Retired Creators and Broke Boomers

are we post-influencer yet?

Dimes Square is dead — long live the bands of Dimes Square; 1975’s Matty Healy deletes Instagram to end (in his words) his 'asshole era'; AG Club is L.A.'s next big music collective; and Kellyanne Conway asked why GOP Is unpopular with young voters — and Twitter answered.

IS THERE LIFE AFTER INFLUENCING?, nyt
When creators get burnt out from being online 24/7, they’re seeking solace in 9-to-5s. Take Lee Tilghman, known to her 400,000 followers as LeeFromAmerica, who was relieved to land a corporate gig as a social media director for a tech platform. “I could just show up to work and do work,” Ms. Tilghman said. And though there’s this persistent idea that influencers are famous for “doing nothing,” many of their skills — short-form video editing, copywriting, influencer growth strategy — are not only very transferable but super in demand.

SYKY TO LAUNCH DIGITAL FASHION DESIGN INCUBATOR, voguebusiness
Think CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund meets web3: The digital fashion startup led by ex-Ralph Lauren digital chief Alice Delahunt will select 10 emerging designers to join its inaugural Syky Collective, who will have access to mentorship, education, and fashion partnerships before launching collections via Syky.

TIKTOK IS DEAD (MAYBE). LONG LIVE TIKTOK DANCE., nyt
As TikTok has grown to more than 150 million users in the United States, its dance-centric monoculture gave way to many niche subcultures, of which DanceTok is just one. But even if TikTok disappears, the cultural impact of this choreography is bigger than the app.

A ban probably wouldn’t snuff out TikTok dance: Its signature qualities have already seeped into popular culture. The form’s distinctive movement vocabulary, relaxed presentation, and positioning of viral choreography as something not to be just watched but also tried have reshaped other social platforms, the professional dance world and even bigger-picture ideas about the role of dance.

GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS ARE SO BROKE THEY’RE RUINING THEIR PARENTS’ RETIREMENTS, fortune
We are bleeding our boomer parents dry. Nearly 7 in 10 parents with children 18+ have made at least one financial sacrifice to help out their kids, and the most common financial hit is emergency savings. One in five parents reports making significant sacrifices to help their adult children, while more than two in five parents reported helping at the expense of their retirement savings.

THIS IS HOW MUCH IT’LL COST YOU TO BE A WEDDING GUEST THIS YEAR, insidehook
This piece is ostensibly about the financial constraints brought on by weddings, but what’s interesting to me is that, according to recent research, 38% of Millennials and 37% of Gen Zers are planning to attend at least one wedding this year, with 23% of Gen Zers and 22% of millennials slated to attend more than one — meaning Gen Z has effectively caught up with millennials when it comes to marriage age.

WATER ‘RECIPES’ ARE TIKTOK’S LATEST DUBIOUS DIET CULTURE FAD, eater
The many ways in which circa-2010s Tumblr-era eating disorder culture has found a second life on TikTok is astounding!

In this hydration-obsessed corner of TikTok, where videos hashtagged with #watertok have been viewed more than 84 million times, creators present a slew of “recipes” for spicing up water, that beverage we all need to survive. A particularly prolific creator in the trend is a woman named Tonya, who uses the handle @takingmylifebackat42. Since 2022, she’s racked up millions of views on videos in which she makes a wide range of low-calorie foods, but her water recipes are especially popular. She has recipes for bubblegum water, banana split water, unicorn cotton candy water and, of course, she has an affiliate code where you can purchase syrups to make your own flavored waters (and help her make a little bit of cash).

One last thought: