Is Kamala Harris a political meme stock?

+ Roblox catholics, meme tattoos, Fortnite players vs Cybertrucks, and NY's biggest hospital system gets into the content game

This week on my podcast Power User, The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel joined me to chat about whether the election is making X relevant again, if Kamala can sustain the online hype, coconut memes, irony pilled posting, and the outcry of a generation frustrated by politics.

Watch below or listen to Power User wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to my YouTube!

What I’m reading

Elon Musk's transgender daughter, in first interview, says he berated her for being queer as a child

In an exclusive interview, Vivian Jenna Wilson, Elon’s trans daughter, said that he was an absent father who was cruel to her as a child for being queer and feminine. She has also been dragging Musk on her Threads account. Grimes posted a message of support for her on X. - NBC

The Hawk Tuah girl joined FanFix (subscription platform like Patreon or OnlyFans)

Haliey Welch, aka Hawk Tuah girl, has joined subscription platform FanFix. Welch will generate earnings through monthly subscriptions, direct messages, tips, unlocked content, live streams, and more. - Distractify

New York’s largest hospital system is launching a production studio to develop reality shows and TV dramas about its doctors and patients

Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care system which operates 21 hospitals and 900 outpatient facilities, is launching Northwell Studios, a new production company that is developing scripted and unscripted film and TV content leveraging its facilities, doctors and patients. - The Hollywood Reporter

Meet the queen of internet ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children)

Hannah Neeleman, aka Ballerina Farm, is one of the most famous trad wife influencers online. She milks cows, gives birth without pain relief, and breastfeeds at beauty pageants for an audience of 9 million followers. This piece is a fascinating look at what her life is really like. The Rolling Stone writer EJ Dickson also did an excellent thread of analysis. - The Times

Silicon valley DRAMA ALERT

TechCrunch has a rundown on why David Sacks, Paul Graham, and other big Silicon Valley names are publicly sparring with each other on Twitter. I usually ignore Silicon Valley/VC Twitter nonsense, but it is nice to see that even millionaires/billionaires can get messy online like the rest of us. - TechCrunch

The water pistol emoji is now a gun emoji on Elon Musk's X

X has dropped the water pistol emoji and replaced it with an emoji depicting an actual gun. I’m sure this will only contribute to the notoriously calm and respectful discussions on X! - Mashable

Is The Thirst Trap Dead?

Thirst traps have been filed away under millennial cringe along with peace signs and ankle socks. Is it because young women are rejecting the pro-sex movements of the 2010s? Or just that the accessibility of raunchy content is making it boring? - Refinery29

How lore became pop’s hottest summer accessory

From Charli xcx's Brat summer to the easter eggs in Taylor Swift's lyrics, intricate world building is the key to cultural relevance in 2024. - The Face

Hate your job? Try posting about it online: Meet the anti-corporate influencers

Exhausted from the grind, more workers are shamelessly airing out their grievances on TikTok, putting co-workers and even bosses on blast. People are posting soundbites from meetings to demonstrate just how miserable their offices are. Tags like #HateMyJob and #9to5IsNotForMe are taking off. Creators at the forefront of this movement say they don’t fear the consequences. - Bustle

The church of Roblox: Young Filipinos are praying at digital Catholic churches

On Roblox, young Filipinos are meticulously recreating Catholic churches, and role-playing as bishops, priests, deacons, and monks. There are also Roblox Vietnamese Catholic and Polish Catholic churches, whose masses and memorials are so popular that hundreds line up to attend. The Vatican City State of Roblox — which is not officially sanctioned — has an active presence on the platform. - Rest of World

Has social media made sightseeing deeply uncool?

Have you ever wondered why people go to Paris and post pictures of charm bracelets and leather shops but not the Eiffel Tower? Young people have watched friends and influencers travel the world for years on TikTok and Instagram. This overexposure to landmarks creates pressure to distinguish vacations with unique experiences. - Mashable

How “Apple” dance creator Kelley Heyer launched the song of the summer

On June 14, actor Kelley Heyer posted a dance she made up to Charli XCX’s song “Apple.” The dance went so viral that the Twisters cast, Stephen Colbert, and even Charli herself has recreated it. Heyer chats about the dance’s success, Charli sliding into her DMs, and the Kamala Harris of it all. - Embedded

Making memes for the global ‘oat milk elite’

A loose federation of hyperlocal Instagram accounts are both satirizing and codifying the habits of a homogenous consumer class. A new genre of hyperlocal Instagram meme pages has emerged in the past several years, forming a kind of loose network stretching from Europe and the U.S. to Southeast Asia and Australia. In New York, there is Nolita Dirtbag. In Oregon, @northwest_mcm_wholesale. In London, Real Housewives of Clapton. - New Yorker

Meme tattoos and the rise of post-ironic body art

Shitposting-style tattoos are the latest trend, birthed from a chronically digital upbringing that has landed Gen Z with a meta-ironic internet persona and an absurdist, self-referential style of humor... Gen Z are one of the most inked generations. And unlike the earnest and symbolic designs beloved by Millennials – infinity signs, plant pots, love hearts etc – they are taking a more ironic approach, with tats that look like memes lifted straight off an Instagram grid. - Dazed

Kids used to grow up watching Disney. Now they're all on YouTube.

