2025 Culture Report
Culture has reached a tipping point. With the advent of AI, ultra-optimized algorithms, and an obsession with frictionless convenience, it becomes important to ask the question, what comes next? With everything becoming increasingly predictable and stripped of obstacles, what have we lost and how can we regain it? Ultimately, a frictionless society forces its participants to go beyond the surface and actually embrace that tension elsewhere in our lives.
The algorithm made life too easy and now we're desperately bored
Americans are bored. No, really, one in four Americans feel bored with their lives. But it’s not just us. Global respondents to a recent survey on boredom have shown that that number has been steadily on the rise, worldwide, since 2009. Simply put, we are more bored now than ever before. But boredom in 2025 takes on an interesting characteristic. Respondents note a “higher frequency and intensity of [their] boredom, as well as a holistic perception of life being boring.” That feeling of intensity has a reason behind it – and a reaction.
According to psychologists this uptick started around 2009, around the time in which smart phones and social media began to establish their chokehold on contemporary culture, which begs the question of how endless access to entertainment can beget boredom? The short answer? The algorithm. The more you scroll, the more predictable your content becomes, and the more predictable it is, the less meaningful it becomes. Content is too optimized, too tailored, too frictionless. In giving us exactly what we want, algorithms have stripped away the very things that make experiences feel alive–unpredictability, tension, and discovery.
Boredom isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It spurs us into action, prompting the exploration of novelty and deeper meaning. According to psychologists, it inspires us to pursue “new goals when the previous goals are no longer beneficial. This uptick in boredom often shapes how we participate in culture – for the better. The rise of lookalike contests suggest a need for events based around unpredictability. Brat Summer demanded participants find meaning in the carefree and dangerous lifestyle of a 365 party girl. The desire to “solve” boredom suggests a future where consumers gravitate to events that provide real novelty, or in some cases, even friction. It could be interacting with strangers or simply prioritizing serendipity. It's not about giving people what they want, but letting them find meaning in experiences that ask them to explore something strange, uncomfortable and, ultimately, unpredictable.
I find my instinctual response to go do something productive if I am ever feeling bored.
Be productive, meet people, pursue whatever passion you have. Those are helping me a lot
I’ve been spending more time reading and hanging with friends IRL. I also love trying new hobbies/activities so would be very hard for me to feel bored!
We’re seeing people become more frustrated by over-curated online experiences. And with that people are more willing than ever to embrace challenges. Brands shouldn’t be afraid to add some friction — this resistance can engage audiences on a deeper level in more meaningful ways.
Why being hated is the new path to success (and what comes next)
In the past, mockery and hatred spelled the end of someone’s career. In fact, celebrities would go out of their way to preserve a pristine, unimpeachable image. Now, hatred and mockery drive success, at least online.
Take for example, pop artist Benson Boone. If you view any content related to the artist on TikTok or elsewhere, within the first few comments you’ll see some version of the phrase “I hate Benson Boone.” Hate for that artist and his music has become so pervasive that he himself has begun to create content off it, leaning into the hate and joking that even he knows his art is shallow and meaningless. As hatred for Boone is so widespread, the question has to be asked…does anyone even like him? Is it all a joke? Well, he has a genuine Billboard #1 hit in his song “Beautiful Things, ” he’s graced the stage at Coachella, and now even a collaboration with Crumbl cookies. If it's all a joke it's been pretty lucrative for the artist.
His case is not unique. He is part of a broader trend where artists, celebrities, and other viral characters are boosted purely by hate and by people’s desire to let that hate be known. Some theorists have posited that it's all part of a “humiliation ritual” that online creators must now be a part of. The humiliation ritual demands creators to debase and embarrass themselves, all in service of feeding the algorithm. Simply put, anything that is shocking, humiliating, or downright bad, gets attention. And that attention in turn fuels clicks, which in turn becomes the driver for future content. As a consequence, social media is saturated with what is colloquially known as “slop.” It creates a culture where everything is low culture, and consumption of that culture is not because we like it, but because we consumed it in the first place.
