Skeptical YIPs and Swing State Creators
Skeptical YIPs and Swing State Creators
a16z pod bros, are you ready?
Taylor Swift is bringing Paramore and Phoebe Bridgers (among others) on her ‘Eras’ tour; Indy Yelich, Lorde’s sister, forges her own musical path; pizza for Thanksgiving is (…allegedly) the latest Gen Z inflation hack; and this college dropout’s $200 million company is changing how Gen Z buys underwear.
CREATORS ARE RALLYING FOR THE MIDTERMS — BUT GETTING POLITICAL ISN’T ON THE AGENDA, forbes
Rock the Vote has teamed up with influencer marketing firm Influential to onboard 14 creators who have more than a million followers across swing states alone. Vote.org, meanwhile, has focused on micro-influencers, who have smaller but highly-engaged audiences, in toss-up regions. Will it be enough? I honestly cannot follow too closely or else I will devolve into an anxious mess (more so than I already am).
GEN Z CANDIDATES RAISING FUNDS FOR 2022 MIDTERMS CAMPAIGNS ARE DEFYING EXPECTATIONS, teenvogue
Turns out, Gen Z is pretty good at asking for money. Not altogether surprising, given what we know about this generation — and the Gen Z VCs and founders out here raising billions — but interesting nonetheless.
‘IT’S OUT OF ORDER’: GEN Z SPEAK UP FOR CANCEL CULTURE AND ‘YOUNG ILLIBERAL PROGRESSIVES’, guardian
Over half of U.K. Gen Z (or “yips,” a term the Guardian is trying to make happen) think older generations worry too much and exaggerate the effects of social media. Just over a third of Gen Z view social media as a source of stress, while more than half say the positives outweigh the negatives.
ROBLOX PARTNERS WITH PARSONS ON METAVERSE CURRICULUM, TREND REPORT, wwd
Described as “The New School’s next wave of fashion design for Roblox,” the partnership involves a 16-week course challenging future designers to “explore the intricate relationship between digital and physical fashion set in an immersive future.” An accompanying trend report found that 40% of Gen Z say “self-expression via clothing and accessories in the digital world is already more important than expressing themselves in the physical world.”
THE RISE OF THE MILLIONAIRE LINKEDIN INFLUENCER, vice
Another must-read by reporter Maxwell Strachan, who just never misses!
By this year, he’d gained more than 300,000 followers. Along the way, he noticed a shift in the inquiries he received. No longer were people mostly asking for software advice. “They were asking me about how I was using LinkedIn,” he said. Today, Welsh is a full-blown LinkedIn influencer who teaches other people to use the platform as well as he does, and his one-man LinkedIn-focused business now brings in nearly $2 million annually, he said.
One last thought:
I was shopping Parade not five minutes before reading the linked article on this absolutely fascinating company. Their marketing tactics are relentless and genius, and I am usually turned off by this (I am convinced that just seeing they've sent me a text or email solicits five more "we see you seeing us, come back and spend!!!!" messages, and the whole We'll Make You an Influencer thing via product reviews seems kind of gross) BUT they seem to actually put their money where their mouths are. They're gender, size, and racially inclusive, and they make a legitimately good product. Turn off all the marketing noise, and they can have my money (but not without a promo code, of which there are plenty. Don't let the anxious-attachment marketing tell you otherwise).