Hey everyone and welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
culture podcast bring you the biggest stories from social
media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
My name is Annabelle and I'm your Wednesday Mini Tech Scroll
host and also the deputy editor of the Australian youth digital
media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Tech Scroll
for another week. I don't have much to say at the
top of this week's episode apart from the fact that this week we
have a close friend newsletter going out.
We publish this newsletter once a month and it's basically like
a content club. Lauren explained it on Mini
Scroll yesterday. But basically we just have a
TikTok, an article or any piece of content that we put forward
to you guys and we share our analysis on in the newsletter.
And if you guys comment your thoughts or send us Adm or
whatever, we'll also include your thoughts.
So I will link the TikTok we're discussing this week in the
description as well as inside it at the end of the episode.
If you guys have any opinions that you want to share other
than that, Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe.
I know we'd literally ask you guys every week, but we really
appreciate it when you do. So my first story for today is
that eBay has officially acquired Depop.
This story actually broke last week, but it was after I
recorded mini text scroll, so obviously I couldn't include it.
I'm sure we all know what Depop is, but it is definitely one of
the most popular secondhand clothing resale apps, and it's
especially popular among Gen. ZI spend so much of my life just
window shopping on the platform. Like for real.
I just love it. Even though Deep Up really only
gained mainstream cultural appeal maybe in the past five to
seven years. I would say it has been around
since 2011, and it was founded by Simon Beckman and Maria Raga.
At the time that it was launched, there really weren't
that many platforms that were bringing together buyers and
sellers like the way Depop has. What really made Depop unique
was that it leaned into a social fast ethos and community, which
definitely helped it grow a significant user base, including
some of our favorite Fashion It girls.
I feel like every fashion influencer also has a Depop
account where they sell clothes. So it's clear that Depop's
popularity only grew over the years, which eventually led to
Etsy acquiring the platform in 2021.
According to reports at the time, Etsy had bought Depop for
a total sum of 1.6 billion USD. And if we think back to 2021,
this was really the peak of COVID, the peak of lockdown.
So really everyone was online shopping and selling, whether
they were trying to sell as like a side hustle or they were just
cleaning out their wardrobe. Etsy's acquisition of Depop was
described as a way for Etsy to access data and understand the
purchasing habits of younger users.
According to stats that were floating around at the time,
around 90% of Depop's millions of active users were under 26 at
the time, so that made them a Gen.
Z Etsy, by contrast, had a bit of an older average user, with
the seller's median age estimated to be around 39 in
2021. So that was millennials, older
millennials. So while Etsy could learn about
Gen. Z through Depop, Depop could
learn from Etsy as well, as they were set to scale, as Raga told
the Financial Times in 2021 quote.
Many of the challenges that we are going to go through as a
business are things that Etsy has gone through before.
Etsy has made massive improvements in terms of search
and discovery and this is something that we can definitely
learn from. And under Etsy, Depop did do
quite well. I mean, we're all still using
the platform and it did operate as a standalone brand
independent from Etsy, and it also initially retained its
existing offices and leadership and management team.
But after five years, Depop has been acquired once again and
this time by eBay. So eBay has agreed to buy Depop
from Etsy for about 1.2 billion USD in cash, which is a $400
million loss for Etsy. And this loss may be partly due
to the growing popularity of other fashion resale platforms
like Vinted and Threder. According to the BBC quote, the
mass appeal of Vinted has had an impact on Depop's value.
As Vinted made investments into global markets and improved its
tech platform, more sellers gravitated towards it.
And that was commentary from retail analyst Catherine
Shuttleworth. Having said that, though,
there's clearly still value in Depop, and ebay's decision to
acquire Depop was similar to that of Etsy.
As the statement reads from the brand's quote, the addition of
Depop will accelerate ebay's C to C strategy by deepening its
reach with younger fashion forward consumers and expanding
its presence in one of the most dynamic areas of resale.
As part of eBay, Depop will benefit from ebay's global scale
and suite of capabilities, including its financial
services, shipping solutions, and trusted experiences.
That being said, I can definitely see how the
acquisition of Depop tracks for eBay because the company has
really been working hard to position itself as a place for
youth audiences to go and purchase items from.
Like when we think of last year's Met Gala, for example,
Emma Chamberlain and Chapel Roan were just some of the
celebrities that were wearing items credited or sourced from
eBay, and those are major Gen. Z IT girls slash celebrities.
