A brief overview of what is currently trending in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
National Prayer Breakfast: X users are reacting to Donald Trump’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
Marcelo: The former Real Madrid and Brazil captain has retired from football at the age of 36.
Bob Marley: Fans are remembering the music legend whose 80th birthday would have been today.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
The Appeal of Low-Quality GIFs
What It Is: If you’ve recently seen a gif on social media that looks so fried and sped-up that its subject matter is barely discernible, it might be totally on purpose. Why post something with such low quality, you ask?
These gifs are basically moving memes for reaction purposes — posting one signals to the receiver that you’re in on the joke and not taking yourself, or your response, too seriously. A low-quality gif also says, “This isn’t my first rodeo.” It implies that the meme has weathered the social media landscape many times over. It suggests an inherent lore belonging to the fandom the gif is referencing or even the individual posting the low-quality image.
Because there’s so much media to be gif’d, and sometimes there’s an immediate need for a low-quality gif to serve as a reaction on social, social users have started posting tutorials for how to create these lo-fi images in a pinch. As one user put it, they “won’t rest” until the “144p gif” graces their timeline.
The Brand Takeaway: It’s not enough for brands to simply avoid being too visually “polished” to fit in with the latest trends on social these days. In many corners of the internet, the pendulum of our collective social scatteredness has swung completely to the absurd side of the spectrum — these raw, borderline-messy visuals convey modern social users’ emotional extremes. This wave of internet culture is so unserious, and brands should try to adapt and act accordingly if they want to authentically participate.
Once deemed the “professional thing” for brands to only use high-quality images in brand social contexts, sticking to overly polished images can now actually hurt your credibility. If you’re making unserious memes, be sure to read the room and let your content reflect what everyday users are posting. You might try decreasing the resolution and increasing the funny factor. Fans will appreciate your candidness and may see your efforts as that of a human rather than a brand.
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
Jimmy Butler has reportedly agreed to a 2-year, $121 million extension with the Golden State Warriors 🏀
Billie Eilish interviewed Ariana Grande at a ‘Wicked’ Q&A 🎤
McDonald’s Shamrock Shake is returning, and so is the elusive Uncle O'Grimacey ☘️
‘EUPHORIA’ Season 3 is currently eyeing a 2026 release 📺
The Kardashians S6 - Hulu, 2/6
Invincible S3 - Prime Video, 2/6
Sweet Magnolias S4 - Netflix, 2/6
Heart Eyes - Theaters, 2/7
Love Hurts - Theaters, 2/7
Dark Nuns - Theaters, 2/7
NSFW - Tyga
Polari - Olly Alexander
Cowards - Squid
Power Train - Majestica
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