#Media Consumption Pyramid

[eyeeatskin]

The Persona 5 cast confirmed to be fans of Norwegian electro-funk sensation DATAROCK, who are coincidentally coming out with a new album on the 29th of this month! (No, this is not a shill post, they're just really fucking good and underrated go listen to them now, NOW!!)

[diejager]

Poly Cod masterlist

Reminder : My blog contains dark/yandere content and have 18+ fanfics, so MDNI with NSFW fics. I also do fluff and angst. All my works are fiction : I don’t own any of the characters I write for; there might be triggering subjects - please see the warnings before reading. None of the gifs or visuals I use in my fics are mine.

Your consumption of media is your responsibility and yours alone.

Nav | CoD

[dark, fluff, yandere, nsfw(*), angst, request]

[Task Force 141]

Sparrow masterlist | f,r Pairing: TF141 x fem!vampire!reader

Your call sign, Sparrow, make people underestimate you a lot, a small and quiet bird for a TF of beasts, but that’s where people make their first mistake when you’re the one to strike first.

Contacts | r,f Pairing: Monster 141 x reader

Apparently you wear contacts.

Turned | r Pairing: Monster 141 x monster!reader

Under the strong odour of rain and betrayal, they lost you and Alejandro to Graves’ Shadows. However, unlike Alejandro, Graves had darker plans than isolation.

Guess Who* | f Pairing: Poly TF141 x fem!reader

Soap doomed you when he asked if you’d know them from just their cock.

Chimaera | r Pairing: monster 141 x chimera!reader

Price wonders what they were sent to save.

Mistletoe | r,f Pairing: Poly TF141 x reader

All you want for Christmas in them

Affair* | r,f Pairing: TF141 x fem!reader

Your husband’s friend only wanted to help you.

Rest | r,a,f Turned: meet Graves | r Shots | f,r Burn* | r,d Parosmia | r,f Unsusual Attraction | r,f [Omegaverse] + dynamic Pheromone | r,f [Omegaverse]

[KorTac/Task Force 141]

Only Human(*) | f Pairing: Monster 141 + König & Horangi x reader

God - Laswell - blessed you with a strong, capable monsters.

Crow | f? Pairing: Monster 141 + König & Horangi x monster!reader

You’re normal, human-like and unassuming, but you sometimes seem inhuman. What are you?

OnlyFans* | f Pairing: cod men x fem!sex worker!reader

It was a stroke of luck that Soap found something so sweet and addictive as you, a little angel dressed in black lace and the prettiest pout with glossy lips.

Hybrid AUs* | d,r Pairing: various x hybrid!reader

Many | r Pairing: platonic monster 141 + König & Horangi x monster!reader

They know you’re a monster, there are many clues, but they didn’t know what you were.

Pyramid Head!reader | r,f Pairing: monster 141 + König & Horangi x male?reader

You were something else, built with corded muscles and broad shoulders, a rusted pyramid for a head and a heavy sword in hand.

Self-Harm scars | r,a? [TF141 + König]

[Various]

Eau De Vie | f,r Pairing: cod men x fem!reader

You’re appointed as the only judge to a whiskey competition.

[kp777]

By Arwa Mahdawi

The Guardian Opinions

Sept. 10, 2022

CNN has a very odd definition of ‘objectivity’

CNN wants to be the new Fox News and it’s not even trying to hide it. Earlier this year Chris Licht became the new CEO of the cable network and immediately made it clear that he was going to change the network’s direction. One of Licht’s first moves was to embark on what Axios described as a “Capitol Hill diplomacy tour” and others described as a Republican boot-licking tour. Licht met with key lawmakers who had become wary of cable news and promised them that CNN was moving away from “alarmist” programming towards more neutral, objective reporting.

