Have you seen these posts circulating your feed and wondered, “wait, how did this become a thing?” Saturday nights used to be for going out. Now, Gen Z’s decided they’re for wine, charcuterie, and catching up your bills?! So, is this trend a sign of the sad state of the world, that 26-year-olds are getting together to do their online banking? Or is it kind of cute that they’re turning the mundane into an opportunity to be in community? You decide.

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

p.s. After running YAP for the last 2.5, I’m moving onto my next chapter & starting my own newsletter business. Thank you so much for being part of this community. Might even see you around LinkedIn xx

It’s finally (almost) time. After a decade of painful waiting, Grand Theft Auto VI has finally opened its digital pre-orders and is poised to be the single highest-grossing entertainment property of all time. I mean, 13 years is a looong time of anticipation and hype. If this were 2012, people would be lining up down the block to get their hands on a disc.

The standard edition of the game costs $80, the highest base price for a video game on console ever. And on top of that, there is a $100 ultimate edition. Why? Because Rockstar invested more than $1 billion into GTA VI. Which I’m sure was an easy investment, considering its predecessor, GTA V, sold $1 billion worth of copies in the first three days after launch. We’ve finally exited the era of naming all the stuff we got before GTA VI. Praise be.

In other, not so fun news, a dark underbelly of the creator economy is getting exposed. And the tactics are straight out of a corporate espionage thriller. According to an industry insider writing for The Guardian, predatory management agencies are using highly covert recruitment schemes to trap independent OnlyFans creators into exploitative contracts.

Instead of messaging creators directly, these unscrupulous managers hijack the accounts of massive, high-profile models. Then they use these larger accounts to catfish smaller creators with flattery and fake photography offers.

Once they have them hooked, they lock them down with shady contracts. These contain hidden clauses, massive exit penalties, and aggressive pressure to sign without a lawyer. It's a brutal reminder that behind the glitz of the subscription economy lies a wild west of digital manipulation.

And finally, more bad news (I’m sorry): "RAMageddon" has officially arrived. A severe global shortage in memory chips has triggered a massive pricing crisis across the entire tech industry. Manufacturers have completely shifted their focus toward producing high-margin memory chips for giant AI data centres. And, as a result, basic consumer electronics are getting starved tf out.

The price of RAM is skyrocketing, meaning the smartphones, tablets, and laptops hitting shelves are about to become significantly more expensive, or worse, feature much less memory for the same price. If your current laptop is still chugging, hold onto it for dear life. Because silicon is the new liquid gold.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Because in it, was the detailing’s of people MY AGE doing “admin nights” together. This concerned me for a multitude of reasons:

ANYWAY after much deliberation I realised I will never be the kind of person who spends their Saturday night with a group of friends eating charcuterie and planning my dental appointments for the foreseeable future.

I mean, in all honesty, it could probably do me some good. I write this newsletter full-time, make content part-time, and am about to start my postgrad at university.

But even still, god forbid, I ever have so many tasks I need to tackle them in a group setting. Which made me think about all of my other tasks outside of the main things like uni, work, side-hustle etc.

You need to dispute an incorrect driving ticket. Book a physio check-up for that pinch in your hip that just won’t go away no matter how many downward dogs you do in the morning. You need to log your freelance expenses. Cancel that subscription you haven't used since last winter (all 4 of them). Aaaand figure out why your power bill suddenly looks like a phone number (true story).

According to the article, each of us has about a hundred and fifty tasks to deal with on any given day, so say the psychologist Roy F. Baumeister and the journalist John Tierney. And not all of them even make it to the to-do list.

You could hire a personal virtual assistant to help you manage the load, but then you’d just inherit a hundred and fifty-one management tasks. You could also leave your car unwashed and without a service, and tell the dog to walk itself.

Or, you could join this subculture of Gen Z-ers and millennials that meet up with other overburdened peers to grapple with your respective to-do lists over a bowl of chips.

Both versions of this sound equally as awful. I give up. I’d like to retire now, as a flower or perhaps a patch of moss on a rock by a stream.

Hence the title of the article: Misery loves company, especially if there are snacks.

The emergence of this behavioural subculture is a direct response to the massive societal lie that was the promise of digital optimisation.

We were told that apps, automated notifications, and seamless digital portals would save us time. Instead, they merely fragmented our attention, giving us fifty different digital dashboards that we have to log into, update, and manage every single week.

This hyper-efficient digital landscape has effectively induced total administrative paralysis. I’m a human, get me out of here!

And trust me, I get it. When you are sitting alone on your couch staring at a tax portal or a mountain of laundry, the mental friction feels insurmountable. It triggers immediate executive dysfunction.

The Admin Night short-circuits this isolation by introducing collective accountability. By gathering four or five friends around a kitchen table with their laptops, the emotional weight of the mundane is instantly neutralised.

And in doing so, you’re participating in a shared human ritual of survival.

I will admit, there’s something to be said for flipping traditional social conditioning from sipping drinks and beating a dead horse with the girls (which, don’t get me wrong, is one of my fave pastimes) to “hey we’re all drowning, let’s maybe not drown our sorrows and do something about it.”

It’s a space where it is entirely acceptable to admit that you haven't opened your mail in three weeks, or that you don't actually understand how your retirement fund works.

There’s an immense premium on psychological safety when you can look across a table and see someone else struggling with the exact same mundane adulthood loops.

It proves that the most valuable form of connection in an ultra-connected world isn't a polished networking event or a curated catch-up. It's the simple comfort of sitting in the trenches of everyday administration with people who simply won’t judge your clutter.

Our shared dysfunction is heartwarming, truly.

-Sophie Randell, Writer

I honestly hate waiting, but this trend is about those moments that test your patience. In the original clip, a guy is waiting for his sister to finish getting ready. But as soon as he hears the "tssss" of her hairspray, he knows that's the sign she's finally done. Now, creators are using the sound to describe anytime you've got that feeling like "ahh finally!"

A few examples:

Record yourself alone or with someone else, showing that you're sitting waiting for something to happen. Then, jump up, ready to go, when the "tssss" sound goes. Use text overlay to describe the situation that you were waiting for all along.

A few ideas to get you started:

-DJ Taivairanga, Intern

😂Yap’s funniest home videos - What the plotwist
❤How wholesome - Prom?
😊Soooo satisfying - Jailbreak
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight - Marinated Chicken Thighs with Zaatar Honey Carrots & Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes mixed with Mint Y…

Hey Saoirse!

The first thing to accept is that you’ll never capture all of who you are in your content (and that’s okay). You’re a person with many sides who shows up differently in different contexts, and you'll exhaust yourself if you try to capture everything. Instead, think about who you’re speaking to and how you want to connect with them. Then, choose the parts of your story that feel right to share with that in mind.

If your goal is to provide value and share your journey, don't overthink it. You can start by talking about what you’re learning right now. That could be insights from your work, studies, or everyday experiences. Share the ideas you’re exploring, what’s inspiring you, and your own takeaways. Authenticity isn’t about showing everything . You just need to show enough to build a genuine connection with the people you actually want to reach.

- 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.