Squishdults and Venmo Ghosts
After School's paid newsletter covers current trends affecting millennials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha, including Squishmallow collecting as a midlife crisis indicator, Venmo-ghosting as a social phenomenon, and emerging behaviors like AI shopping chatbots and anti-capitalist coworking spaces.
Summary
After School Monday Edition presents a trends debrief for paid subscribers covering multiple generational and cultural phenomena. The newsletter addresses millennial midlife crises manifesting through Squishmallow collecting, suggesting collectibles serve as indicators of millennial anxiety or nostalgia. Gen Z is engaging in 'Venmo-ghosting,' where individuals ignore payment requests from friends, effectively pushing them into debt through social friction rather than direct refusal. The newsletter documents women initiating 'WhatsApp jail' by moving men to messaging apps, implying a shift in digital communication norms or dating dynamics. Higher education institutions are facing such admissions pressure that they're accepting students who never submitted applications, indicating desperation in college enrollment. Youth culture increasingly centers on pursuing 'the influencer bug,' suggesting aspirational career paths have shifted toward content creation. A countertrend exists in anti-capitalist coworking clubs that explicitly reject 'grindset' mentality. Gen Alpha consumers are being positioned as early adopters of AI shopping chatbots. Color and 'mess' aesthetics are returning as design and cultural preferences. The newsletter recommends anthropology as a field of study for navigating the AI era. The content also includes personal recommendations across various media categories.
About this episode
monday long read
Key Insights
- Squishmallow collecting has become a cultural marker of millennial midlife crisis, suggesting nostalgic consumerism reflects deeper generational anxiety
- Venmo-ghosting represents a new form of social debt avoidance where individuals ignore payment requests rather than directly refusing them, creating financial tension through silence
- Women are strategically moving men to WhatsApp as a communication boundary-setting behavior, indicating shifts in dating and relationship digital etiquette
- Colleges are admitting applicants who never applied, reflecting such severe enrollment pressures that institutions are abandoning traditional admission standards
- The author suggests studying anthropology as a survival skill for the AI era, implying human-centered understanding of culture will become more valuable as automation increases
Topics
Transcript
Welcome back to After School Monday Edition, a not-so-brief trends debrief for paid subscribers. 🫶 In today’s letter: The millennial midlife crisis is a Squishmallow Gen Z is Venmo-ghosting their friends into debt Women are sending men to WhatsApp jail Colleges are so down bad they’re admitting kids who never applied Kids are catching “the influencer bug” The anti-capitalist coworking club that’s rejecting the “grindset” Gen Alpha is going to love AI shopping chatbots Color is back, and so is mess Study anthropology to survive the AI era Bello…? And so much more, plus everything I’m buying, reading, and listening to. But first, my favorite TikTok of the week:
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