from the chat: gen alpha is racing ahead 🏎️🏎️🏎️
ALSO: The Pitt's commentary on AI, Americans' favorite condiments (spoilers: peanut butter ftw), "burnout feminism," and more
Happy Friday, February 20th!
WELCOME :)
Just a reminder: every Tuesday and Friday, I’ll be in your inbox with the latest in politics, tech & social media, culture, and other relevant topics – and I’ll share some notes and tips on what I’m keeping my eye on.
Want to do a super fun, super cool rapid interview for this newsletter like the one below??? Reply to this email or hit the button below. Tips, thoughts, concerns, good jokes, bad jokes, ☕️, etc?
And finally, if you enjoy this newsletter and want to share it with your network (and/or your chronically online friends), or buy me a matcha, that would be so appreciated 🙏
Today, we have texts from the fabulous Grace Weinstein, social media, host, and producer extraordinaire at The Recount. She also writes Who Broke It here on Substack (and you can also find her on IG here). Enjoy!!!
LR: It seems like there are truly endless takes on where the Internet is going (probably a product of splintering… although maybe that’s just another take). But let’s fast-forward to February 20th, 2027: in your best estimation, what platforms do you think are doing the best – and what content do you think is going viral and what’s flopping?
GW: I’ve been covering politics and social media for 1M years, so I’m always thinking in terms of election cycles. 2027: off-year, no nationals, no midterms. The 2028 race will start to take shape, but February is much too early for normal, sane people to care. With that in mind, I think focus is going to skew toward visual, lifestyle platforms.
I really believe it’s Instagram’s game to lose. Too much AI? Losing. The creepy tracker map they rolled out? Big, fat L. But it remains one of the only platforms where you can strike your chosen balance between content from friends and creators. There are surprisingly few places you can do that anymore.
Viral: Mistakemaxxing — So I’m willing this into existence in a non-performative way: I want to hear about the mistakes you’ve made and the lessons you’ve learned. Especially eager to see politicians find a way to do this.
Flopping: Trending sounds — I just think we’re gonna grow out of the lip-sync, dubbed sound videos. If it stays, then at the very least, I’m begging congressional staffers to stop making their bosses do this. Rosa DeLauro’s team, I’m talking to you. You have one year to get your ya-yas out.
LR: The oldest of Gen Alpha will be 18 in 2028 (insanity) and able to vote in the next presidential election. What are three key things that you think people need to understand about Gen Alpha and how they interact with politics and political media?
GW: So I have to admit, I had some real reservations about Gen Alpha’s engagement capacity when all I knew about them was 6-7 and skibidi toilet. It took only a few encounters with them in January (ok Jane Goodall, lol) to change my mind.
It started when I interviewed 14-year-old Dean Roy, running for governor of Vermont, continued during a chat with my pre-teen cousin obsessed with WWII, and culminated with high schoolers raging at an ICE rally. Here’s my view:
They don’t understand stagnation because what drives them (social media, apps, culture, tech) is always racing forward. They were born running at that speed. Inactivity is viewed as incompetence, which frustrates them.
It doesn’t matter if you have all the information in existence at your fingertips if you don’t know what to do with it. Questions of application drive them. But this can get into tricky territory when they start to outsource all of their opinions.
What to do when they notice inactivity but are propelled by frustration? They will build — it comes natural to them in a world where anyone can create and distribute anything. They are desperate to feel empowered, but willing to develop that with one another
LR: It feels like there’s a growing trend online of people expressing (mostly to MAGA or ex-MAGA folks) that it’s OK to change their minds. Based on your work and experience, what kinds of stories or content actually have the power to move someone politically in 2026, if any? And is social media even a place where that can realistically happen?
GW: At some point in every young person’s life, we get a talking-to that’s something along the lines of: “When you’re in a fight with someone, it’s better to say ‘I feel ___’ rather than ‘you did ___.’ (Some people receive this wisdom a little too late in life, imo). Putting your own personal experience or evolution on display gives an audience something to model their behavior off of.
I saw how effective this could be when I wrote my piece on suburban moms forming a new resistance front against ICE activity in Minneapolis. Each creator went hyper-personal — here’s my journey away from MAGA for anyone who’s curious. This builds intimacy, grants permission to change, reveals variety in routes you can take, etc.
The most effective piece of this strategy though? It’s clear-sighted about steady, slow progression … which often includes momentary regression! No one wakes up on the other side of the political spectrum one morning. And Americans are so quick to pull away as soon as they feel like they’re being told what to do. Making political evolution feel individualized — both online and in IRL relationships — allows us to feel ownership over our opinions, and incentivizes us to refine and develop our POV.
LR: Favorite app that’s NOT social media?
GW: I literally could not live without Photoshop. My team has tried to get me on the Canva wave but, to me, that’s like asking Michelangelo to do the Sistine Chapel with a 24-pack of Crayola crayons (no sharpener) instead of painting alfresco. My entire Adobe skillset is running on fumes from what I learned as EIC of my high school yearbook. I have a lot of happy accidents, which makes for a lot of weird memes. Aside from that, the Sudoku.com app.
LR: If your body of work on Substack were a cocktail… what would it be?
