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A new TikTok trend, set to a snippet of Charli XCXs I Think About It All the Time” featuring Bon Iver, sees users, particularly Gen Z women, sharing lists of propaganda theyre not falling for in 2025. One list, shared by TikTok creator Lxyzfbxx, includes the “clean girl look,” “the normalization of OF [OnlyFans],” and “preventative Botox,” among other things. Another user listed organic deodorant, Teslas, and mouth tape among the modern-day propaganda. A third user included push-up bras, being anti-sunscreen, and branded sweatshirts. A fourth took aim at working,” a 9-5,” and employment.” From social media trends to beauty standards, internet users are drawing attention to the capitalist, political, and aesthetic pressures that theyre subjected to daily, and they are de-normalizing those they see as unhealthy, undesirable, or just cringe. “Propaganda I won’t be falling for”: How did the trend start? While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the trend began, it’s clear that it’s caught on: If theres one thing social media loves, its a hot takeand it can be on anything from working a full-time job to singer-songwriter Benson Boone. For instance, 2024 was the year of the in and out lists. Now, with the hashtag “propaganda” currently at over 240,000 posts on TikTok, we have the 2025 version of a similar trend. However, what is and what isnt propaganda varies wildly, depending on whom you ask. The comments section below many of these videos is a hotbed for debate. “Sorry but i WILL be falling for the Labubu propaganda everytime,” one person commented under a list that included the viral dolls. “I hate to admit it but Dubai chocolate is soooo bomb,” another commented under a propaganda list that included the pistachio-flavored chocolate. Take these opinions with a rather large pinch of salt. One frequent name that appears on many of these lists is singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams. Does that mean the poster actually dislikes Abramss music? Not necessarily. As one TikTok user told The New York Times: I think sometimes the internet just likes to have a running gag. (Jumping on the Gracie Abrams hate train, in other words, might just be good for views.) Casey Lewis, of the youth consumer trends newsletter After School, did the legwork and tallied up the most commonly mentioned propaganda across hundreds of TikToks. The top 10 list she compiled included matcha, the tradwife movement, MAHA-adjacent trends like beef tallow and anti-seed oil, author Colleen Hoover, and milk (both of the oat and cow variety). Coming in at the No. 1 spot, to no ones surprise, is ChatGPT.
Category:
E-Commerce
“APPstinence,” which as you may have guessed, refers to abstaining from using your apps, is a movement encouraging people to get off social media and become less attached to their smartphones. It was founded by Harvard graduate student Gabriela Nguyen. The 24-year-old, who grew up in the center of Big Tech in Silicon Valley, realized she was addicted to both social media and her phone, probably from an early age, so she decided to something about it and started a club at the Ivy League school for her fellow students, along with the website APPstinence. Aimed at her Gen Z and Gen Alpha peers although it applies to everyone who feels they have an unhealthy relationship with tech (which is basically all of us, right?) APPstinence forgoes popular quick fixes like screen time controls, algorithm hacking, or digital detoxes, and offers something much more radical: a five-step method (which sounds Alcohol Anonymous’ 12-step program) to free yourself once-and-for-all from the chains of technology addiction. Appstinence’s 5-steps method can be summed up in just as many words: Decrease, Deactivate, Delete, Downgrade, and Depart. The point of this process is to reduce the sources of stimulus gradually. The idea isn’t to be completely phone-free, but to eventually be able, over time, to downgrade to some type of dumb-ish phone without social accounts. (Nguyen herself has three dumb phones, including the Light Phone.) According to her, people, and Gen Z specifically, should know they have the choice to opt out of social media. How does the process work? Sure, quitting cold turkey is hard. (Am I the only person who regularly deletes Instagram off my phone, only to reload it at 1:00 a.m in a panic?) Instead, Nguyen’s 5D Method decreases your usage incrementally, by deactivating your social media accounts one-by-one, which automatically deletes your apps 30 days later, allowing you to downgrade your phone, and finally depart from the digital world. Interested in trying it out? Here’s a full breakdown of the steps. Before you start: Make a list of family and friends you are in regular contact with, and who are important for you. Let each know, one-by-one, youll be moving offline and to reach you by text or phone instead. Step #1, Decrease: Delete all of the apps from your smartphone, and only access them through the browser on your laptop. Unfollow non-essential accounts and turn off non-essential notifications. After a few weeks, you can move to the next step. Step #2, Deactivate: Social media apps have a 30-day deactivation period before your account is deleted. Start by deactivating the app you feel you use the least. Step #3, Delete: As your accounts automatically delete in 30 days, spend this time strengthening your connections in the real world, for example, exercising, calling your relatives, hanging out with friends, or reading. Refer to your list from before you started. Set a regular schedule to call loved ones (or text, if necessary) and propose a time to hang out in person. Doing this regularly will help you stay connected with the people that matter, and more intimately so. If you panic during this withdrawal stage, re-activate, it’s not a race. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until youve deleted the last app. Step #4, Downgrade: Get a transition device” like a low-fi smart phone with limited functionality, something cheap that will allow you to access the basic apps you need (banking, Double Factor Authentication for students, QR codes) and keep it shut off in your bag on outings when you may need it. Also get a flip phone, which you should use most of the time. Step #5, Depart: It could take several weeks, months, or over a year to get to this final stage.
Category:
E-Commerce
The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday it is phasing out the penny and will soon stop putting new one-cent coins into circulation. The U.S. Mint, which produces the coins, made its final order of penny blanks and will stop producing themafter over two centurieswhen those run out, reported The Associated Press. (The penny was first issued in 1793, when it featured a woman.) Like many things these days, it turns out the cost of making a penny is a lot more expensive than it used to beover 20% more in 2024, to be precise, according to the Treasury. Blame it on higher costs of production and materials, but either way, the U.S. lost more than $85 million making the penny last year, per The Wall Street Journal. Halting production is expected to save taxpayers $56 million annually. The decision isn’t surprisingkilling the penny has had bipartisan support in recent years. Back in February, President Donald Trump said he ordered the U.S. Mint to halt penny production. Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency also targeted the penny, posting on X that it costs more than 3 cents to make each one, for a cost of over $179 million to U.S. taxpayers in fiscal 2023. Don’t worry, you can still use your pennies for now, but be prepared to round up to a nickel, since eventually businesses will run out of them. However, a look at the numbers also shows that nickels cost even more money to produce at 13.8 cents each, or 11 cents for production costs plus 2.8 cents for administrative and distribution, based on the most recent fiscal year, per CNN.
Category:
E-Commerce
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