This whole idea of eBay repositioning itself as a youth
brand was covered recently, and the police don't make me focus
Substack as the author Georgia wrote quote a few months ago, I
was talking about why eBay would want to or should acquire Depop,
expanding its US footprint, obviously, but also tapping into
a younger resale customer base at a moment when eBay is trying
to reposition itself. But I'm sure the bigger win is
access to Depop's customer behavior and cultural data,
especially as eBay tries to carve out a lead in the emerging
US live stream commerce market. So yeah, I just thought that was
a really good point, especially with the live stream angle
because that is obviously catering towards younger users.
But All in all, it does really just seem like the resale market
is consistently gaining popularity and the space is
continuously innovating and perhaps becoming overcrowded,
but I'm not that mad about it. Speaking of collaborations
though, that brings us to our next story and I need to cover
everything that's going on with Sub Stack and Polymarket.
This has caused so much conversation on my social media
over the past few days, but basically Sub Stack has come
under fire after collaborating with the platform.
And if you've never heard of Polymarket, that is fair.
Let me explain. The platform is basically
described as quote a global cryptocurrency prediction
market. So when you go to the platform,
you have to connect a wallet and then you can basically make bets
on the outcome of mostly current events.
So when I had a look at the site while I was researching for this
episode, it included topics like the situation in Iran as well as
any potential US Supreme Court decisions that were coming down
the pipeline. So it is kind of a form of
gambling where you are betting on the outcome of specific
events and making predictions. And if it sounds weird that Sub
Stack is collaborating with this platform, don't worry, you are
not alone. The companies announced that
they would be collaborating last week.
And as the post on X Read quote, we are excited to announce our
exclusive partnership with Sub Stack.
Starting today, Sub Stack authors can natively integrate
data from the world's largest prediction market.
Journalism is better when it's backed by live markets, so this
post definitely alluded to how the companies will be working
together, but Sub Stack has offered more information on how
the collaboration will look in practice.
According to the Sub Stack support website, writers can
quote integrate market prediction data by embedding
Poly market events on notes or articles, and readers will
essentially be able to see real time changes in the widget.
So I would say that the response to this collab has been pretty
overwhelmingly negative. I thought I would read some of
the responses under the tweet to just give you a bit of a
picture. As one user wrote quote, this is
unethical and disgusting. Polymarket is an illegal
gambling platform that allows insider trading on genocide,
wars, pandemics, and violence. It is the dark web of modern
tech run amok. And as another user wrote,
quote, nothing says editorial integrity like letting the
betting odds write the headlines, which is honestly
true. Anyway, I thought Kate Lindsay's
commentary on this partnership for the embedded newsletter was
really interesting. She spoke about how much of
digital media these days is about really doing anything for
money and just staying alive. And that was pulling mostly from
her career so far and anecdotal experience.
So with that context, she is, quote, familiar with doing
anything you need for a company to succeed.
But she did have a particular issue with the way Holly Market
shared the announcement, particular the line quote,
journalism is bettled when it's backed by live markets, which is
quite a statement to make. As she wrote, quote, it's a
statement from a company trying to appeal to a moment of genuine
crisis by retroactively claiming to have a relationship with it.
I'm supposed to believe that a sub stacker embedding the odds
for will Jesus return in 2026 into their post will somehow be
the turning point for media after a 30 year decline.
And that is very true. And I have seen many people
share similar gripes with the partnership, noting how it just
seems at odds with the purpose of Sub Stack, or at least the
perceived purpose of Sub Stack, which was democratizing writing
and publishing. It has really become a place for
riders to share their experiences, their truth.
But with this partnership, it's kind of encouraging riders to
lean into market positioning instead of analysis.
And I thought how Jay Mandel wrote this for the Marketing
Accountability Council on Sub Stack really hit the nail on the
head. As he wrote quote, embedding
tradable odds into conversations about politics, AI, or economic
instability feels like monetizing the anxiety economy
rather than calming it. And that isn't even to mention
the gambling aspect, which has become increasingly influential
in Internet culture over the past few years, especially with
streaming platforms like Kik, for example.
And to make matters worse with this partnership, this isn't
even the first time that Sub Stack has been criticized for
who it supports or who it aligns itself with.
Let's say a couple of years ago, Sub Stack came under fire for
the platform's response to Nazi content that was circulating.