GW: A pickleback shot. I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life. A little salty, a lotta burn, but a guaranteed good time.
** Trump x SCOTUS tarriff drama unfolding here.
Journalists Arrested in Cameroon While Reporting on Trump’s Secretive Deportation Program
The Trump administration has not publicly announced any deal with Cameroon to accept foreign deportees. The State Department said on Friday it would not comment on its “diplomatic communications with other governments” when asked about the terms of an agreement. The expulsions have raised concerns about human rights and the secrecy of President Trump’s approach to global deportations. (NYT gift link, 2/18)
‘You cannot let there be a vacuum’: On trans rights, Dems prepare for 2026
To address this issue, the Human Rights Campaign has been providing its midterm messaging playbook to Democratic campaign committees and specific campaigns, encouraging candidates to develop an early plan to combat anti-trans attacks. “Should we respond to these attacks? The answer is always yes,” reads the document. (WaPo, 2/19 – free version)
Lucy’s note: further context on this… a major Manhattan hospital just announced that they would no longer provide medical care for trans youth
Democrats recruit popular content creators in new strategy to win back Latino voters
Strategists hope to expand the effort, called “ RUIDO ” — Spanish for noise — which consists of a network of online content creators, into other competitive primary and general election races where Latino candidates and voters could prove decisive. However, leaders of the Hispanic Caucus PAC have yet to decide when or where to invest next. (AP, 2/18)
Inside the Gay Tech Mafia
“Just because you are gay and work in tech does not necessarily mean you are part of the so-called gay tech mafia. Much of the queer spectrum is conspicuously absent from events geared toward gay founders. “There are barriers within the community,” says Danny Gray, a leader at Out Professionals, a networking organization for LGBTQ+ businesspeople. (WIRED, 2/19 – free version)
Lucy’s note: as someone who does not live on the West Coast, this was an absolutely insane read
The Pitt has a sharp take on AI
This season of The Pitt has been repeatedly emphasizing that technology can only do so much to solve problems when it isn’t really designed to address the real issue at hand. AI-powered transcription can help Dr. Santos finish charts more quickly (with some errors thrown in for good measure). But the software can’t do much about the emergency room being understaffed, or when the doctors and nurses are suddenly tasked with taking in more patients after another hospital goes on lockdown. (The Verge, 2/19 – free version)
Newsom backs social media restrictions for teens under 16
In staking out his position, Newsom joins a growing group of high-profile politicians arguing for the need to restrict access to Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and other social media platforms that draw billions of daily users and have upended how people interact. The call for age limits has gained momentum since Australia put its ban in place, citing a growing body of research that the platforms can be addictive and harmful to teens’ mental health. (POLITICO, 2/19)
Why ‘Burnout’ Feminism Is Replacing the Girlboss, Lean In Era
The irony of a burnout memoir, of course, is that writing a book requires a rabid amount of ambition. Even tradwives, who flaunt their supposed financial dependency, hawk kitchen goods and form lucrative brand collaborations. It may be more accurate to say, then, that female ambition hasn’t gone anywhere, but the way we talk about it has changed. (Bloomberg, 2/16 – free version)
Lucy’s note: I don’t like the layer of framing in this piece that young women are getting “lazy” or unmotivated – I think all of this is deeply rooted in a pervasive sense of hopelessness and a (rightfully) fear-based response to the modern decimation of rights and freedoms
Etsy sells second-hand fashion app Depop to eBay for $1.2bn
According to Etsy, nearly 90% of Depop’s seven million active buyers are under the age of 34. The second-hand fashion platform also has more than three million active sellers. Depop has become “one of the fastest-growing fashion resale marketplaces in the US”, said Kruti Patel Goyal, chief executive of Etsy. (BBC, 2/19 – free version)
Americans’ favorite condiments
The three condiments that the largest share of Americans say they “love” out of the 22 included in the survey are peanut butter (44%), honey (40%), and salsa (37%). Other popular condiments are barbecue sauce (34% love it), chocolate sauce (33%), ketchup (33%), maple syrup (32%), jam or jelly (32%), ranch dressing (30%), and mayonnaise (30%). (YouGov, 2/17)
Alysa Liu’s Alt-Grunge Style Is Changing the World of Olympic Figure Skating
As for her performances, she’s selected costumes—a Nike minidress with leopard-print tights here, a custom asymmetrical look by Lisa McKinnon there—that have felt like a natural progression from her off-ice wardrobe, as they should. And the best accessory of all? Her shiny gold medals. (Harper’s Bazaar, 2/20)
Tide spent 10 years turning laundry detergent into a tile. Please don’t eat it
It took the company a decade to figure out how to do this, using a proprietary approach to spin these cleaning ingredients into fibers that can be woven together. Each Tide evo tile is made up of more than 15 miles of these fibers, which gradually dissolve when added to water. (Fast Company, 2/17)
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Extra Credit 🤓
“I Caught POLITICO and the New York Times Laundering Pink Slime ‘News’” from Emily Horne of Spin Class
“Gen Z Will Make or Break These 7 Upcoming IP Films” from Matthew Frank of The Ankler
That’s all for now – I’ll see you on Tuesday!