NFT’S, MEMES & CHEUGY
Remember last week, when I told you about Apple’s big plans to launch paid subscription podcasts? Well, this week, Spotify pulled the ultimate tech-company move and said: “We’ll copy that, thanks.” Creators using Spotify can now make episodes “subscriber-only” and release them on the platform. This will be completely free to creators for the next two years, and then in spring 2023, Spotify will start taking a 5% cut—which is much lower than the 30% of podcast subscription fees Apple will be collecting in subscribers’ first years. I guess there’s a strategic benefit to going second...
How much would you pay for a meme? Nothing? Hm, okay. What if it’s a really famous OG meme? Well, an NFT of the now-classic photo of a toddler looking knowingly at a camera as a house is engulfed in flames just sold for $430,000. The subject of the meme, Zoe Roth, is now a senior in college, and it’s safe to say she won’t be struggling under the load of student loan debt, after she graduates. After someone floated the idea of creating an NFT to her, she did a little research and spoke with a few other OG meme subjects (who you might know as Overly Attached Girlfriend and Bad Luck Brian) and ultimately decided to hold a 24-hour auction. Along with a whole lot of cash, Zoe says that auctioning the NFT gave her back “some sort of control, some sort of agency in the whole process.” Which is a pretty cool outcome, when you think about the fact that we’ve all just been freely using her face to make our jokes for two decades now, without her consent.
If you didn’t watch the Oscars last Sunday, you’re not alone. At all. The telecast, which saw 10.4 million viewers, fell 55% from last year’s viewership–which was already a record-low. And somehow, this new low was still ABC’s “strongest primetime telecast of the year.”
This week, my TikToks recs are actually centered around static photos. Check out this video, which takes us through a handful of the most gripping photographs taken in history. And then, if anyone can explain how google maps managed to catch this super-bunny flexing for the camera, please let me know.
Also, I take my job as your resident Gen Z whisperer very seriously—and that includes sharing the latest in jargon with you. Behold, “cheugy.” The next time you want to describe a chevron-print “Live, Laugh, Love” pillow or anything you’d find on the bottom shelf at Homegoods that you might have previously called "basic," well, take this bit of slang for a test drive. And if you’d like a little more insight on the etymology of Gen Z’s newest contribution to the English language, Taylor Lorenz documented it on Thursday for the New York Times, here.
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
