Keep scrolling for the latest way that Gen Z is using Pinterest.
OK, So, Here’s Why Every Video Starts The Same Way Now
Back in the day, every creator had a signature intro — we all remember Jeffree Star’s “What’s up everybody” or Tana Mongeau’s “Welcome to my channel or welcome back to my channel.” But in a new piece for Bustle, Alexis Morillo notes that all content is starting the same these days.
Scrolling through the TikTok For You Page, you're likely to stumble across a storytime video (amid various commentary, GRWM videos, and brainrot, of course). While the subject matter changes from story to story, Morillo observes that all of them begin in the exact same way.
“How do I know a story time is worth stopping my scroll? It starts with either a camera shake, lip gloss application, or the familiar phrase ‘OK, so’ — and the latter is currently flooding my FYP,” she notes.
As for whether this is a coincidence or not, Morillo claims it's all part of a bigger strategy for creators to appear candid and relatable. She adds that this isn't even the first type of "introduction" that has become omnipresent across the platform.
“There’s the Gen Z shake, beloved by its namesake demographic, and viewers have started catching on to the often intentional tactic,” she notes. “Similarly, the “lip gloss tactic” is another viral video intro that involves applying a lip product while speaking to the camera to create visual interest for a viewer before anything particularly worthwhile is shown or said.”
While these introductions are all about getting the audience’s attention, they are also the complete opposite of the “millennial pause” — that brief moment of hesitation that many millennials seem to leave at the start of their videos.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserAs Gen Z continues to poke fun at the “millennial pause,” Morillo claims this won’t stop them from “their inevitable online life cycle" of being considered cringe and eventually aging out of the internet’s zeitgeist.
“Once you first notice lip-gloss application, a shaky lens, or “OK, so” in a video, you’ll start seeing it everywhere. As things become ubiquitous online, they inevitably become cliché, and perhaps cringe, too. Gen Z might be next in line,” she concludes.
Read the full piece via Bustle.
I Regret What's In My Camera Roll
With every action on the internet being labelled, it often feels as if social media is all about categorising users and branding them. A new piece for the Totally Recommended Substack explores how many of us have internalised different labels and aesthetics.
The author reflects on the most recent scroll through her camera roll. During this trip down memory lane, she realised that the way she captured the world around her had completely changed.
While her photos from ten years ago weren’t the best quality (and were probably a little cringe), they were “filled with the faces of my friends and family from seemingly unremarkable but unforgettable times together.” But this soon shifted, with her camera roll mirroring an Instagram grid.
“Over time, my photos begin to transform. The ‘stupid but sweet’ snapshots start to give way to something different. There is a new focus, an attempt to present an aesthetic, an idea, an editorial ‘look’,“ she writes.
Ever since the rise of "casual Instagram," performative posting has been a significant part of internet culture conversations. However, as the author notes, this performance is not limited to posting.
“Even after deleting my personal Instagram and ceasing to take photos for performative sharing, the way I documented my life with my phone continued to evolve in increasingly peculiar ways,” she says. “Years after I deleted my personal social media, my camera roll still resembled a curated archive, as if I were crafting a personal ‘brand’ or ‘aesthetic,’ striving for marketability or commodification.”
She goes on to list a couple of reasons as to why she continues to strive for a certain aesthetic — even when she had no one to “perform to.” One thing she notes is that her time working in marketing led her to internalise certain values without consciously intending to do so.
“Working in marketing for so many years meant I was constantly immersed in ads, social media, and consumer culture…I was constantly absorbing how people sold things and in turn I was thinking about how to sell myself,” she continues.
While it’s clear that the filler pictures in a photo dump are a product of the internet era, she questions what our photo albums will look like compared to those of past generations— given that our camera rolls are filled with random objects, nature shots and “$21 Erewhon smoothies.”
“It would be fascinating to compare very old photos with today's, observing how people prioritized capturing experiences and moments with others over material possessions. It makes me consider the legacy we shape for future generations,” the author adds.
Read the full piece via the Totally Recommend Substack.
For Gen Z, music is its own social media
But self-branding has spread into every aspect of life— not just the camera roll. In a new piece for Fast Company, Henry Chandonnet discusses how music taste has become the latest kind of “social currency.”
Since the rise of streaming, sharing music has become easier than ever. While this is the norm for Gen Z, it is a stark change from how their predecessors experienced music sharing.