So, when exactly does the joke end? And can it end? Or are we doomed to continue “hate watching” forever? Not exactly, this is where the pivotal role of curators, experts, and maybe even, the gatekeepers remerges. Having good taste is more important than ever before. It reminds us that having a discussion about art, and having people that can create the discussion are important. As art critic Ben Davis once remarked “you could have art without criticism, it just wouldn’t feel like art.”
I am an avid hater. I literally am part of snark subreddits (cough cough Taylor Swift) and I regularly keep up with tiktok drama about people I don't care about just for the sake of entertainment, but also if I'm gonna hate someone, I at least want to be educated enough and form a solid opinion about why I hate them. I guess in a selfish way it also makes me feel better about myself, because at least I'm not as bad as xyz person.
I used to follow this one Star Wars YouTuber and he started to have a more and very obvious right-wing take on things. I still watched for a month or two even though I knew it would make me mad but eventually I realized I’m only watching to say “wtf is he talking about".
I do feel like i used to hate watch this one creator, danielle carolan, on youtube/instagram but now i religiously listen to her podcast lol
We’re seeing people become more frustrated by over-curated online experiences. And with that people are more willing than ever to embrace challenges. Brands shouldn’t be afraid to add some friction — this resistance can engage audiences on a deeper level in more meaningful ways. While everyone else is racing to the bottom, chasing the dopamine hit of ridicule and outrage, brands can make a contrarian bet on quality.
The end of “so unserious”: Why taking yourself seriously is finally cool
In the aftermath of the pandemic, being “so unserious” became a rallying cry, “healing your inner child” a coping mechanism, and “dopamine dressing” a solution, all to counter the existential dread of the moment. Whimsy, positivity, and silliness became the key pillars in the post-pandemic world.
Forward two years since “so unserious” became an essential part of internet parlance, we are now observing a shift towards a culture that is increasingly interested in manners and attitudes that help consumers feel more mature, chic, and dare I say it, serious.
Sunglasses, an accessory that gives the wearer an appearance of mystery, are trending according to GQ, cigarettes – the ultimate signifier of maturity – are making their way back into movies and TV after a long absence, and now quiet luxury is dominating the world of luxury fashion.
It's not just aesthetics either. Culturally, we are now in an era defined by “wisdom signalling,” or an obsession with signalling to others that we are culturally well versed. It’s why we are preoccupied with curating the perfect Letterboxd, listening to the right podcasts, and talking about the latest trend on “BookTok.” It's a desire to be taken more seriously.
Perhaps the best example of this shift is the state of pop culture and the values it chooses to highlight. Addison Rae, once a Tiktok darling known for silly lip synching and energetic dancing, has now pivoted to becoming a serious, avant-garde pop star, appealing to a higher sense of sophistication than her contemporaries. Her persona is centered around her enigmatism, her moodiness, and her serious edge, demanding to be analyzed and understood beyond surface level musings. And it's worked. Her debut album received an 8.0 on the notorious music criticism website, Pitchfork.
Even brands are getting into it. Described in design week as “fun fatigue,” brands are now returning to a sense of formality within branding and design, as a way to establish trust, signal authority, and emphasize reliability among consumers.
As it stands, taking yourself seriously is no longer “cringe,” but in fact aspirational. It reflects a need for greater substance and intention in a world dominated by shallowness and distraction.
I do care about being taken seriously. I think being perceived as smart or cultured is actually very in right now. There’s a trend of posting with books on social media and I don’t think that has peaked yet. In New York there’s get aways around books and I see more and more people posting the books they’ve read so far.
As i get older i find that being perceived as smart and cultured is important.
When brands look at their social content mix, it shouldn’t be all about entertainment. Where are there places for your brand to create purposeful pieces of content? Your brand could become a resource people truly value by sharing content with them that they’ll actually want to save and revisit later. Become a brand that people feel cool for engaging with.
In a world driven by optimization, the brands that cut through will be the brands that are brave enough to be a little harder to understand, a little more challenging to engage with, and a lot more rewarding to discover. Friction isn’t the enemy, meaningless is.The solutions for brands: stop trying to make everything frictionless and start embracing meaningful friction, experiences that: