To help navigate what’s going on in the internet universe, we bring you Limelight — a new column brought to you by our friends at creative studio Daylight.
What the hell is going on with bespoke everything? Why are so many people rocking piratecore? What on earth’s a nap dress? And why is social media therapy so goddam popular? These are all extremely relevant questions and the types of existentialisms this column will hope to answer by observing the latest trends we’re noticing online.
Trends are buzzy because they tell us how people are feeling, what they’re thinking about and what’s influencing their behaviour. It’s less about following them and more about understanding why.
So, in no particular order, here’s what we’ve noticed headlining on the internet this month:
Be Real…istic
After over two years shut away in the pandemic watching endless content, there’s a turn back towards… realness. Think less CGI, more documentary-style content. Less magical storytelling and more real-life portrayals of things that actually happen.
This is also manifesting in apps like BeReal— a French social media platform where users are prompted to take one unfiltered snap once a day in order to “show your friends who you really are”. It’s also showing up in the likes of reality TV production, where producers, crews, set, lighting rigs, and makeup teams are now being shown as part of the show. It’s as though we’re all starting to admit that some parts of our lives are real and some of them are fake. People are either seeking sharp realism or deep escape.
Surfing, not serving
Writer Molly Soda was interviewed by the excellent newsletter Embedded recently, and one answer prompted a confronting thought….is this the end of the humble link????
Following on from the halcyon days of organic reach on social media and Mark Zuckerburg deciding to fuck with the algorithms so he can make money, apps are turning into endless serving voids that don’t want you to leave (TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram etc). Give us discovery again! The wholesome channel surf of the internet! The uncharted waters of something new!
In response? Platforms like Patreon or Substack are taking off, where creators are setting up entirely independent income streams outside the walled gardens of apps through their newsletters, and subscribers pay them directly for their content.
Internet therapy
Lizzo’s writing songs about panic attacks, governments are running mental health campaigns encouraging you sometimes to just “do nothing”, therapists or forms of therapy have started their whole own wave on the internet — there’s been a huge rise in seeking help and talking about things in a much more visible way.
This all speaks to a wider trend of “public vulnerability” manifesting across the board. It’s as though the shared harrows of the pandemic have forced humanity to speak more openly about their human experience, and this is impacting everything from diverse talent in advertising (not completely unproblematic) to HR policies and Zoomer-adjacent workplace environments.
Life’s a movie, you’re a character
The Coastal Grandmother, The Messy Hot Aunt, the Main Character, the Soft Black Girl Summer, the Villain Era… Each week it seems a new character archetype goes viral on TikTok that people love to associate with themselves or someone they know.
What’s this telling us? We love to be told who we are, what we’re like and, ultimately, reassured that we’re not alone in our own neurosis. They’re often linked with fashion trends, which also signal a big mood. For example, the rise of soft clothes like the “nap dress” and hoodies, which have come to the fore for multiple reasons, but namely the “clock off at five and don’t think about work til you’re getting paid to” craze of “Quiet Quitting” (which doesn’t actually exist). Everything’s connected.
Space junk
Go through a hectic time, and you’re never more likely to ponder this futile and fleeting existence on earth.
This trend’s all about the fusion of science-meets-cosmos. It’s the craze over NASA’s latest shots from space. It’s dating apps integrating star signs into their profiles, predictions from horoscope apps like Co-Star or, more recently, The Pattern, being posted like profile updates, and mainstream publications commissioning astrologers for regular content.
We need to know all this is for a reason! The climate’s burning, overpopulation’s heaving and more than ever, we need things to stop us from doomscrolling our way to oblivion.
Climate’s changing
The conversation is shifting from “if” it will happen to how we can change to adapt (climate deniers aside, of course).
Weather channels are using Artificial Intelligence to illustrate significant weather events. Architecture is being designed to cool down hot spaces within cities. It’s getting so hot Airbnb-style platforms like Swimply let you rent people’s private pools. And fashion brands are launching more products that decompress over time/claim to last you your lifetime.
Time is rented, and nothing is permanent. And if we didn’t know that already, now we really should.
Slow open worlds
Games where you wander around with no real purpose or narrative are attracting a growing following. Especially the likes of Stray, where you play a cat in a kind of post-apocalyptic world just… leaping around.
Despite its setting, the whole fascination with slow, open worlds is why people just want to log in and mince around when they could just… do that in real life? Call it a backlash to the anxiety of real-life living or just a new form of internet escapism, this way of gaming may just emulate the long slow effort, slow reward dynamic of life itself.
Design-assisted Artificial Intelligence
New AI technology like DALL-E 2 has made massive waves of late, which is basically computer software that creates imagery from text prompts entered into its interface.
This is a major development for the world of graphic design, prompting existentialism about how much of our work and craft will be replaced by robots or… algorithms. How much of the magic of artmaking comes down to the human mind? Time is beginning to tell.
Ephemeral expertise
Clubhouse (open audio chat rooms), Cameo (hire a celebrity for a personalised video), Masterclass (video courses by famous experts) and now… Intro.
Celebrity guest starring and expertise sharing are on the up, and maybe it’s because everyone’s an expert on something these days. Intro’s basically a FaceTime/Zoom-type experience that allows you to book 15, 30, 45 or 60-minute video call sessions with experts to get feedback on… anything. The catch? You can’t exchange text, links or documents, so it’s all in the moment.
Imagine dialling up Sally Ridge for a quick DIY consult on your feature wall. Or Dane Rumble for advice on some new song lyrics. Dreams are free and look, now, maybe even possible.