Keep scrolling for Travis Kelce’s not-so-wholesome resurfaced tweets.
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Lil Tay died. Now she wants to be a pop star
A new piece by EJ Dickson for Rolling Stone profiles one of the internet’s most evasive figures, Lil Tay— marking her first interview since her viral death hoax earlier this year.
Last August, widespread reports about the passing of Lil Tay and her brother Jason started circulating across the internet.
Lil Tay first skyrocketed to virality in 2018 for her outrageous online persona. At the time, she was around 11 years old and made videos flaunting her lavish lifestyle.
Later that year, she mysteriously vanished from the internet amid a bitter custody battle between her parents, Angela Tian and Christopher Hope— only to re-enter the cultural zeitgeist upon the news of her alleged death.
Dickson speaks with Tay, alongside members of her inner circle, in an effort to unravel the truth behind the bizarre death hoax and her upcoming plans.
Tay alleges that the hoax was organised by her now-estranged father, as a “last resort to sabotage her.”
There has been constant speculation over the years about Tay’s relationship with her father and many believe he was physically and emotionally abusive to her as a child.
The viral star also blamed her five-year absence from social media on her father, noting that she was “very unmotivated and depressed” during this time.
Christopher vehemently denies the allegations levelled against him, claiming that, “Somebody has a strategy that a good way to get publicity is to make accusations against me. They’re all false.”
Many online users also harbour suspicions about Tay's older brother, questioning whether he "coached" her and exploited her for viral fame— accusations Tay refutes.
"I am the one that's always wanted to become famous. I was the one who had a vision for myself as an artist, and I made it happen," she tells Dickson. "And, of course, he helped me."
Ever since her mother won the custody battle, Tay and her team have been working to fulfill her dreams of pop stardom.
“I always had a vision of myself becoming famous. It was something I wanted to do," she says. "And I just spoke it into reality."
Tay's first song since the death hoax, ‘Sucker 4 Green’, was released in late September.
Read the full piece via Rolling Stone.
Fat-shaming, ‘ugly girls’: Travis Kelce deletes his unwholesome tweets
It seems that the “guy on the Chiefs” is getting some bad karma. Amid the seemingly perfect love story between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Swifties are doing a background check— and on the internet, that means a scroll through his X profile.
With tweets dating as far back as 2010, many X users found themselves amused by Travis' early internet humour and his occasional spelling mistakes.
Some of the favourite moments among Swifties seem to be Travis thinking squirrel was spelt as “squirle” and his enthusiasm for “nap time.”
Many Swifties marvelled at the lack of problematic tweets, but it seems that they spoke too soon. Shortly after Travis’ old tweets began circulating, online sleuths started documenting some of his ableist, misogynistic, and fat-shaming posts.
In these tweets, Travis referred to certain women as “ugly,” commented on what should be considered an appropriate weight, and even dropped a slur when talking about someone with an intellectual disability.
The posts were collected on the r/FauxMoi subreddit, before they were seemingly deleted from his X profile.
The response to Travis’ controversial tweets has been mixed. While most internet users have criticised the NFL player, quite a few Swifties have jumped to his defense, asking if it's fair to judge him based on something he said 13 years ago.
Read the full piece via The Daily Beast.
TikTok is (seemingly) boosting brands on TikTok Shop
In tech news, internet users are questioning whether TikTok is inflating the views of brands and influencers that have created a TikTok Shop.
TikTok Shop was launched in the United States in September. As a part of the rollout, TikTok introduced a dedicated shop tab, in-feed shopping and creator-affiliate programs.
“TikTok Shop empowers brands and creators to connect with highly-engaged customers based on their interests, and it combines the power of community, creativity, and commerce to deliver a seamless shopping experience,” a release from the TikTok newsroom reads.
Social media consultant Rachel Karten is one of the many internet users who suggest the algorithm might have changed after the launch. She notes that the skincare brand Dieux has seen unprecedented growth since creating a TikTok Shop.
“[Dieux’s] average video views grew 2,820% after launching on TikTok Shop,” she shares in an X thread. “Their first TikTok Shop video was posted on September 13th. The 10 videos right before the launch averaged 5K views. And the average views on the 10 videos after launching on TikTok Shop? 146K.”
Karten goes on to note that TikTok Shop is already changing “people’s relationship with the platform.”
A vast majority of TikTok users are frustrated by the update — with many claiming that it pushes promotional content, allows for the sale of counterfeit products and makes the app feel “dystopian.”
TikTok hasn’t confirmed any increase in sponsored videos, but according to Business Insider, approximately 30-40% of videos on the FYP tend to be product-related.
With the introduction of TikTok Shop, it seems the platform is slowly shifting from being primarily entertainment-driven to an e-commerce app— a change that has not been well-received by its users.
