The Trend Report™: Wall Warp Club

A round up of mega-trending items and no mention of "the big game."

Feb 13, 2021

Hi! And welcome to another edition of The Trend Report™, where you get a capturing of what happened this week.

This week, we’ve got political types going Hollywood, a video game where you create real people, a TikTok featuring kids from the future, and a breakdown of three hyper-trending subjects from this week. And you know what we won’t have? Anything football-related because I don’t give a shit about football.

xXx,
krf

PS. Forward to your friends and subscribe here.

America’s Mothers Are in Crisis
Three Mothers On The Brink
How Society Turned on Moms
A few stories from a fantastic special report on working mothers and how pandemic parenting-while-working has been beyond tough.

U.S. Seeing a Spike in Anti-Asian Hate Crimes
This is very distressing and, uhh, definitely relates to a certain being-impeached-right-now president’s words.

Chris Pratt's brother linked to far-right group
Been talking about how trash this guy is for years!!!!!!!!!

Biden Wants Harris to Have a Major Role.
This is an interesting story because, while Harris has been front-and-center with the president, there is still a lack of definition of what the vice president will do.

Michelle Obama’s New Netflix Show
I was very hesitant to like this but, after watching the trailer and seeing that Obama is more of an occasional host, I’m very excited about this.

Claudia Conway On American Idol
This is…………...bad.

Firing Actors for Conservatism Is A Blacklist
This story is hyperbolic but it isn’t entirely wrong, even if it’s myopic. The lack of communication and listening in general is a cultural scourge – and such “cancelations” adds fuel for division. (Does that mean you can be transphobic without ramifications? No.)

Most Americans are doing pods wrong
A very smart story on how most people are exposing themselves to Covid risks, even if in a pod.

Zoom cat lawyer got search warrant on an ex-lover
This week in Milkshake Duck.

Emissions of an Ozone-Depleting Chemical Fall
Pollen Analysis Hints At A Manmade Cause
Some good news! And some bad. We knew this was coming! Or at least I did, judging from how I now take two allergy meds instead of one.

MetaHuman Creator: High-Fidelity Digital Humans
This is the next evolution of The Sims. Make your own almost-humans!

Gamer Pigs Stretch Concept of Animal Intelligence
Speaking of next evolution!

YouTuber Shot and Killed Filming 'Prank' Robbery
I saw someone post a series of screenshots of this YouTuber’s videos on Tumblr and...his antics seem to have always courted unsavory reactions.

This Goopy Paste Could Power Scooters & Motorcycles
This is cool! And good for the planet!

The MTA Put Benches Back At 23rd Street Station
Morons. If you’re unfamiliar with the backstory, the benches were removed to prevent homeless people from having a place to sleep.

Ghost Kitchens Take Over Restaurants
This is fascinating! And something we’ve definitely encountered in Los Angeles.

Here’s a quick look at three things that seemed to dominate this week’s trend cycle.

Unbuild The Wall: It’s not you but everyone is talking about the pandemic wall. As we hit the year mark of being at home and living abnormal lives, it’s been an adjacent way to reflect on this moment and has gotten coverage from Washington Post, Today, CNBC, Huffington Post, and more. The “I am sick of this!” feeling has reared its ugly head in a few ways this week, from the lawyer who was turned into a cat to pets being banned from the meetings of New Hampshire lawmakers. People are tired! Our brains are getting all sorts of twisted in this moment, as we thirst over vaccinated lawmakers and kids go crazy on computers. What’s the solution? More waiting or, as the media says, gardening or mezze platters or not-home-owning.
Warp My Reality Challenge: TikTok is changing so much – but it’s ultimately warping our everyday and how business works. While the government is finally dropping the dumb sale of the app, the social network is currently being hailed as the only radio station that matters and is finally getting respect from Hollywood and becoming a place to scout weird video games and cook something maybe kinda almost delicious to eat and figure out how to clean your place and bundle it all up with a fancy aesthetic. This happens with every hot social network, yes. This is nothing new. What is new are the tactics, the intense intelligence of their algorithm, and how defensive other platforms are getting as the heat is on.
Welcome To Bored Club: In between both pandemic madness and social network seduction lies Clubhouse, the audio chat app that had a random breakout week this week. The app is nothing new but what is new are the hot takes on it: call it a conference call fetish app or Gen Z talk radio or live podcasts without glitz as it’s getting banned in China and using unique efforts to infiltrate contacts and getting Facebook to build a clone and being hailed as the anti-Twitter. Substack had this moment a month or two ago and we can expect chatter to continue as the app expands its grasp. If you are still confused as to what it is, don’t fret: NPR, Vox, Washington Post, and AP dropped explainers this week, signaling that we’re in a pre-peak moment. Don’t get too excited though: the app is notorious for abuse and conspiracy.

What do these three things concurrent trends mean? And why right now? Extreme, macrocosmic boredom converging with a stunted desire to buy, buy, buy into something. Anyway, I made a Discord server in my own quest for novelty and connection which I’m hoping to be a bit of a living Trend Report™. (Don’t know what Discord is? It’s like a group chat or Slack but for ~~friends~~ and such. It’s been pre-trending for a while now.)

This Is the Black Renaissance
Agreed, Ibram X. Kendi! Which reminds that I’ll definitely be watching Black Art this weekend.

A YouTuber Shoots to Literary Fame in France
This story is so interesting because it reveals yet another way how the digital world is upsetting the real world. Get with it, France! (Although I can’t speak to the YouTuber or book in question, I love seeing gatekeepers lose power.)

Another Person Was Killed in a Gender-Reveal Explosion
More morons.

Conch shell 17,000-year-old wind instrument
If you’re curious how this sounds, the article offers a sample of this classic “music.”

Searching for Shelley Duvall
The must-read celebrity profile of the week.

redesigning and diversifying beauty ads of the past
These are so well done! And so dang cute!!!

"Just finished Ben Shapiro's novel"
A very funny thread about a very bad book.

Rebecca Black - Friday (Remix)
In case you missed this very internet moment, where the world got to see how hard Rebecca Black is trying to be Charli XCX in honor of ten years of “Friday.” (The song isn’t bad!)