TikTok Refugees and Payday Loans

"follow me on instagram"

Dazed profiled Caroline Calloway (I will never skip a CC interview and this one does not disappoint); LiAngelo Ball turned one viral song into a $13 million Def Jam deal; and Olivia Rodrigo, Tyler, the Creator, and Hozier are headlining Gov Ball 2025.

‘RED NOTE,’ A CHINESE APP, IS DOMINATING DOWNLOADS, THANKS TO TIKTOK USERS, nyt
Self-described “TikTok refugees” are turning to Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book, a popular social media app in China that had few international users — at least until this week. Yesterday, it hit No. 1 in the U.S. App Store as Gen Z TikTokers encouraged their followers to download it and delete Meta apps to protest Zuckerberg’s lobbying against TikTok.

AS TIKTOK BAN LOOMS, OTHER PLATFORMS ARE RUSHING IN TO COURT DISPLACED CREATORS, tubefilter
Everyone from Triller to Peacock has announced programs and products to attract displaced creators in the wake of the TikTok ban. Even Substack is trying to incentivize people to jump ship by offering a $25,000 prize to the “creative genius” who can make a TikTok video that “sparks a trend.” Confusingly, the winner is not the video with the most views, but rather, “the one that inspires others to post their own video inviting their audience to Substack and building a sustainable future.” Not sure how that’s a trackable metric. So far, all of the resulting TikToks are oddly MLM-y in vibe; it’s obvious that people are just trying to go viral in order to win $25K — inevitable, I guess, but also kind of a bummer.

My criticism with the whole thing: Email newsletters are a smart channel for creators because emails are ownable in a way that algorithm-based platforms are not, but Substack is specifically pushing the Substack app, a platform that relies on followers and is beholden to algorithms, which negates the whole value of…building an email newsletter.

BANKRUPTED BY THE HAUL, cosmopolitan uk
I’ve been thinking a lot about the tension between Gen Z's pushback against overconsumption — exemplified by Emma Chamberlain's viral wardrobe purge — and the enduring allure of hauls, and what comes next. It’s clear that young consumers do know better, but they’re also plagued by economic anxiety, with debt and financial instability making them particularly susceptible to the kind of fleeting gratification that only a Shein shipment can provide. One particularly grim yet telling quote from the article: "Sometimes, the only reason I don’t kill myself is because there are things arriving in the mail that I like."

AI FINANCIAL ADVISERS TARGET YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK, wired
AI-powered financial apps like Cleo AI and Bright, which target Gen Z and millennial users struggling with financial insecurity, position themselves as budget-friendly financial coaches — but their guidance often leads to upselling services like subscription products and cash advances (a VC-backed version of a strip-mall payday loan biz…what could go wrong).

LONG THE STAR PUPILS, GIRLS ARE LOSING GROUND TO BOYS, wsj
Since 2019, girls’ test scores have declined sharply, falling behind boys in reading, math, and science at an “alarming rate.” Some attribute this to pandemic-era behavior issues, which may have drawn teachers’ focus to boys, who are more likely to act out in class. Others point to the additional caregiving and household responsibilities many girls took on during and after the pandemic, draining their time and energy for school.

P.S. Not to be all “follow me on Instagram!” but as chatter around the ban has ramped up, I’ve been sharing a bunch of fascinating TikToks (not my TikToks, lol, but other people’s!) on IG Stories, if you’re interested.

One last thought:

@livelaughliana2 steps ahead … #charlidamelio #rednote #tiktok #ineedMONEYpleasebro

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