TikTok Brain and Breakup Season

give me "cognitive liberty" or give me death

Blackpink’s Jennie and Kendall Jenner join Calvin Klein's fall 2023 campaign; Reformation’s summer sale — essentially, Gen Z’s Prime Day — is here; Travis Scott has the No. 1 album in the United States for a second consecutive week; and the strange comfort of summer’s mass “breakup season.”

PARADE, THE BUZZY DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER INTIMATES BRAND, IS SOLD TO ARIELA & ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL, wwd
The beloved Gen Z intimates brand, which launched in 2019, has been sold to Ariela & Associates International, the largest women-owned intimates company in the U.S. Parade will maintain its identity and creative vision, “while leveraging AAi’s best-in-class sourcing, design, and forecasting capabilities to scale in the U.S. and globally.” TBD if founder Cami Téllez will stay on.

TIKTOK’S STRANGE TREND OF HUMANS PLAYING ROBOTS SPURS HOPE FOR US SHOPPING, bloomberg
Could the NPC trend — i.e. the mega-viral “ice cream so good” Pinkydoll — be the big unlock for making livestream shopping mainstream in the U.S.? Bloomberg says NPCs have “captivated viewers and encouraged them to make virtual purchases, facilitating the growth of TikTok's live commerce model.” The platform is now focusing on its "community commerce" strategy, blending personalized video feeds with seamless shopping integration.

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ANTIDOTE FOR TIKTOK BRAIN. IT’S JUST AS BAD., wsj
You’re telling me one short-form platform is just as bad as another? Stop. The tl;dr here is that while longer videos are still on YouTube, it’s the short ones that have recently captured viewers’ attention — kids in particular. They are now watched by more than 2 billion logged-in users every month, up from 1.5 billion a year ago.

Robert Verderese says his 14-year-old son has become so absorbed in YouTube Shorts that he can’t seem to hear his dad tell him to put down his phone, even though he doesn’t wear headphones. “I’ve said, ‘I’ll give you $1,000 if you look up at me right now,’ and three seconds later he looks up and says, ‘What?’” Verderese says.

TIKTOK IS LETTING PEOPLE SHUT OFF ITS INFAMOUS ALGORITHM—AND THINK FOR THEMSELVES, wired
TikTok is making its algorithm optional for users in the European Union, so users will be able to opt out of seeing their For You pages and instead view trending videos in their region. An opt-out feature is a step toward protecting “cognitive liberty,” the “fundamental right to self-determination over our brains and mental experiences.” (Am I alone in, um, treasuring my FYP and thinking about it like a Tamagotchi that I nurture each day? Hm, I might have a problem.)

I’M GEN Z AND I JUST WATCHED THE O.C. FOR THE FIRST TIME, vogue
In honor of the show’s 20th (damn!) anniversary, a brave young person watched the series and shared her unfiltered thoughts with Vogue. Honestly, you can skip the article but consider this your reminder to rewatch The O.C., an absolutely perfect glimpse of the early 2000s — no wonder Gen Z loves it, too.

THAT’S NO COUNSELOR. SHE’S THE HEAD OF THE CAMP., nyt
Antonia Steinberg, 23, granddaughter of Diane von Furstenberg, is now the president of Buck’s Rock, a renowned artsy summer camp in New Milford, Conn. She transformed the camp into a nonprofit, with 43% of campers on scholarships. Two of my favorite things: Summer camp and nepo babies!

One last thought:

@hollyjreardonTrue story

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