TikTok has a new US owner, which users worry is muddying the platform’s approach to censorship; data shows that sad and angsty songs are ruling the streaming charts, and it’s official: our algorithms are making us lonelier. But first:
Emoji of the Week: 🙂
One of the biggest divides in generational communication is in the emojis we use and what we think they mean. Case in point: the simple 🙂. To a well-meaning parent or youth leader, the “slightly smiling face” might convey a general sense of positivity. But to teens, this dead-eyed emoji conveys a sarcastic happiness; it’s a face barely concealing an end-of-their-patience level of frustration. There’s even a whole trend about this feeling, featuring a hand-drawn “slightly smiling face.” If you’re curious about the meanings of other emojis, we made a Parent Guide explaining them!
And now for our three conversations..
1. Storms Ahead
What it is: Over the weekend, TikTok users in the US claimed that the app started censoring anti-ICE content, with some declaring their intent to boycott the app.
Why it’s hard to know what’s going on: The long-awaited sale of TikTok to a US operator was made official last week—and almost immediately, reports of difficulties with the app, including vanishing “likes,” glitching FYPs (the app’s main feed), and disappearing uploads, began to come in. TikTok users theorized that the problems were intentional, given that TikTok was sold to a group of investors that the White House approved. But according to both TikTok and its data center, the historic storm was the real culprit, and the algorithm did not change in the ownership handoff. Nevertheless, several prominent influencers have concluded that TikTok’s efficacy as a free speech platform has been compromised.
Continue the conversation: Now that TikTok has been sold, how do you think the app will change?
2. Sadder Songs
What it is: A new analysis of popular song lyrics shows that chart-topping songs have become sadder over the past few decades. Words about heartbreak, anxiety, and despair appear more often, while clear expressions of joy have become less common.
Why it’s fascinating: In her book Feelings and Form, philosopher Susanne Langer said that art helps us express feelings we can’t yet name. As she puts it, “Art is the creation of forms symbolic of human feeling.” The above analysis, done by music data company MusixMatch, shows that popular music is now becoming more of a tool for emotional reflection. As anxiety and depression have become more common, our songs have reflected those feelings. Lyrics have also become simpler and more repetitive, which researchers say happens when listeners have more options, and greater demands on their attention. But here’s what’s surprising: during big crises like 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic, pop music didn’t get “darker.” For a short time, people appear to have preferred songs that were lighter or more musically complex, as if music offered a place of escape that they willingly gave themselves to. Sometimes art reflects our pain, and other times, it helps us get through it.
Continue the conversation: When you’re stressed or sad, do you want music that matches your mood or more upbeat music that helps you escape it?
3. Antisocial Media
What it is: Remember when your social media feed was mostly made up of people you actually knew? Well, New York Magazine (paywalled) wrote about how algorithms could be making us more individualistic, instead of connecting us like tech companies promised they would.
Why it matters: “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet” was once a common adage from parents to their children, and it is perhaps more relevant today than it has ever been. But as our algorithms become more tailored, each of us grows more convinced that what we are seeing is true, and that it is other people who have been duped. A leaked Meta memo from 2022 laid out its short-form content strategy, aimed at competing with TikTok, which focused on shifting from “social” to “unconnected” content. The results? Today, no person’s algorithm is like another’s; each person’s feed is a unique silo of their interests, political leanings, and everything in between. Instead of being a place to connect with others, social media has become hyperspecific and insular.
Let’s translate this one further…
A leading expert in the field of artificial intelligence, UC Berkeley professor Dr. Stuart Russell, said that algorithms: “have more control over human cognitive input than any dictator in history.” Historically, he explained, human propagandists could only create one message, and they had no real-time data on how it was impacting people. They had to strategize from afar. Now, algorithms decide what each person reads and watches, for billions of people, for hours every day, in real time.
Social media algorithms are simply a set of rules followed by a computer as a part of its problem-solving process. Content that you like, save, comment on, interact with, or watch for even a few seconds is all logged to create a feed of irresistibly clickable content, tailored especially for you.
These algorithms, often run by AI, are not designed to give you the best (or even accurate) information. They will never be perfect, and they will always be deceitful, at least in part, because they are designed by humans. And algorithms can make the people who disagree with you seem foolish, ill-informed, or invisible.
Paul’s warning to Christians in Colossae is fitting here: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.” We all have a unique way of seeing the world, and our worldview expands when we spend our time with other image bearers. It gets smaller when we are held captive by what we see in our feeds.
For more context and nuance, check out our Roundtable podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to help you continue the conversation with your teens:
- What is something your algorithm has gotten right about you? What about something wrong?
- Do you think most of what you see on the internet is true?
- Does social media make you feel more or less connected to your peers?
Parenting together,
Jenna Mindel and the Axis Team
In Other News…
- Last week, Alex Honnold free-soloed Taipei 101 live on Netflix, with roughly 6.2 million people watching him climb a 1,667-foot skyscraper without a rope.
- The 2026 Oscar nominations dropped last week, with director Ryan Coogler’s horror-thriller Sinners receiving a record-breaking 16 nominations.
- Speaking of awards season, after a long hiatus, Justin Bieber is slated to return to the Grammys stage this Sunday night.
- Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal on Monday to apologize for his antisemitic comments and psychotic behavior.
- Athleisure is out for 2026. Some Gen Z creators are leaning into vintage (meaning 90s and early 2000s) sportswear and putting their matching workout sets out to pasture.
PS: Know someone who could use our conversation starters with their teens? Share the CT with a friend!