The Chinese government has started a new social-media crackdown, this time targeting conspicuous displays of wealth. In April, the country's internet regulator announced a campaign against influencers who “create a ‘wealth-flaunting’ persona, deliberately showcasing a luxurious life built on money, in order to attract followers and traffic.” Wealth-flaunters are now being removed from platforms like Douyin, the equivalent of TikTok. The move comes as China is experiencing an economic slowdown. Here's more from NBC.
After the 2016 election, brands became activists in weird and wonderful ways. "Burger King championed net neutrality; a frozen-meat brand soliloquized about the perils of disinformation on social media; on January 6, Axe body spray declared its faith in the 'peaceful transition of power'," writes Vox's Michael Serazio. The political landscape today is as fraught as then and the world is picking sides. But brand-land is silent. What gives?
In 2019, a content creator and model named Belle Delphine went viral for selling jars of her bathwater. The stunt earned her $90K in profits, but PayPal then closed her account so she never saw a dime of the money until she wrote about it on X earlier this month. Here's more from @theverge.
Graceland is up for sale — or is it? A foreclosure sale of Elvis Presley's compound in Memphis, Tennessee, has been advertised for this Thursday, but Riley Keough, Presley's actress granddaughter, filed a claim to say that the suit on the creditor's paperwork for a $3.8 million loan is fraudulent. Here's more from NBC.
Update: A judge has blocked the sale of Graceland after a notary said the signature on a deed of trust wasn't hers. The document purportedly showed that the late Lisa-Marie Presley had borrowed $3.8 million from a company called Naussany Investments, giving Graceland as security. Here are details from ABC.
André 3000 is one of the greatest rappers of our time. He spoke to Hanif Abdurraqib from The Bitter Southerner magazine about freedom, fame, flutes, and if André will make another rap album. "I can only give what I’m feeling," he says.
New instance, new #introduction: Here to find fun & interesting things, share some of my own probably less fun & interesting things - it'll be things like #maker projects, ideas, tips, cosplay etc., technology, photography, science stuff, from outer space to deep oceans, the massive to the microscopic, also movies, music, comics, #PopCulture in general...
but truth be told I'll pro'lly be posting far too much politics for my own (or anyone's) good.
The oldest entry on IndieWire's list of the best teen dramas was first broadcast in 1979, but the majority of shows that made the cut are from after 2000, when there was a huge boom in the genre. Here's the magazine's ranking of 42 shows. Which do you think came in at No. 1? Take a look at the list after you've voted and tell us if you think they got it right.
Every Cabbage Patch Kid is "born" in Babyland General Hospital, Cleveland Ga. Thrillist's Joshua Rigsby took his family there, persuaded by his two daughters who saw billboards advertising the hospital. "We were not prepared for what was next," he writes.
Five years ago, the CEO of Razer, which makes gaming gear, laptops, bags and chairs, said the brand would make a toaster. As part of the campaign to get the product made, several Facebook users got tattoos of Razer toasters. Now, there's no toaster and the company says it will not be regularly updating its community due to inappropriate social media comments, including death threats. Tom's Hardware caught up with nine of the 12 folk who got tattooed to find out how they feel, and if they still believe.