the slop era

Successful platforms do not just discover what consumers want — they produce the consumers and the forms of consumer desire that they need.

Really appreciated this spicy LinkedIn post from Chris Davis (CEO and heir to the New Balance empire) on their recent collab with Amine.

"Never hear of Aminé? That's not the point. Tapping into the “creator economy” is an increasingly utilized tactic by brands to ignite commercial return. But is that the right approach?

If you are a brand that... See more

Because they are not well funded, leftist creators also don't have money to pour into production teams or marketing for their independent media businesses. While Bari Weiss and other billionaire-backed right wing influencers who cosplay as independent media can hire large staffs and run national ad campaigns thanks to their robust funding,... See more

the attention economy erodes trust. It rewards the most dramatic claims, the most outrageous behavior, the most compelling narratives regardless of their relationship to truth or long-term consequences.

We’re seeing endings everywhere, in both obvious and non-obvious ways. Let me count the ways.Despite Trump’s non-brand-approved appearance, McDonald’s is failing as a major E. coli outbreak hit their (icky) onions (along with Burger King and Taco Bell too), sending shares down. It’s not just the E. coli but one of the brand’s fry suppliers closed... See more

The internet is (mostly) a machine for light things.

The modern makers’ machine does not want you to create heavy things. It runs on the internet—powered by social media, fueled by mass appeal, and addicted to speed. It thrives on spikes, scrolls, and screenshots. It resists weight and avoids friction. It does not care for patience, deliberation,... See more

Moodboarding as a practice is maxed out. It’s become a nearly absurdist consumer hobby, and it’s part and parcel of our algorithmic reality, targeted yet vague. Similarly, slop can’t be meaningfully curated because there are too many actors, algorithms, and microtrends being expressed simultaneously, in too many automated iterations.

What’s worse is the deep capitalism poisoning that confuses consumerism with culture: a new water bottle despite having water bottles, simping for and falling for billionaire theatrics, happily welcoming the AI-fication of everything. A loser landscape is emerging, as teens want less sex in movies, as nightclubs close and sober bars rise, as... See more

“SEO Is Dead. Say Hello to GEO ,” by John Herrman for New York ($). The arcane art of search optimization shapes much of what you see on the internet: It’s why food blogs are so damn wordy, for instance, and why news outlets have long pulled little stunts like this. But now that AI is eating search whole, whether through chatbots or Google’s... See more