Hundreds of Sub Stack authors went on to ask the platform why
it was platforming and monetizing, quote UN quote,
Nazis. Sub Stacks Co founder Hamish
McKenzie did go on to explain the platform's position in a
note as he wrote quote. I just want to make it clear
that we don't like Nazis either. We wish no one held those views,
but some people do hold those and other extreme views.
Given that we don't think that censorship, including through
demonetizing platforms, makes the problem go away.
In fact, it makes it worse. This whole exchange and response
did end with a lot of writers choosing to leave the platform.
And I do wonder, since Substack has recently gained all this
cultural capital in the last year or so, I don't even know if
all of these new users would be aware of everything that went
down here. So I am definitely interested to
see how current users of Sub Stack will react to this new
collab, especially at a time where Sub Stack has been
marketed as a social media platform that differentiates
itself from the rest because it's maybe more quote UN quote
authentic or values driven or just more meaningful.
But yes, if you guys have any strong opinions about this
partnership, I'm definitely curious to hear what you guys
think. That brings us to our next story
for today. And unfortunately, it is AI
related. I really thought we could get
through one week without mentioning anything about AI,
but unfortunately that is not the case because I wanted to
talk about this Gucci campaign that is making the rounds
online. So the fashion house has started
posting content promoting its Primavera fashion show coming up
on February 27th. And it is quite a big deal
because it is Demner's first fashion show for the house as
the creator director of Gucci. And for context, he was formerly
the creative director of Balenciaga.
Anyway, that's just a bit of context, but some of the
pictures that were posted included labels that said, quote
UN quote, created by AI. And I thought I would explain
some of these images to you. So the first included an older
woman in what seemed to be a train carriage, restaurant type
thing. I don't really know.
And she had all of these men looking at her as she was
standing in the middle of the aisle in in the tables.
Another one was an older car that was kind of glowing in a
Navy background. It was pretty plain.
And the last one that I thought was worth describing for our
audio listeners was an image that had two people sitting on
the hood of a car with a neon Gucci sign in the background.
This one might have been the most egregious because I had so
many users commenting that it looked like GTA.
As you probably would have guessed, though, many social
media users were not happy with Gucci using AI to generate these
campaign images. I saw so many comments along the
lines of quote UN quote, who approved this or quote UN quote,
This is how you ruin a brand. Now, we often talk about AI use
and entertainment, beauty fashion here on Mini Tech.
In fact, I think the last time we spoke about it was probably
like 2 two weeks ago when I was talking about that Ariana Grande
Vogue Japan cover. But a lot of the conversations
we have about it are how the industry reacts to AI usage, as
well as how this kind of technology is taking away
opportunities for creatives. And of course, that is likely
true in this case as well. But I think the case of Gucci is
especially interesting because it feeds into a different
discussion that has been going super viral lately, thanks to
Eugene Healy. He was actually also a guest on
Touch Grass last week. So I definitely recommend you
guys to check out that episode. But Lauren also spoke a little
bit about this topic there because he's making this whole
content series about how luxury is quote, UN quote, dead, and
how the idea of luxury has kind of moved beyond material goods
to more behavioural practices like being chronically offline
or going analogue. Because it really is a privilege
to be able to do that. And part of the reason that he
believes that luxury has quote UN quote, died is because of how
the Internet has made everything super accessible.
We can pretty much search up anything we want to see and the
results will pop up. We see influences doing their
Ootds with luxury goods every second scroll basically.
So it's just really not as inaccessible as it used to.
And I was talking about this with Lauren, and I think you can
kind of make a similar claim about how luxury is changing
here. When we see luxury slash
designer fashion houses using AI in a campaign, it kind of
suggests that luxury has arguably become less about taste
or bespoke or handcrafted designs and exclusivity.
That just isn't what AI is made for or represents.
Instead, we kind of have these luxury brands leaning into
futurism and tech to signal that they are still trendsetting and
ahead of the masses. Continuing with Gucci as an
example, earlier this month it was reported that Gucci was the
first luxury house to launch a sponsored AI lens on Snapchat.
And last week, Gucci posted videos of a mannequin that
repeatedly attempts and then fails to plug in a charging
cable into the wall. And other videos showed this
mannequin keying a car and repeatedly knocking on a door.
And what this means is definitely up for
interpretation, but it feels like it could be some kind of
commentary on automation or being a fashion house in an AI
driven world. But either way, it is kind of
leaning into tech in one way or another.
So if we see users understanding and experience of luxury
becoming more behavioural, perhaps the brand's approach to
luxury is also changing by leaning into tech and that whole
futurist aesthetic. I'm definitely curious to hear
what you guys think about all this though.