The Disney Channel plummeted from a top-10 network with nearly 2 million average daily primetime viewers in 2014 to No. 80 with a measly 132,000 in 2023. Kids are now getting their TV fix on streaming, which accounts for two-thirds of TV watch time for children 2 to 11. YouTube has become king and kids increasingly prefer to zone out for hours watching free short-form videos instead of full-length TV episodes and movies. Kids 2 to 11 watch three times as much YouTube as Disney+ content per Nielsen. - Business Insider

Athlete influencers compete for likes as well as medals in Paris

American rugby player Ariana Ramsey, like many other Olympians who work second or even third jobs, uses social media to supplement her income, earning one-off deals with brands and charging about $100 for an Instagram Reel or $50 for an Instagram story post. In years past, athletes like Ramsey might have needed a manager to negotiate deals with brands. Now, a company will reach out directly to strike a deal. "This is a whole second job," said Ramsey. - Reuters

Boyhood is trending

If 2023 was “the year of the girl” — which saw women adopt Barbie-core clothing and décor, girlish hair bows, and doll-inspired beauty products. Boyhood is now dominating the zeitgeist, writes Jessica Defino. “Girlhood has been sufficiently praised and pilloried over the past two years. It’s boyhood’s turn to take over the culture.” - The Review of Beauty

TikTok Sees K-Culture Spend Doubling to $143 Billion by 2030

Social media has amplified global interest in Korean exports and TikTok has been at the epicenter of K-pop fandom online. Global spending on Korean cultural products is forecast to nearly double to $143 billion by 2030. - Bloomberg

Chinese factory owners are becoming TikTok comedians to find new business partners

Factories in China are creating viral accounts on TikTok, Instagram, and WeChat. Outside of costly trade fairs and wholesale market stalls, manufacturers want to show off their personalities to reach new customers. The platforms’ recommendation mechanisms and large user bases help factories find new business customers. - Rest of World

'Fortnite' players vow to destroy all Cybertrucks they see in the game

Anyone who is caught driving a Cybertruck will, according to these posts, be teamed up against relentlessly. Since Fortnite sometimes sells vehicles for real money in the in-game store, this development means the Cybertruck could be gaming's first pay-to-lose cosmetic item. - Mashable

iPhones will soon be able to stream live video on 911 calls

The new feature lets you video chat with 911 dispatchers and emergency responders, aiding them in finding you fast when you need help. Personally I think this is a great idea, but I wonder if users will be able to keep or publish the video recordings. - The Verge

An influencer reality competition series is launching on The CW Network

The new show called Follow Me will have contestants compete in influencer brand challenges for a chance to win $50,000.

Eminem’s new album prompted Gen Xers to declare a TikTok ‘war’ on Gen Z

The release of Eminem’s new album The Death of Slim Shady has led to a series of viral shitposts from Gen X bashing young people. Unfortunately for Gen Xers, pretty much no one under the age of 35 cares. - Wired

Joe Rogan Invaded Austin and Became Comedy’s New Kingmaker

Joe Rogan’s impact can be seen up and down podcast charts. Now, his influence is manifesting IRL through his comedy club in Austin, which is attracting aspiring comedians and major big names alike. - Bloomberg

Meta Employees Debate Merits of Threads’ No-Politics Policy

Meta staffers are questioning the company’s policy of not promoting political content on Threads, as political chatter rises ahead of the election. - The Information

Trump allies crush misinformation research despite Supreme Court loss

My colleagues Cat Zakrzewski and Naomi Nix wrote about how a GOP legal campaign is dismantling misinformation research, using lawsuits to scare the whole ecosystem of academic experts into silence. - Washington Post

Abortion Misinformation Is All Over the Internet. You Can Blame Big Tech Censorship.

Social media creators and reproductive rights organizations are having their content about abortion censored. - Rewire News Group

AI video generator Runway trained on thousands of YouTube videos without permission

A highly-praised AI video generation tool made by multi-billion dollar company Runway was secretly trained by scraping thousands of videos from popular YouTube creators. - 404 Media

The ACLU is fighting for your constitutional right to make deepfakes

States across the US are seeking to criminalize certain uses of AI-generated content. Civil rights groups are pushing back, arguing that some of these new laws conflict with the First Amendment. - WIRED

Meta cracks down on ‘Yahoo Boys’ and thousands of sextortion accounts

Meta shut down 63,000 Instagram accounts based in Nigeria that it says were engaged in financial sextortion scams and connected to what Meta calls a “loosely organized” group of cybercriminals known as the “Yahoo Boys.” - The Verge

How K-pop might lead to the downfall of Korea’s richest self-made tech mogul

Kakao Corp. founder Kim Beom-su was arrested Tuesday in Seoul. The Verge catalogs the bizarre tale of how a celebrated, self-made tech billionaire fell from grace, partly because he bought a scandal-ridden K-pop agency. - The Verge

The Rise of IVF influencers

Creators are drawing big audiences sharing their intensely personal medical journeys through IVF and egg-freezing and it’s helping them afford a shot at a family they might not otherwise have. - Forbes

This Machine Exposes Privacy Violations

Fed up with the terrible state of privacy on the web, a former Google engineer has built a search engine to uncover every privacy violation on the web. - WIRED

An asbestos lawyer's new crusade: suing social media companies

Paris Martineau profiled a little known asbestos lawyer who has become an unexpected thorn in the side of big tech. He's at the center of a movement to sidestep section 230 using a novel legal theory—if it works, it could change internet law forever. - The Information

Other fun stuff

Two of my favorite writers, Delia Cai and Steffie Cao, are doing a digital etiquette advice column with Fast Company this summer and the first edition is out! It’s on How to follow someone on Instagram years after they followed you.

Episode 2 of Kareem Rahma’s new longform YouTube show, The Last Stop, is also out! And he wades into a topic I wouldn’t touch with a 1,000 foot pole: whether Taylor Swift’s music is overrated. NYT pop music critic Jon Caramanica, actress Mary Neely, meme queen Neoliberal Hell and comedian Yedoye Travis debate. - The Last Stop by Subway Takes

This fake AI video is sending me.

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