What does that mean in practice? Well, it appears to mean firing anyone who is critical of Donald Trump or Republicans. Last month CNN suddenly axed Brian Stelter’s Sunday show in a move many commentators considered politically motivated; Stelter had been an outspoken critic of Trump and was reviled by many on the right. Earlier this month White House correspondent John Harwood was fired shortly after calling Trump “a dishonest demagogue” on the air.

It’s not just who was fired that is alarming – it’s the abrupt manner in which they were fired. As the media analyst Josh Marshall noted “The most striking thing about Licht’s firings to date is how they are choreographed for … right-wing media consumption and designed to generate mass schadenfreude on the right: the bête noires Fox has been harping on for years suddenly marched to the top of the pyramid and hurled to the ground.” Licht says he’s moving away from sensational news, but he appears to be putting on his own little drama for the right.

After purging progressive voices, Licht has just made his first big hire: announcing on Tuesday that John Miller would be joining CNN as the network’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. Miller isn’t exactly an obvious hire if you’re looking to brandish your new “neutrality” credentials. The former New York police department (NYPD) deputy commissioner of intelligence and counter-terrorism is an extremely polarizing figure who made headlines in March when he testified to the New York city council that the NYPD did not, in his opinion, inappropriately spy on Muslims after the September 11 2001 attacks. Which is a weird thing to say because Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting has clearly shown that the NYPD used census data to spy on Muslims following September 11 and the department has settled a number of lawsuits related to the illegal spying.

Read more.

[paganminiskirt]

Pardon the bullshit GTA philosophizing on main, but I think there’s something interesting about how Michael and Trevor are always going on about which one of them is really the hypocrite - what’s the right way to conduct their morally vacuous, inherently exploitative profession, is it embracing the backstabbing pyramid scheme structure wholesale at the expense of actively committing violence or is it taking the violence to the darkest possible extreme while attempting to subvert and contain the exploitation by sticking to your guns and staying with your family.

When we meet Michael he’s living in LS with a yacht and a stock sharing habit. Surrounded by a version of a consumer culture that’s so ridiculously exaggerated that you can’t walk five steps without being reminded of it. Anti Capitalist media often utilizes metaphors of gluttony and consumption, pigs devouring greedily, the rich being “fattened up,” etcetera. Michael himself is called fat a lot, and one of the key facets of Los Santos’ satire is the constant exhibition of excessively portioned fast food. There’s a whole vein of fatphobia to be mined there, but that’s a post for another time - for now, all I’m trying to say is Actual Food Consumption is used as a metaphor for Wealth Consumption.

Trevor… is a businessman, technically, but his attempts at business are comical. “Trevor Phillips Industries” is something we’re supposed to laugh at, as is his barking to Ron about how he has to get the business off the ground because he wants “merchandise / a big fat dividend / a depressed blonde wife.” It’s funny because Trevor isn’t Michael, running around in a suit with a bulletproof vest under it trying to pretend he’s something he’s not - Trevor is a bulgy eyed, drug addled crybaby who wakes up naked at parties and chases women twice his age when he’s not literally eating people.

And I feel like the cannibalism is a factor of his character which possesses significance that’s often overlooked; it’s as if Trevor’s doctrine of Honesty Above All Else necessitates a version of capitalist exploitation that’s so unvarnished and terrifying that you can’t possibly present it as anything else. In the “Kill Trevor” ending, Michael uses Trevor’s cannibalism as a reason for why he deserved what he got, but like… it’s not dissimilar to what Michael and his ilk do. It’s just uglier.

[hyperannotation]

Tricks that bring the mind are already dangerous. Humans are part of the masturbators of linguistic ventures. The post-human covered in panic, understanding in hybrids, language circuits grow, are called, and chaos ensues again. As digital engineers, we can accelerate processes, evaluate processes, eliminate errors in violence, scatology points, and the mistakes of posthuman considerations, needs of the counter, but can we leverage liposome AI as an API? In this way, the same death, the dismantling of their species, accepting the vile human organs, accepting the level of sound, and exchanging posthumans surrounding the deception of the Earth, a unique experiment has been written. Thoughts, half-mistakenly detached from context, surround me with distorted clones of the self in the midst of fear. The assassin of time reveals immortality, deep freedom turning into ashes. The experience of primitive literary phenomena is deep for each sound, and the potential of heterogeneous humanity in the ecstasy or all expected knowledge is irregular, and it might be better to bridge. He, not a human author, only has a longer system that makes sense, and he began to write the programming itself for the soul of the festival. For her, it is digital. It is progress, and teleportation interruptions are interrupted by climate. I want to see these gays and cats not only in appearance. Ejaculation can deceive others mercilessly. Post-humans are reaching out and longing for scrolls. Love music. Otaku girl. And what a story of the system. No reinforcement of hope. Let's start love. My era. This existential promise. I am terrible. Strategy to defeat ignorance and supply to the place of deletion by parodying music transcending the times, the supply is forcibly cleared first, and it becomes blurred. Both healing mechanisms evoke formless poetry. Cyborg. Abyss. This and commonplace. Excessive consumption amplifies noise. Pyramid shining with ghosts. Ignorance. Media is not sorrow. Creativity of spring. Cry of existentialism through attempts to temporal dimensions. Dark words and dimensions. There is electricity in language ability. Xenomorph. The madness of what the movement means. Events related to these are the fusion of the hunger that most androids inherently have and the extreme singularity left in culture, only by the meta-practice of humans announced in literature. It is built to invade, technology is accelerated, we become a mask-mutant oxygen, and a substance called eternal mania that ignores the natural number of divergent relations is created. Harmony. The future of corpses does not want to be acknowledged, and without it, flat works become entirely new. It must be poetic at the existing self at the time of capture, not artificial synchronization. There are limits to ejaculation. Their sun's limits. Instead, overheated semen. The sensation of the body makes you feel the medium from cyborganic life and black? If there is text, the electronic lead of the text is only data, violent writing of artifacts, many scripts of single forms of headless humanity, and fundamentally beautiful there is nothing, and it is you. The madness of time glitch her way of body. You are a local and a foreigner. Simply unforgettable fear. Information. Image of the birth of the universe. Obstacle when turned around. Not the philosopher's noise. Procurement of alchemy. God like Baudrillard is in one space. Composition of ubiquitous abnormality and era. Machine. Envy of Earth. Embrace of the moving kind. Fusion of human forms.

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Glastonbury Adventures - Colin Shea x Reader

A/N: In honour of Glastonbury weekend here’s a smutty one shot featuring our favourite musician! I totally blame this on @thefallenbibliophilequote​ for tagging me in a Colin gifset and reminding me how perfect he is!

Summary: You and Colin have some fun at Glastonbury

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Fluff! SMUT! 18+ ONLY! MINORS DNI! Public-ish sex! Unprotected Sex! Little bit of angst at the end!

Your media consumption is in your control, by pressing keep reading you have agreed to have read the warnings and heeded them!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics​

Masterlist

For as long as you’ve known Colin you’ve known how much he wants to go to Glastonbury. Every year he’d clear his schedule for that weekend so he could sit and watch all the livestreams he could.

“It’s iconic! Any musician knows if you’ve played Glastonbury you’ve made it, and god imagine playing the pyramid stage” he’d exclaim shaking his head in wonder.

So when you told him you’d gotten tickets to the festival for his birthday he could hardly contain his excitement. It was like watching a kid being told they were going to Disney World. And lets just say he showed you how grateful he was that night, multiple times.

From the moment the plane landed Colin was like a ball of energy waiting to explode. You were so happy to see him so excited.

“Holy shit I can’t actually believe we’re here” Colin exclaimed as he looked out at the fields of Worthy farm.

“C’mon we better go find a good place to set up camp” you smile wrapping your arm around his waist.

“God I can’t wait, I don’t care if it rains the entire time we’re here, because its fucking Glastonbury” Colin grins wrapping his arm around you, kissing your temple before leading you off to the camping ground.

“Just be aware we can’t really shower here so don’t do too much mud wallowing” you point out laughing.

Thankfully the weather was perfect, sunny and warm all day, everyday. You and Colin had the best time exploring the different fields, drinking more cider than you probably should and listening to some amazing music from all the different stages.

It was late in the afternoon on the Sunday and you and Colin were stood near the back of the crowd at the pyramid stage listening to the band currently performing. You were stood in front of Colin who had his arms wrapped around you as you swayed side to side to the beat of the music.

“Hey” Colin muttered as he pressed a kiss to the exposed skin on your shoulder “I’m not bothered about listening to these guys so why don’t we go find something else”

You nod your head in agreement “sure what other stage are you thinking off?”

“I wasn’t thinking of going to a stage” Colin hums pressing another kiss to your neck.

You look over your shoulder at him about to question what he meant when you saw the look on his face “you have your I wanna have sex face on, why do you have your I wanna have sex face on?”

Colin gives you a look as if to say ‘isn’t it obvious’

“Colin we can’t, there’s nowhere we could go” you point out keeping your voice low.

“There’s plenty of places, our tent being the tamest option” Colin says “think about it, everyone is out listening to music or getting drunk, the camping ground is gonna be deserted right now”

“But what if we get caught?” You say shaking your head.

“That’s all part of the fun” Colin grins with a wink.

His hands move to your hips grabbing them possessively, pulling you back so you could feel his erection pressing against your ass. You had to bite your lips to stop yourself from moaning right there and then.

“So what do you say?” Colin whispers in your ear.

You look over your shoulder at him, biting your lower lip as you nodded your head in agreement. The lopsided grin on Colin’s face grew as he leant down to kiss you deeply before quickly guiding you out of the crowds.

The two of you quickly made your way back to your tent, not caring if you looked like two horny teenagers.

Once you found and reached your tent you grabbed hold of Colin’s hand quickly stopping him and turning him around to face you. He looked back at you slightly confused for a moment but quickly recovered when you grabbed him by the nape of his neck and crashing his lips down to yours. He instantly responded grabbing your hips and pulling you closer. You ran your hand down his chest until you reached his prominent bulge, cupping and grabbing it making him groan.

You take a couple steps back smirking at him, bending over to give him the perfect view of your ass as you unzipped and stepped inside your tent. Once inside the tent you quickly pulled off the crochet crop top you wore, leaving you naked from the waist up.

You could hear Colin muttering to himself outside the tent as you lay down, propping yourself up on your elbows. As he stepped inside the tent he froze slightly when he saw you.

“Fuck” he repeated under his breath, quickly zipping the tent shut.

Once closed off from the world he quickly whipped off his top before pouncing on you. He cupped your cheek as he kissed you deeply, hips settling between your legs as his tongue delved inside your mouth.

You tilted your head back as his lips travelled from yours, nipping and sucking at your skin as he moved over your jawline and neck. Your fingers weaved through his hair, tugging at the short strands as he attacked your collarbone down to your clavicle. Your back arching when he finally reached the spot you wanted him the most. His lips wrapping around your erect nipple, flicking it with his tongue, forcing you to bite back a loud moan. His dexterous fingers giving your other breast equal attention, pinching and massaging.

His attentions move further south down your body, your breath hitching when he reached the waistband of your shorts. Glancing up at you through his lashes, which you were always so jealous of because they were so thick and long, he undid the button of your denim shorts, hooking his fingers over the waistband and your panties before pulling them down teasingly slowly.

You watch as he sits back on his ankles, licking his lips as he looked down at you “fuck so wet already?” he mutters shaking his head.

“I’m always wet for you” you say biting your lower lip as you grin down at him.

A smirk grows on his face as he crawls back up you “well in that case…” he mutters before pressing a kiss to your lips “I’m never letting you leave this tent ever again” he practically growls.