That brings us to our last story for today and it is a quick one,
but I did just want to mention a platform update that is just
rolled out on Australian Spotify.
So prompted playlists are being introduced to premium listeners
in Australia as well as the UK, Ireland and Sweden.
And this feature basically allows a user to type in a
prompt and then Spotify will create a personalized playlist
for you. And this will draw on your
listening history as well as what might be popular in music
at any given time. It is currently in beta and it
is being rolled out as I've already mentioned and it is only
available in English currently. I thought this was because we
have seen over the years how much Spotify leans into
personalized playlists and how users engage with it.
One of the most obvious examples of this is probably Dayless, and
these obviously often come with kind of insane playlist titles.
And for years there's been discourse online whether Spotify
makes these titles crazy on purpose so that users share
them, or if it's just what kind of auto populates.
Either way though, day lists have definitely become one of
the most culturally relevant features offered by Spotify.
Now I want to look at what my day list is right now.
You guys are going to get insight into my music taste,
which is actually funny because you guys are often commenting
about what artists I like and I I see it and I appreciate it.
My day list, if anyone was wondering is currently Club
Classics Strut Wednesday morning.
So clearly that is a lot of brat.
And also we have some Beyoncé, Pink, Panthers, Adela, Addison
Ray, you guys get the vibe. I think you guys know by this
point. Anyway, back to prompted
playlist. They've also been billed as a
way for users to better understand the algorithm when it
comes to music discovery on Spotify.
Over the past few years, we've definitely seen music discovery
on the streaming platform be led by AI, especially with features
like AI DJ. And that is probably something
that will continue moving forward, especially as Spotify
really leans into other facets of audio, whether that be audio
books and podcasting. Well, I guess brings us to the
end of Mini Tech Scroll for today.
I really hope you guys enjoyed. Lauren will speak to you guys
for a regular mini scroll tomorrow, but also a new episode
of Touch Graph went live this morning so you guys should
definitely check that out. And also don't forget to leave a
comment about the close friends TikTok.
I really feel like I'm just asking you guys to do a lot, but
we really appreciate it Anyway. Thanks for listening.
Bye. Has anyone else noticed this
specific brand of creator where you can't really tell who
they're making videos for but it kind of feels like they're
trying to sell you something? I called them billboard creators
and I'm curious why these accounts exist and why they're
so extremely popular. I think Dixie is sort of the
first modern variant of the Billboard creator because she
was thrust into a really unique situation, having to find a
talent after she was already massively famous, but ultimately
it seemed like the public was not willing to forgive her for
experimenting, so her team retreated back into the very
profitable realm of advertising. Since then, Dixie has posted
basically nothing except her ads, but millions of people
still watch them, which makes me think her main appeal has less
to do with the content she's creating and more to do with the
sensational level of fame. She for some reason, Haley
Kalil, also known as Haley Bailey, is kind of another
blueprint for this. She aggressively follows trends
and is an expert on making you think.
She thinks what you think. And she's had huge success by
capitalizing on the offense or people that the masses are
paying attention to. This is danger as a sort of pop
culture fairy, like you know something has entered the mass
cultural consciousness once Haley Bailey makes a video about
it. Most often, her videos are skits
recreating viral moments or typical videos regarding the
predominant opinions you'd find on any viral post comment
section. Nick Lunk and her boyfriend Sam
Guys are proud examples of this. They do trend videos, they
hardly ever speak to the camera, and they always look extremely
beautiful and put together Despite having 45,000,000
followers. It's difficult to discern what
type of person Brooke is on TikTok other than relatable.
In fact, it seems like being relatable is the core objective
of all non sponsored content. Building a fan base off of
impersonal content that encourages your audience to
project onto it makes it extremely easy for brands to
slot in and use you as a billboard.
They can borrow your followers because those followers have no
consistent expectations of value communication.
The sensation of it all, the fame that these smiling,
friendly people hold, is what keeps the audience interested in
them. But when you really think about
it, these billboard creators aren't selling their own
personal brands to connect with sponsors, they're actually
selling you their followers. It's extremely similar to how
social media companies started selling their users attention to
the highest bidder. Billboard creators grow their
following for the same reason that social media platforms grow
their user base, because more followers equals more dollars.
Centennial World Podcast Network operates on Gadigal land.
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the
traditional custodians of this land, and pay our respects to
elders both past and present.