The lifecycle from niche vernacular —> viral slang —> your mom asking you what “rizz” means has never been shorter. You could argue that social media is a great equaliser. A way to share culture across demographics that, in the past, would never overlap. But you could also argue it’s a cultural flattener. Because, yeah, we all love to “yasss queen,” but how many of us know that phrase came from NYC ballroom culture? So, is TikTok actually helping us share cultural vernacular? Or just helping us rob it of all meaning? [Keep reading]

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

As if we didn’t already know we were watching a slow-motion collapse. Advertisers are still fleeing. User engagement is down. And the platform's content moderation has deteriorated to the point where it's becoming unusable for a lot of people. Elon's response has been to double down on everything that's driving people away: more paywalls, more algorithmic chaos, more platform instability.

Merging with xAI and SpaceX also has not helped shift the needle. There’s also no official CEO. It’s not making money, it’s controversial as hell, it’s overrun by bots. Just pull the plug.

Next! AI could democratise one of tech's most valuable resources: chipmaking. Apparently Nvidia has the crown when it comes to AI chips. But the AI it helped build could lead to its fall from the top because it’s made it significantly easier for other companies to optimise code for different silicon. One reason for Nvidia’s success is that it provides software to help program each new generation of chip.

But democratisation only works if access is truly open and equitable. And right now, the biggest AI labs are controlled by a handful of corporations with more resources than most countries. The tools might be more accessible. But the infrastructure, the models, the data, all of that is still concentrated at the top.

And the internet's most powerful and beloved archiving tool is in mortal peril, which should concern everyone who cares about digital preservation. The Internet Archive, which runs the Wayback Machine and stores billions of snapshots of websites, is facing existential threats from lawsuits, funding shortages, and mounting pressure from publishers who want their content removed.

If the Archive goes down, we lose the closest thing we have to a collective memory of the internet. Entire websites, articles, cultural moments, all of it could disappear. All because there's no legal or financial structure in place to protect digital history the way we protect physical archives. The irony is brutal. We live in the most documented era in human history, but almost none of it is being preserved in a way that will survive long-term.

The Archive has been holding the line for decades. And if it collapses, we'll realise too late how much we were depending on it. Can someone DO SOMETHING PLS. It is for public good. 

-Sophie Randell, Writer

I’ve finally reached the point where I no longer understand some of the vernacular on social media. I felt the scales tipping when the “skibbidi toilet rizz” thing happened. But I had a full-fledged unc moment today that fully confirmed it.

I’m losing touch. But that’s a rant for another day.

If you scroll long enough on TikTok you’ll encounter a comment section full of people telling a complete stranger “You the birthday.” Which in my head literally sounds like a half-baked Google Translate error or something. But it’s not.

According to The Tab, the phrase is actually a misheard lyric from Birthday Girl by rapper Hunxho. Apparently a brief pause in the rappers delivery had fans online joke that he had said “she the birthday,” instead of “she the birthday girl” and the rest is history.

Now, it’s kind of been flattened, repackaged and shipped out as the internet’s newest way to say: “You are currently the main character.”

It’s funny, it’s low-stakes, and it’s a perfect case study for the way TikTok has turned cultural language into a high-speed extraction site.

A phrase is birthed in a specific community, usually Black or LGBTQ, to articulate a very niche vibe. Then, the algorithm catches a whiff of it. And it’s game over from then on out.

Take "gyatt" or "rizz." These weren’t just "random internet words"; they were rooted in AAVE and specific regional dialects. But once the FYP gets a hold of them, they undergo semantic bleaching. The nuance is scrubbed away until the word is just a hollow vessel for "energy." By the time a suburban teen or a 30-year-old unc like me starts using it, the original cultural weight has been traded for a viral punchline.

It’s like we’re not really sharing a language but mining it for aesthetic parts.

Think about how many words we use that are “borrowed” from other cultures. When you “yaaas queen” in the comment section, or “perioddd” in your story replies, know that these terms have an origin, and that origin is being washed out and replaced as “internet speak.”

There is a specific kind of soul-crushing exhaustion that comes from seeing a multi-billion-dollar airline or a fast-food chain use AAVE-derived slang to sell you a chicken sandwich.

When brands jump in, they accelerate the "cringe" cycle. They turn organic cultural expression into Digital Minstrelsy, performing a version of "cool" that they didn’t build and don’t actually understand.

It’s the ultimate form of indexical erasure: when a word’s history is replaced by a marketing KPI. Blegh.

That we’re more connected, more expressive, and that "gatekeeping" is pointless. And sure, it’s exciting that we have this kaleidoscopic new vocabulary to play with.

But I will say there’s a difference between a language evolving and a language being looted. When we use these terms without ever tracing them back to the source, we aren't just "expressing ourselves." We’re participating in a form of cultural amnesia.

We get the "birthday surprise," but we’re effectively ignoring the people who actually hosted the party.

Maybe I’m too unc for this. Maybe the fact that I’m questioning it at all means I need to put down the pen and retire from the internet. But I do feel as a collective, as we keep scrolling, we have to ask: what happens when we’ve used up every word from every subculture until everything sounds the same?

If we’re all speaking "TikTok," are we actually saying anything at all?

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Today’s viral trend is built around Kourtney Kardashian saying “I just don’t have the energy for this.” The whole vibe is dry, unbothered, and slightly over it. Perfect for tapping into those moments where something mildly chaotic is happening around you, and you’re choosing peace instead.

Creators are using the audio with POV-style setups where something dramatic, annoying, or chaotic is happening… and they’re just standing there, completely disengaged. Think: being stuck in the middle of two friends fighting, or ignoring something you absolutely could get involved in, but won’t. It’s very “I see what’s happening, and I’m opting out.”

Use the audio and create a scenario where there’s tension, chaos, or unnecessary energy happening around you - and you’re clearly choosing not to participate. This works best with a visual contrast (something happening in the background while you stay calm/unbothered).  Add a POV-style caption to set the scene.

A few ideas to get you started:

-Georgia Russell, Intern

😂Yap’s funniest home videos: Oh that was unforgivable
❤How wholesome: BRB CRYING
😊Soooo satisfying: wait for this pop
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: One Pot Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta

Hey Jackson!

There's no magic formula to staying consistent! At some point, you just have to carve out time and get it done. But one thing you can do to make that a bit easier is to come up with an easily repeatable content style. At TAS, we call this ERC. This is a content style that is easy to produce, and, ideally, one you can create in bulk. It should also be something you can do over and over, only changing one factor for each video.

This should fit your niche, but could be something like street interviews, simple games, reaction videos, or answering FAQs about your industry. When you've got this content style, you'll no longer need to reinvent the wheel every time you need to create content. You're essentially taking 90% of the thinking out of it, which makes it much more likely you're going to post more regularly. Then, remember that done is better than perfect. You will learn as you go, and that's ok.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.