A brief overview of what is currently trending on on X in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Bud Light: Despite brand backlash earlier this year after partnering with influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Bud Light has just scored a mega deal as the official beer brand of UFC. Here's what X has to say about it.
World Pasta Day: The foodies are OUT & sharing their favorite pasta dishes on X in honor of this delicious holiday.
The Cheesecake Factory: After a post went viral on Complex detailing the places women refuse to go to on first dates, The Cheesecake Factory tops the list at #1. The conversation continues on X with men & women adding their hot takes.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
BeReal is real dead
What it is: BeReal’s 2 minutes seem to be up, with usage at 61% this year. BeReal initially skyrocketed for its element of realness that connected users in the moment, unfiltered. What’s behind the decline? A few things. For one, the 2 minute time limit to post stresses users out who have no choice but to post if they want to browse the feed. In this sense, the app feels like a chore. As a result of this need to photography to explore the viewing experience, BeReal feeds have become more “boring” rather than “authentic.” That lack of thrill could also be due to the fact that life isn’t always that exciting. People don’t want to document the same image day-over-day for fear that they’ll appear blah, especially when most users ignore the app’s time alerts to post when they’re doing something fun.
What brands can learn: Why does BeReal’s rise & fall matter? Well, it was an app that had such sudden success that platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat sought to replicate it. Despite the copycats, BeReal remained the king of unvarnished and unscheduled authenticity. The problem? It gets old & new competitors like Lapse are taking center stage. Still, there are plenty who haven’t given up on BeReal who use it on a near-daily basis. For those users it’s a way of checking in on friends. Despite the app’s 25 million daily active users worldwide, it seems it peaked in 2020 & 2021 as the anti-instagram; a challenger to highly curated online content. As of now, the well-intentioned app and its 2 minute capture structure add to the fact that people fundamentally don’t like being told what to do and when. The lesson, brands? The concept of authenticity is a slippery slope as many find ways to define what it looks like, many of times, manufactured & *not* truly authentic.
Examples: 1, 2, 3
Must-click links that crossed our feeds today
Instagram is trying out a “verified-only” feed so users can see posts from people & businesses they monetarily subscribe to.
Weird, but welcome the bacterial life jacket that's "grown to order."
Tinder, but mom chooses your date: the popular dating introduced a new Matchmaking feature that allows users to invite friends & family to suggest potential partners.
Things are about to get ~saucy~YouTube, watch out - TikTok’s latest test feature gives users the ability to post 15-minute videos.
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