Nugget Love and Polo Bear NFTs
“the unexpected workout trend Gen Z can’t get enough of”
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The woman behind Ralph Lauren’s iconic Polo Bear is launching bear NFTs; “the unexpected workout trend Gen Z can’t get enough of” (which is, spoiler…walking); the rise of messy makeup; and are you ready for boozy water?
TIKTOK BROADCASTS THE UKRAINE INVASION, nymag
TikTok’s mind-reading algorithm nearly predicts what you want to watch before you watch it. It serves you a stream of videos it hopes you like and then observes how you respond, whether they’re of gross kitchen concoctions or endless versions of smartly dressed Gen-Zers rotely dancing to Nelly Furtado’s Say It Right.
INTIMATE OR IRRITATING: ARE VOICE NOTES KILLING THE PHONE CALL?, guardian
I really, really despise this as a trend, and if admitting that is outing myself as old, then so be it!
For voice note fan, model and digital editor Maddy Reid, 23, who sends 10 to 50 a day over WhatsApp, much of their appeal lies in how efficient they are to send, particularly when you’re on the move. “It’s like a phone call, except you don’t have to rely on both parties being free at the same time.
WHY ARE WE ALL SO OBSESSED WITH EARLY WEB NOSTALGIA?, dazed
We’re obsessed with all things Y2K, and online aesthetics are no exception. (Shout out to drinkgenz.com, one of my favorite websites on the internet.)
HUSTLE AND HYPE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE INFLUENCER ECONOMY, guardian
A particularly grim look at what monetizing our lives has done to us.
Many aspiring influencers pay for hauls of Fashion Nova clothes to review and model, viewing it as an investment in what they hope will become a job. In reality, they’re providing the company with free labour as promo girls, giving the brand adverts they did not have to pay for. The small number of women the company actually hand-picks for free clothes tend to have a similar aesthetic. They are young, most of them with narrow waists, wide hips and thick lips. Many have hourglass figures and wear clothing that clings to their skin: an aesthetic known as “Insta baddie”.
CHINA’S GEN Z ARE DITCHING WECHAT TO SOCIALIZE ON JELLY, krasia
Jelly launched in mid-January; by February 11, it topped the free app category in the Apple App Store — the first time WeChat was bumped from the highest ranking in China since 2019. “Jelly’s popularity largely depends on its cartoonish visuals—oversized heads, sleek looks, and cute gestures.”
FINDING LOVE, ONE NUGGET AT A TIME, nyt
Though she herself is technically a millennial, comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg has amassed a Gen Z following, mixing poultry and romance on her show “Chicken Shop Date,” on which she convenes “at different fried chicken shops across greater London, mostly with British celebrities — rappers, actors, soccer players and a drag queen named Bimini Bon-Boulash — to film her talk show with interrogation-style questions and deliberate, ungodly silences.”
One last thought:
I’m a voice noter but promise I won’t send you any!