Stop Trying to Make [insert tech trend] Happen

Is Airchat the next big app? 

No.

But seriously, Clubhouse 2.0 feels like another example of the creeping sensation that the Silicon Valley VC ecosystem is out of ideas to keep the gravy train going. Like the push to put AI in everything, even when it’s not that useful, every app adding a TikTok-style video feed, or the people still pushing crypto, there’s a real disconnect here between what’s happening in tech and what humans actually want. 

Everyone keeps trying to make fetch happen when we’ve already seen fetch crash and burn because it was a pandemic lockdown reaction fad.

Platform Updates

Instagram & Threads

• Threads Tests Recent Search Filter To Provide More Timely Results

• Meta Tests DMs on Threads via Instagram Inbox

• Meta is testing an AI-powered search bar in Instagram

• Instagram is testing a program that turns creators into AI chatbots (I honestly struggle to think of something I want less than this) 

The Rest of Meta 

• Meta adds its AI chatbot, powered by Llama 3, to the search bar across its apps

TikTok

• Congress Fast-Tracks TikTok Ban Legislation, Setting Up Possible Passage This Month 

• TikTok May Enable Brands To Generate AI Bots to Pitch Products (I take back what I said about AI creator chatbots) 

• TikTok Announces Ticket Sales Partnership With AXS

• TikTok Notes starts rolling out as a new rival to Instagram

YouTube

• YouTube’s ad blocker crackdown now includes third-party apps

• YouTube Launches Premium Placement Option for Shorts Ads

Google 

• Google fires 28 employees after sit-in protest over Israel cloud contract 

Twitch 

• Twitch is bringing its TikTok-style feed to everyone this month

Snap 

• Snapchat Adds AI Watermarks and Transparency Measures

Twitter, Sorry X

The Dumpster Fire

• Verified pro-Nazi X accounts flourish under Elon Musk (not at all surprising but major props to the organizations documenting the scale of the problem Musk is using Twitter’s rotting carcase to cultivate) 

Podcast Rec

I’ve recently become a big fan of the podcast Vibe Check hosted by Sam Sanders, Saeed Jones, Zach Stafford. In addition to their incredibly insightful and nuanced conversations about pop culture, you can tell the three of them are really close friends who deeply care about each other and genuinely celebrate each other’s successes. It’s a good vibe to check in with each week. 

Sharing this rec today because I was debating covering the recent JoJo Siwa media cycle. And frankly, Vibe Check said everything I would have to say about the topic better in their recent episode. For those not in the know, Siwa’s paired her new look and music promo cycle with a claim that she’s inventing a new genre called “gay pop.” She’s rightfully getting roasted for it online, because come on now, but I appreciate the thoughtfulness and generosity in the Vibe Check critique. 

Also, their episode on Cowboy Carter is amazing and essential listening for any music fans reading Kinda Brief. 

Culture Movers 

Pipes & Tubes 

• We Need To Rewild The Internet 

• The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat (the Verge actually wrote about the internet tubes!!!) 

Film & TV

• Disney reportedly wants to bring always-on channels to Disney Plus (I don’t hate it, but I am obligated to sign and say, “we are just remaking cable”) 

• Amazon’s Fallout has been renewed for season 2 (season 1 is fantastic btw!) 

• Conan O’Brien went on Hot Ones

Music 

• Taylor Swift’s music returns to TikTok amid Universal Music Group feud

• SAG-AFTRA union secures AI protections for artists in deal with major record labels

• Coachella roundup: virtual performer didn’t hologram hard enough, Blur thinks the crowd sucked, Grimes can’t do math, I think we’re past peak-Coachella cultural influence tbh  

Gaming 

• The free Delta game emulator for iPhones is live on Apple’s App Store 

AI 

• How cheap, outsourced labour in Africa is shaping AI English

• Google will provide AI to the military for disaster response

Must we discuss the Ai Pin?

I have never been less surprised by a series of product reviews than I have been by the onslaught of negative attention Humane is getting for its Ai Pin. I am somewhat surprised by the discourse around these reviews. So, I guess we should start with a timeline of events. 

Back in the fall, buzzy startup Humane announced their debut product, an AI-powered brooch. Last week, tech journalists and product reviewers started publishing their hands-on reactions. And well, the video title here kinda says it all here. 

If you don’t know Marques Brownlee or his channel, he’s one of the most well-respected YouTube creators and product reviewers out there. He is generally regarded as exceptionally fair and thorough with his reviews, which is exactly how I’d describe this video for a product I would be mercilessly dunking on for its utter lack of utility. But we’re trying to make fetch happen here in the year of our lord 2024, so shortly after this video dropped, we started seeing reactions like this. 

First, do no harm. The Hippocratic Oath of YouTube product reviewers. I feel like I’m losing my mind reading this. On Threads, I just called these bad-take-dudes fart huffers, but the Verge’s Nilay Patel had a much more insightful response. 

This discourse is so not fetch.

PS

Uber Eats also has a TikTok feed clone. If I had to know about it, so do you.

*I’m very dyslexic, and this is a largely free project/hobby. I do not set aside the same time for proofreading that I do for other professional work. If you spot a typo that would cause a communication error, please reach out to gently let me know.