Buying a Personal Brand and Being Demure

Hi!!! Welcome!! This is a newsletter that has taken the IRL weekly trends briefing, and transformed into the written word. All this information is a weekly digest of current news, trendy soundbites and sharp insights so that you can quit reading and still sound smart. Gathered from articles, newsletters, reports, and TikTok: It's like Blinkist for culture.

Long Form

Things have been quite busy lately, and I’d rather send something rather than attempt a perfect newsletter for you this week! So here is a link dump that is less curated and more of a look into all the types of links I save to read, and we’ll be back to our regular schedule very soon! <3

• Inside GunTube, the YouTube Subculture Linked to the Trump Shooter

• The machine in the garden. - “Great read on the watered down quality of Substack because everyone is becoming a 'writer' “ Thank you Chloe!!

• Creation Anxiety - Bit of an explanation and extension on that viral bridge video, where someone is explaining why everyone is becoming a DJ.

• Does screen time help or hinder creativity?

• The Nature of Critique

• Can a church exist exclusively on the internet?

• Don't Count on the Lipstick Index for the Next Recession

• Gen Z Loves Cassettes. But Wait, How Do These Things Work? 

• Parents and Gen Alpha kids are having unintelligible convos because of ‘brainrot’ language - this headline is hilarious. Completely forgetting that most parents struggle with the language that their kids use. Remember when some parents thought lol meant “lots of love”

• ‘One of the first places I go’: Gen Z is finding brands via Pinterest

• 2024 Quarterly Digital Trends Report

• Thinking Like A Creator Can Help Brands Build Trust. Here’s Why

• The end of the house party 

• Pose 28, toxic themes and Lana lore: Exploring Gen Z’s obsession with Roblox’s Dress To Impress

• Why the Harris Walz Camo Hat Is Becoming a Status Symbol for Liberals

• The new formula for fandom

• AI and Creators: Shaping the Next Era of Social Marketing 

• IZEA Report Finds 46% of Australians Have Purchased Products After Seeing Them Used by Influencers

• Gen Z’s Confessional Style Fuels Generational Divide on LinkedIn

Short Form

• I know it’s a good sign when something makes it into the newsletter, and it already feels tired and overused… If it hasn’t popped up on your feed yet, I’m sure it’ll be “very demure” and be on IG Reels in 3 weeks. The phenomenon is exciting for the original creator, as she can now pay for the rest of their gender transition. A simple TikTok from jaskaransainiz, that explains a bit why it’s been over done. Hint, it. has a lot to do with brands.

• LinkedIn is testing a Videos For You page - personal brands better watch out.

• Beauty brand Tropicals is coming out with a bar of soap, and people are very excited.

• A handful of fun, and unique editing styles - Big head tutorial and walking into a small handbag

• The newest viral recipe, is a guy making a cucumber salad. Don’t feel influenced to buy the containers!! Australian’s are stressing about the cost of cucumbers :(

• The hottest new game on Roblox? Dress to Impress! It is in fact very brat, as Charli xcx already jumped on the bandwagon and did a perfect partnership.

• There is a bit of a random trend going around where people are revealing the different accounts that they admin on TikTok, hard to fully trust them though… But with the popularity of talking about “Gen Z interns” that are running different pages, it's clear why this format has taken off.

• Coach has taken the vitality of “look how much fits in bag X” and applied it to their ecommerce site. It’s great to see brands take social media formats, and contexts, and apply it to where people will actually be buying the product. It’s fun to think of where this format began, and the earliest I can think of the boom of the Uniqlo crescent bag.

• White people are trying to make it a ‘Jai Ho summer’…

• Much like any trending water bottle, there is Owala drama amongst it’s customers. Americans (duh) are going into Target and swapping the lids and straws for colour combos that they prefer, leading to a lot of mismatched and ugly colour combos that people don’t want to buy.

• I know that many people enjoy the Bama Rush side of TikTok, and this breakdown of one individuals consumption and how much they spent is wild…

• Apparently Instagram is changing everyone’s grids to be portrait. Hasn’t happened to me yet, but I suspect it’s coming.

• I’ve seen so many versions of this video, and it’s always such a cheap gag. It’s awkward to explain, so just watch the video!

Weekly Question

I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. The history, culture, diversity and values of all Indigenous people are recognised and respected. I pay my respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present.

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