“We’ve entered the era of social listening, where streaming services partner with social media platforms for easy sharing, and where startups repackage listening statistics into TikTok-able rundowns,” Chandonnet writes. “It’s all part of a shift away from isolated listening, and towards an era of music sharing that mimics social media itself.”
TikTok, essentially a blend of music discovery and social media, has only sped this up.
In fact, TikTok has increasingly become the epicenter of music sharing, where a recent study found that 45% of 18-24 year olds use social media to find new music.
This has ultimately encouraged music streaming platforms — like Spotify and Apple Music — to follow suit. Spotify, for instance, allows users to see what their friends are listening to in real-time.
Chandonnet notes that this has led to the rise of a “secondary market of web apps” that further classify listening activity. I’m sure we all remember “How Bad is Your Spotify” or “Receiptify” or “Instafest” went viral.
While Spotify doesn’t explicitly identify as a social media platform, it's evident that by leaning in, they are capturing the attention of Gen Z.
“Spotify realizes that today, users aren’t just sharing playlists; they’re sharing statistics, obscurity scores, even self-roasts. They’re markers of identity, articulated through music.That is the market that these music-sharers are capitalizing on,” Chandonnet concludes.
Read the story via Fast Company.
Pinterest users can now turn boards into videos for sharing on Instagram and TikTok
Speaking of how TikTok is changing the digital landscape, Pinterest is also reimagining its platform for the video-first era. In a new piece for Tech Crunch, Sarah Perez explores how Pinterest is catering to Gen Z and the demand for short-form video content.
It’s no secret that Gen Z loves Pinterest, using it for outfit inspo and curating boards of the latest "core" trends on TikTok. However, as a photo-first platform, Pinterest feels quite different from what Gen Z typically leans towards.
“Gen Z makes up over 40% of our global monthly users on Pinterest and are our most engaged generation, with a significant increase in the number of boards created by Gen Z Pinners compared to last year,” Rachel Hardy, Director of Consumer Product Marketing at Pinterest, says.
This week, Pinterest announced a new board-sharing feature, making it easier for Pinterest to merge with some of Gen Z’s other favourite platforms.
“Whether showcasing their dream home decor or ultimate travel bucket list, the new board sharing feature lets users effortlessly share dynamic videos of their favorite Pinterest boards to other social platforms,” an article from the Pinterest newsroom reads. “With board sharing, Pinterest streamlines the process of sharing Pinned content and enables users to include a link for others to explore their entire board on the platform.”
This is a smart move from Pinterest, especially since TikTok users have been sharing their boards manually for a while now. They often use TikTok's slideshow feature or create videos discussing aesthetics while showing a Pinterest board via greenscreen.
However, this isn’t the first time that Pinterest has tapped TikTok. In 2022, Shuffles — Pinterest’s collage-making app— went completely viral on the platform.
“The app, still in invite-only mode at the time, went viral as Pinterest users published their so-called “aesthetic” collages and mood boards set to music and posted them on TikTok,” Perez recalls.
Read the piece via Tech Crunch.
The Sexualisation of Women Characters, Gamers & Streamers in Video Games
In the latest episode of infinite scroll podcast’s mini-series 'Let The Girls Game'—powered by Let's Sing— host Lauren Meisner chats with streamer, Phos, to explore the sexualisation of women in gaming and the industry.
As characters and gamers, women are frequently oversexualised by male streamers and the gaming industry. One such example is Lara Croft — the famed protagonist of the Tomb Raider franchise.
As she navigates through jungles and ruins, she is seen sporting tight and revealing outfits.
While Lara has been re-imagined over the years — and has swapped out her shorts and crop top for pants and a tank top– she remains hypersexualised and continues to be viewed as a sex object, even though she's actually the hero of the game.
But unfortunately, this isn’t only relegated to the Tomb Raider franchise. Phos reflects on her experience playing games like Valorant, noting that female characters are “wildly sexualised.”
“It's always the clothing. It's always the proportions. They're always that ideal hourglass figure that is one, unattainable for women, and two, just gross,” she says.
While many women in gaming have become accustomed to seeing women portrayed in this way, it doesn’t get easier for female streamers and other women in the industry.
“It's kind of anger-inducing, a little bit, because it's kind of reducing us down to our bodies and our physicality, and not who we are as people,” Phos continues,“ Phos continues. “It really does just make women into an object, which then almost tells people online that you can also treat female gamers as an object.”
Tune into ‘Let The Girls Game’ on TikTok, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.