A brief overview of what is currently trending in news, culture, and/or trending hashtags and formats.
Go Birds: NFL Week 1 kicks off with the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys.
Epstein: Survivors have announced plans to release their own client list.
Rolling Ray: Social media star Rolling Ray has sadly passed away at 28 years old.
A deeper dive into a subject that is impacting culture on a macro level, beyond just the social space.
The End of the 'Awkward Tween' Era
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What It Is: While most social networks are intended for ages 13 and up, many children today start to engage with social media at 10 or younger, getting early exposure to content designed for adults. When kids idolize influencers and content creators who are often 10+ years older, they want to emulate their digital role models’ sophisticated lifestyles with advanced fashion, beauty routines, and carefully crafted personas. The result is a generation of kids who may bypass the essential "awkward phase" that previous generations experienced and jump directly to a polished, influencer-ready version of themselves. Instead of naturally, and awkwardly, fumbling toward confidence through trial and error, some are trying to leap into aesthetic perfection that adults even struggle to attain.
The Brand Takeaway: Most brands create content and choose influencers that target adults, but their actual following can include early teens and even tweens. With this shift toward younger social media users, brands need to be considerate of two audiences simultaneously: their target demographic and unintended younger viewers. Recent trends like Millennials wanting to give their kids a “90s childhood” show how parents are aware of and trying to buck this trend. Kid-friendly brands can support this by crating content that focuses on developmental essentials like resilience, authentic self-expression, and understanding that self-worth isn't tied to external validation.
Four must-click links that crossed our feeds today.
Dancing with the Stars revealed their season 34 cast pairings.
Florida plans to become first state to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates.
Travis broke down his engagement with Taylor on his most recent New Heights podcast episode.
“Ketamine Queen” pleads guilty to selling fatal dose to Matthew Perry.
NCIS: Tony & Ziva – Paramount+, 9.4
The Conjuring: Last Rites – theaters, 9.5
Light of the World – theaters, 9.5
The Great British Bake Off S13 – Netflix, 9.5
Plunge: Flur
Joni’s Jazz: Joni Mitchell
Traces of You: Ivy
Double Infinity: Big Thief
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