The microinfluencers posting through catastrophic events
The microinfluencers posting through catastrophic events
Competing in the Engagement Olympics to secure the bag.
Keep scrolling for Facebook’s latest play for Gen Z.
The sinister conspiracy theory behind the 'Thank you, Beyoncé' TikToks
Over the years, artists have repeatedly shouted out Beyoncé at award shows— from Adele saying Lemonade should've won Album of the Year at the 2017 Grammys to Kanye interrupting Taylor Swift's 2009 VMA win over Beyoncé. Given her talent and trailblazing career, it's no surprise she's often mentioned. But as Christianna Silva explains for Mashable, these shoutouts might not be as harmless as they seem.
Recently, a wave of TikTok videos and social media posts have popped up with people thanking Beyoncé for just about anything (including receiving blessings after sneezing?). Even JoJo Siwa joined in, jokingly expressing gratitude for Beyoncé at the Industry Dance Awards earlier this week.
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As Silva notes, many of these memes are tied to a conspiracy theory that has surfaced amid the lawsuits and allegations against Diddy.
Since his arrest, social media users have made lists of everyone he could be connected to, with Beyoncé and Jay Z among them.
The premise of the memes—and why celebrities keep thanking Beyoncé—is the idea that they must thank her, or she’ll supposedly “take them out,” given her power in the industry.
“The conspiracy theory started with the passing of Aaliyah, the ‘Queen of Urban Pop’ who redefined contemporary R&B in the 1990s. Some people argue that her passing gave Beyoncé the space to become the icon she is today,” Silva explains.
On TikTok, many of the videos thanking Beyoncé are also set to J. Cole's 2013 song "She Knows," which adds to the conspiracy theory since he references Aaliyah’s death in the track.
“Some of the more deranged TikTok users connect that song with Beyoncé's friendship with P. Diddy, who has been at the center of conspiracy theories connected to Aaliyah's death,” the journalist continues.
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Read the full story via Mashable.
The influencer middle class is feeling the pain as marketers turn toward superstars
If microinfluencers want to secure long-term success, they might also want to start thanking Beyoncé. In a new piece for Business Insider, Dan Whateley and Sydney Bradley point out that marketers are shifting away from smaller creators and returning to mainstream celebrities.
For a long time, marketers have embraced microinfluencers, leveraging their niche and engaged audiences to promote products. It is generally accepted that this class of influencers have fewer than 100,000 followers on a single platform.
However, a recent survey by the influencer firm Linqia, which included 200 US-based marketers, found that from 2023 to 2024, a larger share are looking to work with celebrity and mega influencers. Meanwhile, interest in collaborating with creators under 500,000 followers has declined.
Graphic via Business Insider. While the shift back to mainstream celebrities and creators isn’t surprising, it has affected many smaller influencers— many of whom have dedicated, culty followings, and their fans would be disappointed to see them struggle.
“One micro influencer, Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe, said she'd felt this impact on her business,” the journalists write. “Everett-Ratcliffe told Business Insider she has been ‘getting less paid partnerships’ than in years prior, and has also noticed that more brands are "going through agencies," rather than reaching out directly.”
The shift may be driven by the global cost of living crisis, which has forced microinfluencers to raise their prices to make ends meet, making it harder for companies and marketers to see a return on investment.
That being said, without microinfluencers, many communities and voices would be overlooked— making this class of creators integral to the future of the creator economy and its success.
Read the story via Business Insider
The evolution of digital media: why we can't escape information online
In a recent deep dive for the 'infinite scroll podcast', host Lauren Meisner explores the evolution of digital media over the past 20 years— documenting how the dot-com boom and the introduction of personality-driven media supported by personalised algorithms have permanently altered the way that we find, consume, and learn new information.
From YouTube’s citizen journalists to TikTok’s commentary creators to Facebook’s conspiracy theorists, much of the news and information we encounter today is served to us by social media algorithms and popular influencers. But seeking and spreading information online wasn’t always so easy.
