Young Knitters and Ghost Stories

"truth is brokered by influencers now"

Gen Z Iranian women hold the future; emojis are dividing the workplace; 60% of Gen Z have a hustler mindset; and what is Misiveria?

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YOUNG KNITTERS DISCOVER A DECADES-OLD WOOL FESTIVAL, nyt
Once an event for local 4-H clubs and, well, grandmas, New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, one of the largest fiber arts fairs in the country, is now something of a Gen Z hotspot.

Vanessa Krebs, 25, attended the event this year with her boyfriend, Aaron McLaughlin, 38, whom she met through a virtual knitting circle during the pandemic. Wearing a green wool balaclava and a patchwork beige shirt she had sewn together herself, Ms. Krebs, a bookseller in Providence, R.I., knitted a couple of rows as she stood in line to buy popcorn.

GEN Z CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE ON THEIR OWN, BUT THEY'RE KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE BY INCESSANTLY WATCHING APARTMENT-HUNTING VIDEOS, insider
30% of Gen Z in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 25 still live with their parents, but despite that — or maybe because of that — apartment-hunting videos are doing numbers on TikTok, with #apartmenthunting and #apartmenttour garnering 261.4 million and 1.9 billion views respectively.

A QUARTER OF US ADULTS UNDER 30 NOW GET THEIR NEWS FROM TIKTOK, qz
Reliance on TikTok for news has tripled since 2020, defying a larger national trend, as fewer Americans are looking for news on social media, especially Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Snapchat. It makes sense that more adults are getting their news on TikTok — more media companies are producing news stories specifically for the platform. At the same time, it’s a little terrifying given how much misinformation there is on the platform.

THE ‘THIS AMERICAN LIFE’ OF GHOST STORIES IS CAPTIVATING GEN Z, wapo
The breakout podcast, about supernatural experiences and otherworldly events, has “become a cult phenomenon in young online communities. Meme accounts post about the show’s episodes and fans gather on apps including Discord to discuss the stories. In one Discord server, high-schoolers and college students debated theories about the episodes.”

WEIRDLY, TAYLOR SWIFT IS EXTREMELY CLOSE TO CREATING A TRUE METAVERSE, theatlantic
A good take on Swift’s world-building abilities.

To call what Swift is doing with this album release “online savvy” or “audience engagement” or “marketing” is to undersell it. She has, in a way, created a virtual universe in which fans can experience the launch. As The Washington Post’s Emily Yahr recounts, Swift has left puzzles and secret messages for fans for more than 15 years, embedding them in her album liner notes, music videos, and social-media posts, and even (if the theories are right) in the clothing she wears. The result is a near-year-round ecosystem that’s pretty much constantly bubbling away online. Fans gather in the tens of millions to obsessively dissect every move she makes. Last night, they seem to have crashed Spotify.

One last thought:

Melinda Taub @MelindaTaub

I read in a 1998 issue of Seventeen that you should rinse your conditioner out with cold water because it "seals the cuticle" which is good I guess. I have done this faithfully every time since. I don't know if it's true. I won't check and I don't want you to tell me.