A brief overview of what is currently trending on X in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Person of the Year: Donald Trump was named TIME’s Person of the Year for 2024.
Zuck: X users are discussing Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta donating $1M to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Gukesh: 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju from India has become the youngest-ever chess world champion.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
Pepe the King Prawn Muppet Meme
What It Is: A new meme format featuring an orange Muppet known as Pepe the King Prawn has taken TikTok by storm, becoming the go-to backdrop for users to share their most bizarre and unexpected stories. The original meme was posted as a TikTok slideshow telling the (hilariously) distressing story about the night a young woman tried an olive oil hair treatment that resulted in the police coming to her house.
Others have since ran with it and shared their multi-part, anxiety-inducing, and wildly unpredictable tales — like the woman who had an unfortunate subway ride while wearing rented jeans — with some iterations stretching to up to 25 slides. The length only adds to it as people find themselves hooked on the format, eagerly swiping to uncover each twist and turn.
The Brand Takeaway: In a time where attention spans on social are at an all-time low, retaining interest in longer videos or copy-heavy content is a challenge. This meme demonstrates that breaking a long story into digestible sections, and allowing viewers to engage at their own pace, can significantly increase viewer retention and engagement.
It also emphasizes the power of storytelling and the art of captivating an audience by using each platform’s formats to their strengths. Similar to the way a juicy Reddit title or the first post in an X thread draws you in, these video slideshows or carousels start with compelling hooks that entice users to progress through the story — the wilder and more specific the details, the better.
Brands like Nuuly have already capitalized on the trend, leveraging their involvement in the above-mentioned subway jeans incident to connect with both their audience and those who enjoy the meme in a memorable way. It might not make sense for all brands to jump on this one, but the general approach of “bread crumbing” a tale is one to keep in mind as a powerful storytelling tool on social.
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
There’s no place like 2024 — take a look back at some of the most popular moments on social this year.
Austin Butler has been cast as Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino’s ‘AMERICAN PSYCHO’ movie.
Billie Eilish’s tiny desk performance was released today!
Brianna Chickenfry went on Hot Mess and spilled the tea on Zach Bryan.
Paris & Nicole: The Encore Season 1 - Peacock Premium, 12.12
No Good Deed Season 1 - Netflix, 12.12
Elton John: Never Too Late - theaters, 12.13
The Last Showgirl - theaters, 12.13
Missionary - Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre
The Lion King (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Lin-Manuel Miranda & Lebo M Mufasa
Dlow Curry - Bossman Dlow
The Skeleton Key - Roc Marciano & The Alchemist
Want to subscribe? Reach out to culturetaskforce@substack.com.
