We hope you’re not having a midweek crisis, fam. If you have a flight coming up, are you thinking about “rawdogging” it? Say what. It means doing nothing but watching the in-flight tracker on your seatback TV instead of, you know, watching a movie, listening to music, or reading a book. That’s apparently the new trend among men who, we guess, want to show off how hardcore they are. Are you that hardcore?

In other news… Google’s Gen Z study goes off the rails, Zellerfeld wants everyone to be a shoe designer, and Hallmark and the NFL are an unlikely love story.

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• YouTube – Heretic

• X (Twitter) – Red One

• Google – Crazy Town

• Reddit – Matthew Perry

• TikTok – “No Chill” - PARTYNEXTDOOR 

• Spotify – “feelslikeimfallinginlove” - Coldplay

.SOCIAL MEDIA.

Google profiles Gen Z’s online habits

The Future. Google-subsidiary Jigsaw put Gen Z — the first generation to be raised with the internet — under the microscope to see how they interact with information online and found that the cohort mainly views digital engagement as a means of socializing with others. Everything is essentially entertainment. The insights could force news publishers, civic organizations, and entertainment companies to revamp how they share content.

Generational study
Jigsaw set out to understand the online “information literacy” of Gen Z… and realized that the generation doesn’t really care about that idea.

• The generation seemingly doesn’t engage with content in a deep way, such as ensuring that stories are accurate or determining whether something is real or AI-generated.

• Instead, the generation ingests content through “information sensibility” — just reading headlines and looking for what feels credible based on feedback from influencer curation, friends in group chats, and public consensus in the comments.

• That’s because most Gen Zers spend their time online in what the researchers call “timepass mode” — scrolling to avoid boredom, relying on their personalized algorithm to serve them only what is entertaining and essential.

• All of this content, comment, and curation engagement is ultimately intended to help with social interaction and determine the right take to have on any given subject.

Jigsaw, which came to the conclusions after several in-depth interviews with a diverse set of 13 to 24 year olds, has a major stake in knowing how Gen Z interacts online. The company makes software called Perspective that outlets like NYT use to moderate their comment sections.

The newest iteration of the tool allegedly brings comments flagged as being able to build bridges between readers to the top of thread… hoping they capture the attention of Gen Z.

54.4% of you voted No in yesterday’s poll: Do you ever worry your job could be replaced with AI?

“The human element cannot be replaced by a machine.”

“I’m retired. Not sure how AI could take over that. Although a robot to do housework would be awesome.”

“I’m in outside sales and have to meet with my customers in person.”

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT CLEEAI.

The TikTok Greatness Analysis

We used CleeAI to write a report on why TikTok is so great.

Check out a snippet of its very profesh answer…

Written by CleeAI:

Let’s delve into the key factors contributing to TikTok’s acclaim, supported by quantitative data and factual evidence.

User Engagement and Growth:

• The platform witnesses an average daily view time of 52 minutes per user, indicating high engagement levels.

Content Diversity and Creativity:

• TikTok’s algorithm promotes content diversity, ensuring users are exposed to a broad spectrum of videos.

Innovative Algorithm and Personalization:

• TikTok's recommendation algorithm is highly sophisticated. It uses user interactions (such as the videos they like, share, or comment on) to tailor the content feed, making it highly personalized.

This is just a snippet of what CleeAI produced.

It also included multiple bullet points for each section and supporting information on Global Reach and Localization, Commercial Success and Marketing Opportunities, Community and Social Impact, and Technological Innovation.

Media, Music, & Entertainment

• Paramount Global, after failing to secure a deal with Skydance, has hired bankers to organize a sale of some of its assets in hopes of finding $500 million in savings. [Read More]

• Major music labels and the RIAA are suing AI music generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement on a “massive scale.” [Read More]

• Hallmark is teaming up with the Kansas City Chiefs on the holiday romance movie Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. We can’t make this stuff up. [Read More]

Fashion & E-Commerce

• Nike is opening a luxury Jordan brand retail store in Beijing in an attempt to jumpstart sales in China. [Read More]

• LVMH acquired high-end Swiss clockmaker L’Epée 1839 to add to its luxury watch brands like TAG Heuer, Hublot, and Zenith. [Read More]

• Conspiracy chic: artist M.I.A. launched a streetwear brand, Ohmni, featuring clothes that can block 99% of WiFi and Bluetooth signals and are invisible to thermal imaging. [Read More]

Tech, Web3, & AI

• Apple is the first company to get fined under the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, with regulators taking aim at the tech giant’s App Store policies. [Read More]

• Rivian is getting a $5 billion investment from VW to form a new joint venture that will build next-generation EVs, which shot up Rivian’s stock by 50%. [Read More]

• EvolutionaryScale, an AI biotech startup founded by former Meta engineers, can allegedly create new molecules mimicking millions of years of evolution. [Read More]

Creator Economy

• Patreon is rolling out gifting features for creators, the ability to pay to access single posts, and other promotional tools as the platform tries to reinvent itself. [Read More]

• Gaming and entertainment firm XSET acquired creative studio Illusive Media to form an in-house gaming-creator studio. [Read more]

• Pinterest is letting users turn their boards into videos that can be shared to TikTok and Instagram. [Read More]

.FASHION.

Zellerfeld democratizes footwear design and production

The Future. German footwear brand Zellerfeld, famous for its 3D-printed foam shoes, is giving customers the ability to not just design their own sneakers but also sell them in perpetuity with a great cut of the revenue. The new tool could help kickstart the careers of several new designers, especially as foam sneakers have skyrocketed in popularity.

Open-source soles
Zellerfeld CEO Cornelius Schmitt is dropping what he calls the “YouTube of shoes.”

• It’s open-sourcing its 3D-printed operations, offering customers the ability to design and create their own shoes.

• Users pay Zellerfeld a flat fee to have their made-to-order, form-fitting, laceless, foam shoes printed… which have a lifespan of about two years.

• They can also post their designs on Zellerfeld’s site so that other customers can order them. Designers earn 60% of the profits from purchases.

• Users can also pay an extra $10 fee to have printings put further in line on the production queue.

Zellerfeld, which has worked with luxury labels like Louis Vuitton and streetwear giants like KidSuper, calls the new platform its latest shot on the brand’s “war in the footwear industry.”

Winning may be all about crafting every customer into an entrepreneur.

.A WORD FROM OUR FRIENDS AT CLEEAI.

Looking for a high-key AI search engine that’s profesh?

Meet CleeAI, the AI-powered engine that delivers professional, trustworthy responses in just seconds. No tedious Googling necessary.

CleeAI is the go-to tool for reliable answers for people who want to deliver consistently on the job.

Here are some things to love about CleeAI:

• Trusted info: Legit responses — cited from verified sources.

• High accuracy: Nearly 20% more accurate than competitors.

• Natural language understanding: AKA, ask questions like you would to a real, live human.

Use it and see. It might just be your ticket to your next promotion.

• Read: Bloomberg profiles LVMH leader Bernard Arnault on how he built his massive luxury house of over 75 brands.

• Listen: Decoder chats with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters about how the culture at the streaming giant is shifting and how the company is tackling emerging technologies.

• Watch: WSJ details the Chinese lunar mission that brought back the first-ever rocks from the far side of the Moon.

Out-of-office replies are a work of art.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE

Today, on an extra special bonus episode of Future Forecast, our hosts Boye and Chris sit down with Larry Fitzgibbon, the co-founder and CEO of Tastemade. Tastemade is an independent media company that creates award-winning video content and original programming in the food, travel, and home & design space.