UMMM HEY HI HELLO FRIENDDDD. I’m so excited to be sliding into your inbox this morning with this week’s culture shift in it’s new home: THE MAILING LIST! in case you missed it, I shared in this substack post that my Party Friend content will be moving over to this space, and today’s the first day we get to experience that together. SO FUN.
the culture shift (aka, this!) will be coming out every-ish friday.
expect examinations of trending topics, content examples, strategic insights, and social media guidance for your own implementation. this rich resource is where I’ll read the online room as I experience it, but also show you how to read the rooms your community is hanging out in so you always know what’s relevant.
[ let’s fucking go, shall we? ]↓
(AKA, eavesdropping online this week)
I. POST LESS, CARE MORE
there’s a lot of chatter pertaining to content that sounds a lot like “more is more.” it’s all very “throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks,” with a side serving of “increase your cringe tolerance!” and a sprinkling of “just keep showing up!!” it’s tiptoeing in the direction of “quantity over quality,” but the tricky thing is… it’s working.
whether it’s trial reels, daily posting challenges, or just increasing posting frequency on all fronts, the proof is there.
folks are seeing a lot of growth from creating more right now.
and tbh, if you have the time to produce at that caliber and actually enjoy the process of analyzing all your A/B tests, that’s rad. I personally don’t get a ton of joy out of that so it’s not where I’m directing my energy right now — but the method itself isn’t the problem.
the message though? maybe a little bit.
whenever we get into this collective mindset of produce produce produce, something else gets compromised. it’s either the quality of the content itself or the quality of the time we’re dedicating towards other things. we only have so much to give, and when the message is “care less, post more,” I fear that giving a shit, which is the most potent + sustainable community growth strategy of all, is the first thing to go.
I absolutely adored this post from Niki that articulated how I’m feeling, exactly:
CARING ISN’T A BAD THING.
II. QUALITY CONTROL VS. PERFECTIONISM
I’ve had a few conversations with folks in social life lately about content taking time to create, and whether or not we should be worried if we’re not “efficient” enough with our work. where’s the line between perfectionism + overthinking, and quality control? can these volume-based post strategies help us overcome the tinkering habits that keep us stuck in our own heads as creators?
the way I see it → creating ‘til we’re proud is the most powerful strategy we have, as long as we’re connecting that pride with impact.
perfectionism is something different. it’s ego. it’s self-judgement. it’s not thinking about how the post will land with others, it’s thinking about how the post makes us look.
sometimes an impactful post that we’re SUPER proud to share takes hours. sometimes it takes minutes. either way, in our heart of hearts, we know if we’re mailing it in. and even if it results in some growth on the front end, how long do you think someone will want to stay in our communities if we’re in a constant cycle of “good enough” just to get shit out the door?
III. INFORMED EXPERIMENTATION
I believe action is the best teacher. period. always. forever. I am firmly in camp FUCK AROUND AND FIND OUT, so don’t get it twisted!!! but it’s the language around “experimenting” with all this more-is-more stuff that has me thinking about actual scientific study and the baseline of knowledge that is required to come to a meaningful conclusion without wasting a bunch of precious time.
when we’re looking for the cure for an illness, for example, a bunch of randos don’t just roll up to the lab and start dicking around with the equipment. first, they study the foundations so they understand how the tools work. they go in with an intention of what they’re looking to find. they’re versed in reading their data so that they can find the solution more quickly.
I know this is just social media and it’s not that deep — nobody needs a PHD to run fucking trial reels, duh — but I the question it’s been sparking is whether all these enticing hooks of “fuck around and find 100K followers in 30 days” are actually giving us the information we need to sustain and understand the results we’re getting.
like, how much more powerful would these methods be if we did take a beat to learn the basics before we go balls to the wall with it?
(me and kaitlyn had an explorative conversation about this on our podcast today here, so definitely give it a listen if you’re curious to go down that rabbit hole with us.)
(AKA, objects of online affection)
001 / celebrities addressing the ICE-shaped elephant in the room among other significant social + political issues the golden globes this year!!! obviously hating that it’s taken so much tragedy to see more folks speaking out, but it DEFINITELY feels like 2026 is on track to be a year where folks use their platforms + privilege to more loudly represent their values and I am wholeheartedly fucking here for that
002 / I literally can’t stop thinking about the absolutely insane but lowkey iconic asscrack trend, which also feels relevant to this chic new hemorrhoid cream which also feels relevant to this heated rivalry interview (I mean, what doesn’t) and I’d really love to chat with someone about the impact of butt cheeks in the mainstream so hit me up
003 / we’ve all heard the buzz about 2026 being the year of ~analog~ and I’m calling it now: modelling clay is the new needlepoint. I’ve become addicted to the idea of DIY-ing things for my apartment, which has led me to watching this supplement organizing project over and over. wild to me that I have FREE WILL and are just CRAFT MATERIALS lying around in shops and I haven’t been taking advantage of it?????
ALSO LOVING: seeing this unexpected yet perfectly aligned brand partnership example, this reminder that you can be everything you want to be, and the fact that harry styles FINALLY announced his new album so mark your calendar for March’s collective crush to be in fine form (and of course, the critics too).
(AKA, a trend to try on)
2026 is the new 2016, HAVEN’T YOU HEARD? this started on tiktok last year, but suddenly this week I’m seeing a whole pack of influencers turning it into an IG trend, reposting images from 2016 and omfg it’s bringing me joy. THE CHOKERS??? no wonder I love wearing bandanas around my neck so much.
when a trend sweeps the feed so violently, the question is “should I do this too?” followed immediately by “but how does my weird 2016 aesthetic connect to my work/presence as it stands today?”
through a strategy lens, my viewpoint = TRENDS ARE TEACHERS.
they’re not blueprints we have to follow to a T, they’re indicators of what folks are thinking + feeling + desiring within our spaces. while a 2016 photodump might not make sense for your grid in 2026, I’d urge you to think about what parts of 2016 culture you could bring into your content while it’s having it’s moment.
alyssa vingan did an amazing job of this on her podcast, the new garde, where she interviewed experts in beauty and fashion to discuss 2016’s influence on each arena.
something that came to mind for me immediately was music. never have I ever had a more banging playlist than summer of 2016. but there’s also movies, TVs, books, even products or collective memories that you could call upon in relationship to your industry.
I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU MAKE.
please tag me so we can relive the magic together?
bonus: a feature to try
meta has been rolling out “linked reels” on the back of what I can only describe as episodic content renaissance! series’ are thriving right now, andalthough as per usual they’re years behind tiktok who already has a feature like this, it at least feels like they’re giving us something we actually want for a change. as with all updates, it may take a minute for it to roll out to all accounts, but here’s a simple guide for how to use ‘em when the time comes! I just got it set up my weekly saturday shift series, heheheh.