Before social media or algorithms even existed, users relied on search engines and media mastheads to source and distribute news. And before that, early internet users found information online the old-fashioned way– by remembering URLs and typing in domain names into the World Wide Web.
“Before Google, there were search engines like Yahoo (founded in 1994), Lycos (1995), and AltaVista (1995). Google, which came along in 1996, would later dominate, but in the late '90s and early 2000s, Yahoo was a favourite among users,” Meisner explains.
While search engines are still the main way many users gather information, the AI era is set to change that. With all the venture capitalist funding pouring into AI companies, experts have voiced concerned that we are on the brink of another dot-com bubble.
The dot-com bubble refers to a period through the early 2000s, where funding poured into dot-com companies without strategies or plans to make it profitable.
“With interest growing in the online world, internet companies and startups attracted a huge wave of investment. But to everyone’s dismay, it soon became clear that many of these companies weren’t going to be profitable, and that’s when the dot-com bubble burst,” Meisner explains.
Much like the boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, enthusiasm over AI is seemingly inflating stock prices and driving massive investment.
Aside from this, AI raises questions about how widespread personality-driven content will continue to be– especially given that we've already seen examples of AI infiltrating the influencer space with virtual influencers.
Tune into the ‘infinite scroll’ podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Speaking of the evolution of digital and social media, Henry Chandonnet, writing for Fast Company, questions whether Facebook will be able to win over Gen Z with its latest update
Facebook is reminiscent of an earlier era when Millennial teens were the main drivers of online culture. Since then, its popularity among younger users has plummeted, with only 33% of US teens reporting they use the platform, according to Pew Research Center in 2023.
Chandonnet points out a couple of reasons for Gen Z's shift away from Facebook.
Political scandals have long plagued the platform—from the Cambridge Analytica data breach to the ongoing spread of AI slop during the election cycle. As a result, Gen Z is largely distrustful of Facebook.
Gen Z prefers visual content, moving away from Facebook's more text-based focus in favour of platforms centred on video and images.
“Of the four apps tracked since 2014, only Facebook and Twitter, another text-based app, saw user share declines among U.S. teens. Both Snapchat and Instagram, which rely more on images and videos, saw increases,” Chandonnet notes.
On top of that, Facebook is primarily an app for connection and communication. If Gen Z's peers and friends aren't using the platform, it makes sense they wouldn't either.
However, things might not be all bad for Facebook. With its recent redesign, the platform is capitalising on features that Gen Z enjoys most.
“Marketplace is one of the app’s most popular features among young people, with many seeing it as a haven of thrift finds. The new ‘Local’ tab will pull content from Marketplace, Groups, and Events to create a more geographic feed,“ Chandonnet continues.
Read the full story via Fast Company.
Content creators are livestreaming Hurricane Milton
TikTok is being flooded with creators sharing their experiences as Hurricane Milton hits Florida. Some users are ignoring evacuation orders and posting as much content as possible, with many sharing the tools and products they're using to prepare for the hurricane. Internet culture journalist Rebecca Jennings has weighed in on X, sparking a conversation around the trend.
Jennings, via her account @rebexxxxa, pointed out the number of influencers staying behind to capture hurricane content, saying that it is all in pursuit of clout.
“I do not think it’s an accident that a lot of the people refusing to evacuate are professional content creators. they know they’ll never have this many eyeballs on them ever again,” she writes.
Other users, including Hank Green, have chimed in, with Hank noting that many of these creators seem to believe the “risk is worth the reward.”
Not only is this behaviour extremely irresponsible, but it can also be triggering for many social media users. Creators livestreaming their situation or the storm outside—without any trigger warnings—make it easier than ever for TikTok users to stumble across distressing content while scrolling their FYP.
“Posting through it — the term for people who use social media even in times of catastrophe — isn’t anything new,” CT Jones writes for Rolling Stone. “[But] much of the frustration online seems to stem from people who have the means to evacuate and have chosen to stay with the full knowledge that they could be risking their lives.”
Read the thread via X.