Thank you to Tempus One for supporting this episode: https://www.tempuswines.com.au/shop/tempus-one-spritzers/

In this episode, I explore why the concept of virality is dead. I look at how the death of monoculture and our increased reliance on algorithmic-based content consumption has led to a significantly more fragmented internet culture experience for users. In turn, virality no longer exists in the same way it once did.

Timestamps:

00:42 Intro

3:56 Virality is dead

4:57 Viralflation & the death of monoculture

7:35 How the internet became fragmented

10:33 Why it’s so difficult to measure “virality” now

11:20 Brands manufacturing fake viral trends: Athenos Feta soup saga

12:57 The rise of vanity metrics on social media & platforms creating artificial virality

15:21 Bella Poarch

16:19 How Facebook lowered the threshold of what could be considered a “view”

18:12 Cheugy as a “viral” word & how the context was completely lost

20:08 Virality is unpredictable & fleeting

21:30 Risks of going “viral” in 202522:20 TBH Skincare vs. Andrew Tate

23:45 Conclusion

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

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Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/09/viral-view-counts-inflation/

Maddox, J., & Gill, F. (2023). Assembling “Sides” of TikTok: Examining Community, Culture, and Interface through a BookTok Case Study. Social Media + Society, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231213565 (Original work published 2023)

https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/62285/1/salad-fingers-20-anniversary-david-firth-patron-saint-weird-youtube-came-to-life 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/30/flash-youtube-nostalgia 

https://zeefeed.com.au/kate-middleton-conspiracies-monoculture/ 

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cheugy 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/style/cheugy.html 

https://www.reddit.com/r/tiktokgossip/comments/v69nm3/it_seems_like_tiktok_is_inflating_its/ 

https://www.usermag.co/p/viralflation-comes-to-youtube 

https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/26/youtube-is-changing-how-youtube-shorts-views-are-counted/

The biggest tech & social media trends on the internet from April 2nd, 2025.

Timestamps:

1:25 Studio Ghibli AI trend

7:17 US and Australian governments inviting podcasters/influencers to formal events

13:04 Substack launches vertical video

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

Sources:

https://www.theverge.com/openai/635118/chatgpt-sora-ai-image-generation-chatgpt 

https://www.theverge.com/openai/636529/images-chatgpt-openai-studio-ghibli-copyright 

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/03/gleeful-cruelty-white-house-x-account/682234/ 

https://theconversation.com/chatgpts-studio-ghibli-style-images-show-its-creative-power-but-raise-new-copyright-problems-253438 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc 

https://maxread.substack.com/p/studio-ghibli-in-the-age-of-ai-reproduction 

https://www.theverge.com/policy/637890/trump-white-house-podcast-row 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/lululemon-brand-ambassador-finance-advisers-13-content-creators-get-advance-budget-reading-20250325-p5lmdc.html 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/26/gen-z-social-media-creators-say-not-here-to-replace-journalists-after-criticism-labor-invited-them-to-budget-lockup 

https://www.fastcompany.com/91308936/substack-rolls-out-a-new-video-feed-amid-the-looming-u-s-tiktok-ban 

A special bonus episode interviewing Victoria Montano & Martine Chippendale from Real Housewives of Sydney!

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

The biggest stories on the internet from April 1st, 2025.

Timestamps:

1:33 Watcher Entertainment lays off creative & production teams

7:03 JacksGap to release a film about the reality of viral fame

9:22 TikTok user raises $319K for 81-year-old waitress to retire

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

The biggest stories on the internet from March 31st, 2025.

Timestamps:

1:50 Tarot creator Alex Reads Tarot threatened with lawsuit over online impersonator

6:47 Alex Cooper personally addresses Alix Earle podcast drama for first time

9:37 Chappell Roan's comments about parenthood

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

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Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

Thank you to Tempus One for supporting the launch of the Centennial World Podcast Network: https://www.tempuswines.com.au/shop/tempus-one-spritzers/

Welcome to the first Centennial World Podcast Network spinoff show, High Steaks! A podcast about famous feuds, frenemies, and falling outs.

We are featuring the first episode of High Steaks to give you a taste of what to expect for the season. Head over the High Steaks feed to subscribe for all the episodes, released weekly: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Xvmq63MHzsP5ykSIhzgHq⁠ 

This episode dives into the feud between the beefing broligarchs Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.

Timestamps:

2:46 Intro

2:59 Mark Zuckerberg’s origins

5:00 Facebook launch

6:03 Zuck post-Facebook

6:51 Elon Musk’s origins

8:47 Musk’s entrepreneurial endeavours: PayPal & Tesla

9:24 Musk post-Tesla

9:53 Zuck vs. Musk

Subscribe to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Xvmq63MHzsP5ykSIhzgHq 

Subscribe to Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/high-steaks/id1801856794 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highsteakspod/ 

Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@highsteakspod 

FIND HIGH STEAKS HERE!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Xvmq63MHzsP5ykSIhzgHq

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/high-steaks/id1801856794

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

The biggest tech & social media trends on the internet from March 26th, 2025.

Timestamps:

1:23 Ashton Hall’s viral morning routine

7:15 TikTok Global Observatory

10:56 Netflix refines its gaming strategy

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

Sources:

https://x.com/tipsformenx/status/1902608673022595531 

https://tkgo.aiforensics.org/ 

https://x.com/mattxiv/status/1903540201563025872 

https://theintercept.com/2020/03/16/tiktok-app-moderators-users-discrimination/ 

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/22/24276700/netflix-gaming-studio-closure-blue 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-03-21/netflix-bets-big-on-video-games-with-broad-new-strategy

https://www.fastcompany.com/91298065/what-happened-to-netflixs-big-bet-on-gaming  

The biggest stories on the internet from March 25, 2025.

Timestamps:

1:00 Tana Mongeau opens up about fan behaviour at music festivals & what she would have to spend to go to Coachella safely

6:32 Sydney Sweeney to turn a Reddit story into a movie

9:21 Alix Earle & Braxton Berrios livestream drama10:55 Jake Paul engaged

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/ 

The biggest stories on the internet from March 24th, 2025.

FIND HIGH STEAKS HERE!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Xvmq63MHzsP5ykSIhzgHq

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/high-steaks/id1801856794

Timestamps:

3:35 Aspyn Ovard rumoured girlfriend

7:35 Molly Mae and Tommy Fury are reportedly back together

9:33 Brianna Chickenfry exposes wild Zach Bryan story amid his new relationship

Find our podcast YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC18HclY7Tt5-1e3Z-MEP7Jg 

Subscribe to our weekly Substack: https://centennialworld.substack.com/ 

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infinitescrollpodcast/ 

Follow Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenmeisner_/