Wrapped is no longer about one person's surprising listening habits and unexplained shifts in vibe. Yes, a lot of people listened to Chappelle Rhone and Kendrick Lamar this year. Is anyone even a little shocked?
But this isn't just a Spotify issue either. Lots of platforms now offer year-by-year review closings, and almost all of them feel like a collective shrug. on tiktok, Company promoted That its users were very interested in Moo Deng, to be shy. Yes, no joke. These revelations are as shocking as the fact that 1.2 million booktok Posted in the first 10 months of the year Anyone who has ever opened the app can probably tell you that it's a huge part of the platform.
While reading its annual report, I was reminded that, perhaps, TikTok's algorithm has become too good at pointing people in the direction of certain hits and less good at loading FYP with videos that people find incredibly interesting. Will seem inventive or attractive.
In other surprising news there was sexuality big on grindr This year. The hookup app's Unwrapped report also named Charli XCX as Mother of the Year and found that the sex position of the year was missionary. Actually, maybe that's surprising. For Grindr, at least.
However, my final thought comes from a year-end mainstay that is (I don't think) algorithmically based: Oxford University Press's Word of the Year. Popular vote, input from experts and, as Caspar Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, told the New York Times, this year's word is “dark art”… drumroll… “brain rot.” Er, you know, the downfall that comes from watching useless things online for too long.
First, yes, those are two words. Second, other people too noticed this discrepancyProving that perhaps all of the Internet's beloved year-end traditions are feeling the heat of social media scrutiny this year. “Brain rot” also frequently beats out the booktalk topics “demarcation” and “romanticism”. So, ultimately, algorithms may have impacted this too, just not in the way you might expect. Perhaps the real brain rot was in all the decisions we made along the way.
Loose threads:
Martial law on Bluesky. Earlier this week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law in the country. The country's opposition parties have already took steps to impeach himBut while it was happening, it was one of Bluesky's first major news programs to appear on the platform. If you have forgotten it, I strongly suggest going back and reliving that moment. The Verge Features Editor Sarah Jeong'S semi-drunk skeet,
Tsunami warning on BlueSky. On Thursday, Bluesky had more big news: a tsunami warning that affected much of Northern California, including the San Francisco Bay Area. on the brink for over an hour, sharing updates, cracking jokesAnd enjoy the fact that there was a new place Have to go to discuss these things.
A clever skit. About Chappell Rhone and Twisted Sister,
Need some time off…anything? advent carolander BackThis is a fun little web show of holiday carols created by a pair of very funny theater artists. If you haven't seen it before, go back and watch all the episodes from previous years his instagram page,