Read Karten’s full thread via X.
Speaking of e-commerce, a new piece by Rebecca Jennings for Vox delves into the hypocrisy of the "deinfluencing" movement and explores why internet culture is incompatible with anti-capitalism.
The deinfluencing trend originally started to discourage consumers from buying certain viral products that weren't worth the hype. But what started as genuine criticism of influencer culture and consumerism soon aligned with the very thing it was against.
“Instead of influencing people to buy stuff, influencers who tagged their posts ‘deinfluencing’ were simply posting negative reviews of products they didn’t think were worth the money, and — more often than not — telling you what to buy instead,” Jennings explains.
Though deinfluencing brought about an “anti-influencer” sentiment, it certainly did not disrupt the creator economy (the launch of the TikTok shop is a case in point).
The number of content creators is set to grow “at a 10 percent to 20 percent compound rate during the next five years,” creating more opportunities for “amateurs” (meaning, regular people) to make it in the viral space.
“The notion of the amateur is that they’re doing it for love and not for money; they enjoy the creative expression, they have no ulterior motives,” Michael Serazio, journalist and communications professor, tells Jennings. “That has created the expectation in audiences that these folks are trustworthy, and that’s exactly what makes them valuable to then sell on behalf of marketers and corporations.”
With internet users chasing authenticity, marketers benefit from using these “amateurs” to promote products. However, this strategy has left platforms feeling cluttered by ads, monetisation schemes and lacking in fun.
Surprisingly, there has been little widespread pushback to the commercialisation of online spaces and influencing.
While this may seem at odds with Gen Z’s anti-capitalist ideology, many young people don’t have the privilege to opt out of today’s “cutthroat, individualist economy.”
That being said, content creation remains an aspirational career for many Gen Zs— especially after watching their favourite influencers make millions by selling products to consumers.
So long as this is the case, advertising and marketing will continue to increase online, with influencers playing a key role in sustaining this structure.
“The influencers are just a symptom, and by virtue of the literal job description — make money by taking sponsorship deals from consumer brands — they’re not the ones who will be lighting the way toward an online anti-capitalist backlash,” Jennings concludes.
Read the full piece via Vox.
Mrs. Dow Jones knows why you’re broke
Many social media users have justified online purchases using “girl math” at one point or another. However, Instagram's resident finance expert, Mrs Dow Jones — real name, Haley Sacks — is bucking this trend, aiming to educate young people about financial security and stability.
Mrs Dow Jones has built her platform on teaching Zillennials about saving and spending. In her time online, she has amassed over 820K followers on Instagram and 280K on TikTok.
After securing her first job and struggling with significant financial decisions for the first time, she decided to start creating accessible financial content to help other young people.
“We’re conditioned to believe that in order to make financial decisions for ourselves, we have to wear a business suit and work on Wall Street, but it’s actually not that complicated or hard,” she says.
During her conversation with journalist Kate Lindsay, the creator outlines some of the key rules she shares with her followers.
Mrs Dow Jones first explains that financial transparency is key, explaining that it should be acceptable to discuss money with friends and family. Given that Millennials and Gen Z have grown up in turbulent economic conditions, she is aware that such openness is not familiar to many young people.
As for the chaotic economic environment, she urges her followers to “take advantage” of the situation— sometimes that may mean switching jobs for a salary increase or even setting up side hustles.
She also expresses her frustration with social media and the way the creator economy has encouraged needless and irresponsible spending.
“Sacks hates the way apps like TikTok and Instagram have glamorized spending. Gratuitous Shein hauls and viral Amazon products and constantly changing trends keep users in a spending cycle that prevents them from getting started building any kind of wealth,” Lindsay writes.
Mrs Dow Jones also goes on to encourage young people to “build a new relationship with money,” by re-evaluating where money is being spent and what could be saved.
With women like Mrs Dow Jones working to demystify the world of finance, it’s definitely time to end the reign of finance bros.
Read the full profile via Bustle.
Why The 'Clean Girl' Aesthetic is in its Flop Era
This week’s infinite scroll podcast dives into the beauty trend cycle as it relates to the ‘clean girl aesthetic’ and explores why it seems this trend is on its way out sooner rather than later. Over the past few months, women on TikTok have started to push back against the 'clean girl aesthetic'– claiming the lifestyle is unrealistic and the style is unflattering on most people. This, along with predictions from trend reporters and stylistic choices from new fashion and beauty campaigns, indicate that 'clean girl' is headed toward its demise. We first cover how the 'clean girl aesthetic' became so popular, why it’s always been controversial, and finish by exploring why we think this trend is on the way out and what’s next for beauty.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.