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lady, hear me tonight! 🎶
‘Why you so obsessed with me?’ asked Gen Z. ‘How long you got?’ the Guardian replied.
The news outlet recently wrote a comprehensive story outlining why people, particularly from the commercial world, are so obsessed with Gen Z.
‘Is there something different about people born between 1997 and 2012, or is it all just marketing nonsense and hysteria,’ the intro reads. Let’s see what expert analysis they came up with – given we provided them with some quotes.
Self-aggrandisation aside, though, the article gets it right.
It talks about Gen Z being one of the most researched and analysed generations in history; our habits, values, and behaviours being topics of intense fascination for nigh-on a decade now… certainly since I started working at Thred back in 2019.
It aptly touches on Gen Z’s innate symbiosis with the internet and social media from childhood, making us, by default, easier to analyse and build data sets on than our predecessors.
This is important because we stand to become one of the highest spending generations by 2035, and both agencies and marketers are vying to get ahead of the curve. I’ve just noted our own Jenk Oz provided that insight. I should probably go and make him a tea now.
It’s not entirely about economic opportunity, however. The article rightly notes that our generation has been shaped by unique conditions including the social internet, economic instability, climate anxiety, the pandemic, and the rise of AI.
Society has always fixated somewhat on the opinions of young people, but these factors make Gen Z a particularly interesting lot to put under the microscope. As adults, these conditions have impacted everything; from living with parents longer and staying in education longer, to having children later – or not at all – and binning off marriage.
Then there’s the utilisation of Gen Z stereotypes and cultural narratives for clicks and engagement. Nothing gets a comments section riled up quite like a sensationalist headline about young people being needlessly offended by something.
In summation, it’s refreshing to read something thoughtful and accurate about our generation, given the amount of inflammatory slop that’s wheeled out by the media to stoke the ire of newspaper readers.
Check it out here.
🖨️ work weirdness
Almost half of workers say they can’t be themselves at work – hr magazine
A UK study of more than 2,000 adults showed that 47% feel unable to be themselves at work. The research was conducted by OnePoll between last December and January 2026 and commissioned by Mental Health First Aid England. While 92% said being able to be themselves at work was a prerequisite before joining their current employment, almost half are concerned that letting their walls drop now could cause internal issues or have them sat red faced in front of HR reps. Depressingly, just 29% of 18-24 year olds say they don’t feel required to put on a front at work or hide parts of their personality. Imagine not feeling comfortable enough to make ‘deez nuts’ jokes at the expense of your manager every day. Could never be me.
Irony at work: Company tells you to bring your authentic, whole self… then hands you employee handbook explaining how to behave
Translation: “Be yourself, just the way we want”
Authenticity isn’t a box to check. It’s a core value to live, not just a line in the welcome packet
— 𝘑𝘦𝘧𝘧 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘰 (@JeffreyWShapiro) December 2, 2025
Charismatic and extremely confident’: how to recognise – and handle – a psychopath? – the guardian
Reckon you could be working alongside, or even dating, a psychopath? Maybe you need to look in the mirror yourself. Psychologist Leanne ten Brinke says that around 1% of the population shows clinical levels of psychopathy, but around 18% are exhibiting ‘dark’ traits – think narcissism, lack of empathy, manipulation, and sadism (things like casually kicking a pigeon at lunch). Brinke says we have a tendency, particularly at work, to celebrate those who exude confidence and charisma and mistake these traits for competence. She says that’s how psychopaths tend to end up in positions of power, as their personalities are naturally drawn to them and the dominating perks they come with. The list of red flags she shared might just line up with that d*ckhead line manager of yours. Go and connect the dots.
🤖 anti on ai
Richard Osman and Jeanette Winterson among authors to publish ‘empty book’ in protest of AI using their work – the independent
Artists and AI go together like cats and dogs, oil and water, JK Rowling and compassion for others… they just don’t mix well. We’ve already had household names unionise against overt use of the technology in both film and music, and publishing is now having its day. Some 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman have released a blank book titled ‘Don’t Steal This Book,’ to protest a UK copyright change that could allow AI firms to train their systems on creative works with zero legwork – provided their authors haven’t actively opted out. Writers say this flips the burden onto artists and risks undermining the entire creative economy. Basically, ‘why do I have to fight just to keep ownership of my own sh*t?’ Existential fear over AI taking jobs may have calmed on many fronts, but is still very much present in the world of words.
Your AI slop bores me’: The viral website that lets humans answer your questions like ChatGPT – fast company
Fast Company is inadvertently responsible for costing me a good half-hour of my work day, thanks to its article on ‘Your AI slop bores me,’ a viral website that substitutes AI chatbots for real humans. The premise is simple: in a world oversaturated with AI prompts and digitally curated responses, let’s have actual people asking and answering each other in the same format. It parodies the likes of ChatGPT and Claude in appearance, giving visitors a chance to chuck prompts to a randomer and get a response within the minute-or-so timeframe. As I’m looking now, there are 3253 humans and 4406 pretend AIs playing around on the website – suffice to say people are having fun messing around with it. There’s a visible discord integrated for those who fancy joining an actual community beyond the brief encounters, and the whole thing is wholesome af. I have to admit, though, I don’t make a very absorbing AI.
