus social life, and infantilize 18-year-olds who can otherwise vote, marry, and serve in the military — but it’s weird that it doesn’t acknowledge that Gen Z is drinking less alcohol, beer in particular, than any other generation. Beer sales dropped nearly 8% over Memorial Day weekend alone, and brands are now desperate to reinvent themselves for a generation more interested in nootropics and non-alcoholic spritzers than keg stands. This piece feels emblematic of a larger societal misunderstanding, not just of young consumer behavior, but also of the political moment.
One last thought:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser