Morally Grey Women and The Cosy Web
This month: Manu Kant (aka philosopher Emmanuel Kant) is our new favourite influencer; Nospace as the new-ish social media app; Women’s boxing is getting the attention it deserves; and my oh my, what is happening to Gen Alpha boys?
Source: https://bobhutchins.medium.com/the-rise-of-the-cozy-web-425d0d989092
The Cosy Web
Technology
This month Jess has been reading about the cosy web, a new term for the online spaces where people are retreating to escape the algorithm. This can range from messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, to closed communities on Slack and Discord, and even more traditional tools like email and cloud storage. This move is sparked by a combination of data privacy concerns, the overwhelming eternity of endless scroll, and nostalgia for the intimate feel of the early internet. These private spaces where it’s clear who is viewing our posts, and who has access to data we share, feel safe, calm and unintimidating in the era of Instagram and TikTok. This trend reflects the more savvy approach to online sharing of Gen Z, who learned from the mistakes of Millennials about the importance of protecting your privacy and curating your online presence, retaining control of how others perceive them.
So Good I Could Eat It
Publishing
From a murder mystery to an existentialist tale of capitalistic survival, Rafa cannot drag her eyes away from the food-filled fiction pages of late. Sarah Rose Etter’s Ripe, Lottie Hazell’s Piglet, and Asako Yuzuki’s Butter are all recently released books that use food as anything but what it seems. Here, pomegranates, doughnuts, and butter are used as plot devices to convey indulgence and primal desire. In an early interview, Yuzuki talks about the gender imbalance in Japan and how traditional gender roles pushed her character to the edge, leading her to use these same social expectations in her favour to kill off men through her homemade cooking. In this evolution of literary feminist portrayals, women don’t have to be removed from these domestic settings to make a point. Instead, they take advantage of a system that is poised against them and use it for revenge… while also creating some delicious recipes.
Travel-tainment
Entertainment & Media
Fandom’s ability to re-shape and drive innovation across industries continues to excite us at MTM. This month, Alex writes that the travel sector is responding to growing desires to create bucket list vacation experiences around consumers’ biggest obsessions. Airbnb’s new Icons feature gives travellers unique experiences like the opportunity to drift off in the house from Up, let dreams race through your mind in the Ferrari Museum, or go head to head with Khaby Lame on Fortnite from his Milan gaming den. Moreover, carving out bucket list experiences around a love of sport, TV or film is becoming a mass trend. 67% of Millennials and Gen-Zs say they are interested in travelling for sporting events this year, and 48% of Brits say they have turned concert trips into overnight stays. Why is this interesting? As fandom becomes a core reason to travel, events like the upcoming Fanatics Fest in New York, dubbed ‘Comic-Con for sports fans’, will become a major pull for consumers from far and wide looking to dive deeper into their fandom.
What’s on your mind?
Curious about trends? Want to know more about something we’ve spotted? Let us know! Be it for businesses or personal curiosity, we’re here to help!