Sarah Manavis

The failed history of new and politically focused social platforms suggests that Liz Truss’s proposed uncensored, free-speech network is unlikely to become a major online destination. However, the success of narrower platforms such as BlueSky and Rumble indicates that social media may be shifting away from universal digital town squares toward smaller, ideologically aligned communities. As political polarization deepens, users and companies may increasingly favor platforms that reinforce existing beliefs, producing a fragmented and more reactionary online landscape.

Kidfluencing exposes children to long filming days, intrusive public scrutiny, sexualized content, abuse and financial exploitation, yet lacks the labor and safety protections applied to traditional child entertainers. The documentary Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing focuses on Piper Rockelle’s network and allegations made by former members, while the cases involving Ruby and Shari Franke illustrate broader harms associated with family content creation. Although California has introduced limited financial safeguards, the UK has no specific child-labor laws for child influencers. The growing evidence of harm is presented as a reason to regulate platforms, recognize influencing as labor and treat child influencers as vulnerable workers rather than beneficiaries of good fortune.

Blanket bans on smartphones or social media for children are unlikely to address online misogyny and other harms, according to the article. Age thresholds are arbitrary, difficult to enforce and risk shifting responsibility from platforms and their algorithms onto parents and children. The UK Youth Parliament’s objections are presented as more credible than proposals backed by figures including Jack Thorne and Keir Starmer. Meaningful progress would instead require serious, enforceable regulation of platforms and greater attention to young people’s views.

The third season of The White Lotus, set at a Thai resort, is criticized as the show’s dullest and most diffuse installment. Its wealthy characters and conflicts are presented as simplistic stereotypes, while ostensibly political discussions about class, race, feminism, Trump and privilege rarely develop into meaningful characterization or social analysis. Despite sensational plot elements and strong viewership, the season is deemed forgettable and ineffective both as luxury escapism and as social critique.

Gen Z euphemisms such as “unalived,” “spicy” and “seggs” began as ways to evade social-media content filters, allowing discussion of violence, sexuality and politics to continue online. The article argues that their spread into everyday speech, alongside trends such as “adulting,” “kidulting” and “just a girl,” represents mass self-infantilisation. This linguistic and behavioural distancing is said to drain serious issues of their gravity, encourage hypersensitivity around sex and difficult subjects, reinforce gendered helplessness, and weaken young people’s ability to engage meaningfully with political and social realities.

The proliferation of generative AI imagery and text, often described as “AI slop”, is making online culture increasingly repetitive and visually unattractive. A Cornell study found that AI-generated text online increased tenfold after ChatGPT’s release and now accounts for a substantial share of some content, including press releases. The widespread outsourcing of writing and even basic thinking to AI may homogenise language, reduce creativity and narrow intellectual horizons, while also spreading errors and false ideas. Although a backlash is possible, corporate incentives may make the spread of AI-generated communication difficult to reverse, threatening a more limited and monotonous cultural future.

The article argues that prominent figures associated with the 2010s scammer phenomenon are attempting to revive their public careers by monetizing notoriety. Billy McFarland is relaunching Fyre Festival in Mexico with highly expensive packages despite the original event’s disastrous failure, imprisonment and approximately $26 million in debt. Anna Sorokin and Caroline Calloway have likewise pursued media, creative and commercial projects built around their reputations. Although media coverage has kept them visible, their ventures have not produced comparable mass popularity, suggesting that the public’s real attraction was schadenfreude and the anticipation of a spectacular downfall rather than admiration for the scammers themselves.

Social media’s formerly liberal aesthetic has increasingly given way to tradwife, hyper-feminine and “old-money” imagery promoting traditional gender roles, single-income families and conspicuous wealth. Influencers, brands and etiquette consultants package this reactionary vision as lifestyle advice, while younger audiences pursue it as an escape from economic insecurity. The piece argues that such content offers neither genuine empowerment nor a realistic path to prosperity: even the performance of luxury remains largely accessible only to the wealthy, and superficial lessons in posture, clothing and manners cannot resolve structural inequality.

Companies that embraced diversity, equity and inclusion after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 are now retreating as Donald Trump’s anti-DEI politics gain influence. Disney’s decision to make warnings about racist content in older films less prominent is presented as symbolic of a broader corporate effort to appease the political moment. While such gestures had limited power to address structural inequality, removing them can reduce protections and transparency; meaningful progress requires substantive cultural and institutional change rather than corporate slogans.

Celebrity surrogacy announcements provoke anger because they expose the unequal relationship between wealthy intended parents and often poorer women who undertake the physical and emotional risks of pregnancy. The controversy surrounding Lily Collins’s birth announcement reflects broader concerns about “social surrogacy,” limited attention to surrogate well-being, and outdated UK regulation, where agreements are unenforceable and legal parenthood is transferred after birth. Although public criticism may be directed at celebrities who are not responsible for the wider system, their access to surrogacy highlights how money can overcome infertility and medical barriers that remain insurmountable for many others. Better regulation and protections could make surrogacy an ethical option for people unable to have biological children without assistance.

Smartphone and “brain rot” debates are often framed as a choice between panic and dismissal, but the more complicated reality concerns how heavy phone and social-media use changes everyday life. Evidence does not clearly show that screens permanently damage brain function, yet surveys and internal industry research point to reduced reading, social-media addiction and mental-health problems, including body-image issues among teenage girls. Smartphones can provide valuable information and relationships, but their effects should be assessed through their broader impact on habits, hobbies and social connections rather than through the narrow question of whether brains are literally deteriorating.

Gen Z is politically more diverse and increasingly receptive to right-wing ideas than earlier stereotypes suggested. Trump’s intervention to restore TikTok after a Supreme Court-mandated shutdown won praise from influencers, including some former critics, and his cultivation of podcasters and online celebrities reflects a deliberate effort to court young voters. Tufts University analysis indicates substantial 2024 support for Trump among young white and Latino voters, while emerging online conservative culture has made MAGA influential among under-30s. The article argues that restoring TikTok may have attracted attention, but Trump’s broader appeal among Gen Z was already established.

James Watt and BrewDog once embodied a rebellious, millennial-friendly form of corporate culture through provocative publicity stunts and anti-establishment branding. Watt also promoted BrewDog as a company committed to employee welfare, strong internal culture, sustainability and Real Living Wage employment, including through its B Corp status. The piece casts doubt on the depth and credibility of this ethical philosophy, contrasting its public image with the company’s aggressively commercial and laddish marketing style.

The sitcom's cancellation after 12 seasons is presented as cause for relief rather than mourning. The piece argues that its formulaic humor is less troubling than the way it normalizes misogyny, sexual harassment, domestic stereotypes and racist caricatures, particularly through the character Rajesh Koothrappali. It also highlights the show's gender and racial pay disparities and controversies involving cast members, while warning that Young Sheldon and the original series' reruns will preserve its cultural influence.