My big takeaway is that, for the most part, people are actually still excited about the internet. They may not be racing to download Threads or generate images on Midjourney, but we are all much more online than we used to be. And contrary to what you might see from tech critics on X or even in this newsletter, I have not encountered the supposed t... See more

It makes sense that norms are shifting in this direction as Gen Z’s influence spreads. Raised on social media, with access to once illicit bad-taste touchstones like Rocky Horror just a click away, they’ve largely replaced IRL subcultures with a constellation of aesthetics—cottagecore, dark academia, Y2K—to be performed, then discarded or demoted t... See more