

Discover more from After School by Casey Lewis
Gen Z is sick of being boomers’ tech gurus; Instagram launches its creator marketplace on an invite-only basis; the Disney Channel finally introduced its first trans character; and as we find ourselves in desperate need of a worthy song-of-the-summer contender, Nicki Minaj just might have it in the bag.
BEREAL PHOTOS ARE THE LATEST COOL-KID FLEX ON TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM, glossy
BeReal, the “anti-Instagram” that quickly turned into Gen Z’s preferred app, has begun popping up on, well, Instagram. “Once you’ve curated enough BeReal photos, you’re essentially curating a ‘photo dump’ of your daily life, which can be fun to stitch together to show your unfiltered lifestyle to your audience.
TACKY IS BACK!, vox
“Bad taste” is having a moment. A recent piece in Time magazine lists the evidence: Selling Sunset, hyperpop, Pete Davidson, micro-miniskirts, cocaine decor, revisionist retellings of maligned ’90s women like Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, and Monica Lewinsky.
THROWING FITS FOR MEN’S FASHION, nyt
The podcast-turned-community-turned, I guess?-movement Throwing Fits, which began as a Barstool Sports podcast called “Failing Upwards” in 2016, has such a grip on Gen Z men that it’s honestly astounding, especially since it’s hosted by two mid-30s dudes. But it’s really something to behold, and more power to ‘em. “Maybe they’ve moved out of their hometown and they’re looking for an older-brother-type figure to tell them what to wear, what to listen to, what to watch, what to do, where to drink, where to eat,” says one of the hosts of the show’s fanbase.
GEN Z ACTUALLY HATES WORKING FROM HOME, insider
Well, at least according to one report. The headline is pretty sensational — the reality, I think, is that the majority of Gen Z wants the option to go in sometimes, especially on days when other colleagues are going in — but I also suspect that Gen Z is romanticizing the idea of the office because a whole swath of them have never experienced it (though, to be fair, that could very well just be my opinion, as a millennial who worked in an office from 9a-6p, 5 days a week, for 10 years and never wants to do that again).
RECRUITERS ARE BURNED OUT, AND GEN Z JOB DEMANDS AREN’T HELPING, bloomberg
“It’s a recent college graduate asking for $90,000 to start, who doesn’t want to go into an office and is asking for unlimited paid time off.”
One last thought: