Malls are making a comeback, the TikTok ban that wasn’t, and the harms of early porn exposure. But first:
Resource of the Week: A Parent’s Guide to 2025
Keeping up with culture can be hard—especially when you don’t know what’s coming next. We can’t predict exactly what will happen this year, but we do know a thing or two about the musical artists, movie releases, streaming series, and fashion trends on the rise in 2025. We put together a brief Parent Guide, complete with conversation starters to prepare you for connecting with your teen in the year ahead. From Grand Theft Auto 6 to The Last of Us Season 2; from Sabrina Carpenter to Chappell Roan: we’re your research assistant, and we’ve got you covered. Click here to get the guide right now, for free.
And now for our three conversations…
1. All Y’all at the Mall
What it is: Malls are now cool again, at least according to Business Insider.
Why it makes sense: First, there were digital immigrants; then, digital natives. And now? Watch out for “analog immigrants.” In 2023, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported that 60% of Gen Z now visits malls just to socialize with friends, and Business Insider reports that both mall visits and sales have been climbing steadily for three years. To explain this, some cite Gen Z’s desire to seek out aesthetically appealing places to create social media content (“Going to a mall used to be an errand, and now it’s a content opportunity,” argues Casey Lewis, a Gen Z culture writer). On the other hand, Gen Z spending analyst Claire Lee suggests that places like malls let us “test-drive the personas we post about online,” serving as a kind of staging ground before we offer our likenesses to the internet.
Continue the conversation: Does going to the mall to hang out with friends sound fun, or like a waste of time?
2. Reports of TikTok’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
What it is: Late on Saturday evening, TikTok became unavailable to users in the United States… for roughly 12 hours. After assurances from then President-elect Trump, the platform was back up and humming on Sunday (although new downloads still aren’t possible).
What happens next: Once President Trump took office, his executive order delayed the ban for another 75 days, but the future of the social media giant is still unclear. Presumably, ByteDance still needs to find an American buyer for TikTok. Inside the app, many users are engaging in theories (arguably conspiratorial) about the odd length of the platform’s downtime, about who might acquire it (or if it’s secretly already been acquired), and discussing the politics of the ban itself. Across the board, the whiplash of the weekend has left many Americans feeling unsure about their future engagement with the platform.
Continue the conversation: Would you be sad if TikTok changed a bunch?
3. Age Verification, For Real
What it is: The US Supreme Court seems likely to uphold states’ legislation requiring online porn companies to actually verify users’ ages before giving them access to porn.
Why it’s not the whole story: Archaic laws that assumed the impossibility of online age verification have prevented websites from having to do anything to keep minors from accessing increasingly explicit and depraved content. Updates to these laws are important. But social media platforms (like Reddit and X), which also contain copious amounts of pornography, would likely not be affected by the new ruling. A recent investigation by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Instagram’s algorithm regularly feeds sexually suggestive content to users as young as 13, quickly escalating to graphic material within 20 minutes of watching Reels. A new ruling in favor of age verification, if given, does not preclude the need for parents to have intentional conversations with their teens.
Let’s translate this one further…
The internet today is a battleground for young hearts, where danger disguises itself as entertainment, curiosity, and even as opportunities for connection. Plenty of children stumble into explicit content accidentally—but the experiment by The Wall Street Journal reveals that algorithms designed to boost engagement often guide kids to porn on purpose, betraying trust and safety for a profit.
In a recent episode of our Culture Translator Podcast, we interviewed Laila Mickelwait, who led a campaign that removed over 90% of content from Pornhub. As part of helping to create a healthier culture around sexuality, Mickelwait advocates for high-trust, shame-free relationships where children feel safe to talk openly, noting that fear of punishment often prevents kids from seeking help when they encounter harmful material.
Openly discussing the dangers of porn with our kids can be awkward, embarrassing, and scary—but it can make a powerful difference. Ephesians 5:11 encourages us to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Bringing the hidden dangers of online content into the light helps teens understand how digital temptation distorts God’s beautiful design for intimacy. When we name and identify the damage for people who consume and participate in pornography, we are standing up for sex as God intended it.
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 spark conversation with your teens:
- Have you ever seen something online that made you uncomfortable? How did you respond?
- Do you find that the algorithms on social media guide you in directions you don’t intend?
- How do you feel about age restrictions on social media? Do you think they make a difference?
Parenting together,
The Axis Team