Roblox Protests and Speed Friending

cosmogirl final boss

Lila Moss is the star of GapStudio’s newest summer campaign; Fred Again dropped a new song and caused pandemonium in Brooklyn; and it’s really hard not to love Jonathan Bailey.

REESE WITHERSPOON UNVEILS HELLO SUNSHINE SISTER LABEL, SUNNIE, FOR GENZ AT CANNES LIONS, variety
Yesterday, Reese Witherspoon announced a Gen Z-focused offshoot to Hello Sunshine called Sunnie. The vibe is very mid-aughts girl power. If Sunnie were a teen magazine in 2005, it would be on the Barnes & Noble shelf next to Seventeen and Cosmogirl (post-Atoosa, when it got really cheesy), not ElleGirl and Teen Vogue, and that is not a compliment. It doesn’t feel cool or authentic, even though it was allegedly developed with an advisory board of 20 teenage girls. The website looks like the landing page of a sunscreen brand aimed at Gen Alpha, and the copy that reads, “You glow different. Process life. Find new obsessions. In your glow, on your terms,” does nothing to deter that. There’s definitely a desire for nostalgic internet experiences and retro media among young people, but from what I can see of Sunnie — which is, to be fair, not a lot; the form to sign up for their “zine” is not currently working — this is not that. (Reese, I can help you!)

I WENT SPEED-FRIENDING: THE LATEST TREND PROMISING TO CURE LONELINESS, cosmopolitan
Speed-dating is on the rise, so why not speed-friending, too? Young women navigating post-pandemic loneliness are turning to events like Gurl PWR’s speed-friending nights. According to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, 56% of women feel lonely at least some of the time, with 16-29-year-olds reporting the highest rates of chronic loneliness. These IRL gatherings offer a much-needed counter to swipe fatigue, which now extends beyond dating apps to platforms like Bumble BFF and Communia.

KIDS ARE PROTESTING ICE IN ROBLOX, teenvogue via

User Mag

The gaming platform has become a digital protest ground for Gen Alpha, with tween users staging in-game demonstrations against ICE in the massively popular Brookhaven roleplay world, reports

Taylor Lorenz

. Organized by teens like 17-year-old Simon Gutierrez, these protests mimic real-world events with avatars waving flags, facing off with ICE agents, and sharing updates on TikTok and Discord. As Gutierrez put it, “This is the only thing we can turn to.”

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PROTEST USED TO GO TOGETHER. NOT ANYMORE., nymag
I think Taylor’s story is especially interesting juxtaposed with John Hermann’s column from last week about how social media is no longer a reliable tool for organizing progressive protest, especially among younger activists who view platforms as surveillance tools rather than allies. Once instrumental in movements like Black Lives Matter, algorithm-driven platforms now favor decontextualized spectacle over collective action. (The exception being, maybe, Roblox.) As journalist Mina Kimes tweeted, “The disparity between what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory.”

THERE'S A DEEP GENERATIONAL DIVIDE OVER DIGITAL BRANDS, adweek According to Morning Consult’s 2025 Most Trusted Brands report, Gen Z ranks YouTube as their most trusted brand, while older generations exclude it entirely from their top 25. (“YouTube is the new television for Gen Z,” said Morning Consult’s Jeff Cartwright, echoing a now-common refrain.) Younger consumers generally trust digital-first platforms like YouTube, Google, and TikTok more than boomers or Gen X, with Gen Z trusting TikTok 25 points more than the general adult population.

IT’S OFFICIAL: STREAMING IS NOW THE KING OF TV, nyt
Streaming officially overtook cable and broadcast TV in May, with Americans spending more time watching platforms like YouTube and Netflix than traditional television for the first full month on record, according to Nielsen. YouTube now accounts for 12.5% of all TV time, surpassing Netflix’s 7.5%. While there’s been massive growth among older viewers — viewing among adults 65+ more than doubled — younger consumers remain core to streaming’s dominance, with Gen Z and kids under 11 among YouTube’s heaviest users.

One last thought:

@tiffanybertyAnd that’s how i met your mother #fyp #lookingforamaninfinance

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