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- Digital Fatigue and The Viral Towel Dress
Digital Fatigue and The Viral Towel Dress
Izzy White
May 24, 2024
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.
Algorithm References
The internet has felt very trend cycle this week - proof that these trends all link back to a bigger picture. I’ve also brought back putting the actual TikTok in the newsletter - let me know which you prefer!
Brands are really tapping into peak Gen Z/internet vibes and I love it. A specific example is this Urban Outfitters TikTok, where it’s super unclear as to what they’re selling through the videos - which is how this type of content should be.
@urbanoutfitters this one’s for all the doll lovers 💞 dropping today! stay tuned 🤭🎀 #blythedoll #blythe #dolls #oneofone
I’m not sure whether this creator did it on purpose, but they posted a video talking about returning a towel dress - nothing inspiring, but it’s lead to people in the comments begging to see the dress. It’s a great example of posting content that requires people to search through past videos, in order to understand the context. Similar to controversy apologies, but in a much more chill way. You’ll notice most of the comments on her past videos are now asking where the towel dress is.
@oliviagwisler thanks for #humbling me guys 🙏🏽
More references!!
Of course there is the Four Seasons Orlando baby - I’m loving the edits, but over the content already. The quicker an article is written about a piece of content, the quicker it dies IMO. Here is a cursed edit that is peak internet, but swears (soz)
Calms me down when I’m angry videos are everywhere, and the weirder they are the better such as this Smiski one
Corporate TikTok is loving this “distracting the boss” trend rn, using a HSM song to add a layer of relatability.
Lofi, in-side scoop content will always do well and this “how do me and my partner split expenses” is just another interaction of this human experience. I love these videos because it’s also good for people to see what is happening in worlds that aren’t often spoken about aka finances between a man and a woman.
Enjoy Internet gossip and love-triangles. Yuval, Ayamé and Olivia will scratch that itch for you!!! Here is a summary video
The Try Guys are claiming that the content their community wants, isn’t loved by the YouTube algorithm and therefore they are asking their community to pay to access content through another platform.
Articles
Lots of articles, studies and reports this weeeek
The main point of the article is already given to you in the headline, but it’s refreshing to find specific brands that are encouraging others to loosen up on content. This brand also has the commercial numbers to back it up - “The 2-year-old company grew from a $1 million company in its first year, to making $10 million last year and a projected $50 million in 2024.”
ZBD is an app? that gives their users Bitcoins as a way to reward their engagement with games. Their study of over 2000 Gen Z has a lot of interesting data points that, are American centric, but still emulate the vibe that we’re seeing of how Gen Z expect different aspects of the media to act. The most relevant points I wanted to pull out were:
36% feel that gaming companies run by Millennials and Gen X are out of touch with their generation.
ZBD data shows that, by sharing between 10% and 25% of ad revenue with players, games can significantly boost engagement, retention and monetization.
81% have played or would play a video game which is entirely based on a non-gaming brand, such as Nikeland in Roblox, or Lego Fortnite.
Another gamer article that has research to say that “Nearly Half of Video Game Players Say ‘Creation and Self-Expression’ Are Their Main Reasons for Gaming”
Extra reading/skimming for you
The Consumer Trends Food & Wellness 2024 - American centric :( but still fascinating
Why are women’s bodies considered taboo by advertising authorities? - Reading this as I am writing this newsletter, but anything that is discussing the Molly Baz "controversy” is worth a read
Bumble buys community building app Geneva to expand further into friendships
Consumer conceptions about luxury are changing, according to Reddit data
Magazines are very sexy rn and Pinterest has jumped on the train - Pinterest teams with Real Simple for magazine’s first shoppable issue
Another love letter to Magazines - How Digital Fatigue Is Energizing The Resurgence of Magazines
Against Interpretation - very deep piece of writing that talks about art and interpretations
Weekly Question
Thank you for getting this far. I look forward to hanging out with you all next week!