In a not so demure era
Demure era, brat summer... the tension between permanent pseudo-realities driven by artificial intelligence and the desire to escape digital worlds has never been so intense
This week, a dive into an intriguing combination of promptism and trend hunting. And don't forget to check out my book ;)
Never before has the tension between pseudo-realities, constantly fueled by artificial intelligence, and the growing need to escape the digital worlds offered by platforms been so palpable. A chaos between the spatial, social, cultural, and technological realms in which it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find one's way, while new "eras" are discussed every week: demure era, brat era.
Artificial intelligence: a trend accelerator
Previously reserved for coolhunters and specialized analysts, trends are now part of the daily life of millions of people. Traditional media scrutinize and dissect these phenomena, turning them into divisive issues. What was once a niche curiosity has now become a mass culture element, driven by social media, and especially TikTok since its launch in 2016. The anecdotal now powers political communication strategies, through the politics of the “mood.”
TikTok and other platforms don’t just amplify pre-existing trends; they contribute to creating them at an exponential rate, aided by artificial intelligence and machine learning. These systems monitor the topics circulating on their platforms, and through sophisticated algorithms, they quickly identify what captures users' attention. They group this content according to similar population segments, amplifying their spread before moving on to new related trends once the initial interest wanes.
As a result, subjects that should have remained confined to very specialized circles, often to highly connected users, end up becoming mainstream. It’s a dynamic where niche content becomes ubiquitous, driven by the mechanics of algorithms.
The role of the prompt in creating pseudo-certainties
At the same time, another phenomenon is emerging: the “glorification of the prompt,” to borrow the phrase from
. In a world where artificial intelligence is becoming a creation tool, mastering the art of the prompt is becoming a power in itself. Formulating the right directive seems enough to obtain answers, creating an illusion of certainty.Marie Dollé aptly explains this idea, stating: “Today, we’ve begun to glorify the art of crafting the perfect "prompt," as if true knowledge lies solely in finding the right command. But is that really what mastery is about? Of course not.”
This promptism-novelty gear creates a disorienting situation: concepts that were once vague or uncertain crystallize around categorical answers, often provided by artificial intelligences like ChatGPT. Thus, universes of trends, more or less accurate, profoundly influence the way subjects are presented and mediated, as they become both credible sources for ChatGPT and the very reason to ask ChatGPT… to explain what they mean! Pushing the reasoning further, we can even consider that the snippets of life we use to create our TikTok videos are a form of prompt, largely reworked behind the scenes by the platform. Creation or pseudo-creation? Either way, it’s an artifice that gives rise to volatile eras.
“Eras” rather than cultures
But this combination of promptism and trend-making from TikTok has more significant implications than simply exploiting topics of interest. TikTok creates cultural tools that quickly become social objects in themselves: music, transitions, video editing tools, filters, or audio recordings. These tools are not just intended to facilitate content creation but to create cultural memes that feed themselves and become visual and auditory landmarks for millions of users. These memes are far from trivial in their ability to infiltrate people's daily lives and gradually generate change because they carry meaning and symbols. It’s no wonder we speak of “eras” when referring to these new constructs: brat summer, demure era, all digital eras-subjects that leave a wild and ephemeral digital mark without us having quite enough time to discern whether it’s marketing vacuity or a deep trend.
These mechanisms don’t serve all subcultures, far from it. And with this confusion between eras, trends, and subcultures, it can be noted that TikTok provides a highly structured space for expression, which certainly captures massive attention but only gives a partial snapshot of the state of “real” communities.
Escaping promptism to reconnect with one's time
The paradox of TikTok-style trends, amplified by artificial intelligence and the constant need for novelty, is that they create hyper-connected realities that feed off themselves, while also fueling a growing desire to escape from these same digital worlds. Promptism is clearly a political choice.
Fashion is a good indicator of an era's mindset. Should we give up the relentless race to fashion shows? That’s the bet of Alessandro Michele, the new artistic director of Valentino, who declares that “the craftsmanship required by Haute Couture will now be even more revered by giving it the luxury of time." Words are followed by actions, with only one couture collection presented by the House in 2025.
Should we feel melancholic about an elusive future, as signals
, and already think about the next generation? This is the case of J.Crew, which like other brands, focuses on passing down an obviously immortal product to the next generation.Perhaps we should simply consider that in this era, it’s time to give ourselves some space to reconnect with our time actually.
The number of the week: 38 minutes
According to a study commissioned by LG Electronics and conducted by Talker Research among 2000 young Americans (from Generation Z), users who experience negative emotions report that it takes only 38 minutes on social media before they start to feel bad.
Amazing links
The saga around the phenomenon “Reddit’s Celebrity Number 6” proves the difficulty of tracing the authenticity of content, especially with AI. (Wired)
How did Twitter (now X) become the crossroads of online violence? (The Guardian)
Have a great week! This newsletter is written with love, passion, and (French) café.
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My book “Alive In Social Media” is available on Amazon.