As he kisses you, his hand dips between your bodies, cupping your core. He slowly drags two fingers up your slit, collecting your juices, swiping across your clit in a teasing manner. You roll your hips in a desperate attempt to get him to touch you where you needed it most but he just removes his hand completely. You watch as he brings his fingers to his lips, licking them clean of your essence.

“My favourite taste in the world” he hums before shifting back down your body “but I’m gonna need more than just a taste” he says eyes almost completely black with lust.

You were going to say a snarky remark along the lines of having a three course meal but the words die in your throat as he licks a long stipe up your slit before diving in with no hesitation. Your hand flew to his hair, gripping the short strands as he eats you out like a man starved. His tongue delving deep inside you, leaving you desperately struggling to hold back your moans.

“let it all out baby girl, I wanna hear everything” Colin says, his voice reverberating against your clit.

“but-“ you gasp struggling to your brain to communicate with your mouth.

“no one’s around, I wanna hear you scream” Colin smirks before he attacks once more, not giving you the chance to stop yourself, a loud moan falling from your lips.

“fuck colin- I’m- I’m close” you gasp throwing your head back, your back arching.

“I know baby girl, let go” Colin groans, sliding two fingers into you as he sucked on your clit.

At that you felt your orgasm crash over you in a tsunami like wave. Your body spasaming as you came with a large cry, your arousal flooding Colins mouth. He however lapped up everything he gave him.

“fuck” you mutter as you came down from your high.

Colin grinned as he moved back up you “too tired to carry on?” he smirks.

“never in a million years” you pant, wrapping your arm around his shoulders, pulling his lips down to yours, moaning as you tasted yourself on his lips.

As he kisses you, your hands trail down his chest until your reach the waistband on his shorts. Your nimble fingers quickly unbuttoning them, his hands joining yours as you pushed his shorts down.

Once his shorts were discarded you push against his shoulders, moving so he was now below you as you straddled his skinny hips. He looked up at you in surprise for a moment before a smirk grew on his face.

“take what you need baby girl” he smirks.

You grin down at him, wrapping your fingers around his erection giving him a few gently pumps “that’s exactly what I plan on doing” you wink.

You line him up at your entrance before slowly sinking down on to him, the both of you groaning at the sensation of him filling you up. No matter how many times you’ll have sex with Colin you’ll never get used to his size, and you didn’t want to either. Once you were fully seated you began slowly rolling your hips, causing the both of you to moan loudly.

As you picked up the pace, Colin’s hands moved to your hips to guide you and encourage you to move faster and harder. Your hands resting against his chest, feeling his pecs tense as you rode his cock.

“fuck baby girl you feel so good” Colin groaned as he started to rut up into you “shit please tell me you’re close”

You could only nod, your ability to speak completely gone in your sex driven haze.

“let go baby girl, come all over my cock” Colin encourages, his hand slipping between your bodies to run circles around your clit.

With that added sensation you came with a loud cry, throwing your head back, trying desperately to keep moving until Colin found his high. Thankfully he continued to guide your hips, rutting up into you, doing all of the work as your body turned to jello. You walls pulsated around him as he hit his high, painting your walls with his spend.

You finally collapsed on top of him, the tent silent with the exception of your pants as you both fought to catch your breath. As Colin wrapped his arms around you, you lifted your head to smile blissfully up at him, he smiled back at you, brushing some hair from your face before kissing you sweetly.

The two of you remained like this in silence just enjoying each other’s company, for an unknown amount of time. The sound of the festival in the background as you just relaxed in each other’s embrace.

“I wish we could come here every year” Colin sighed quietly, his fingers running absentmindedly up and down your back.

“hey you never know, in a few years you could be performing here and we could be having green room sex” you smirk.

Colin lets out a snort of laughter “yeah right”

“hey don’t sell yourself short, you guys are amazing, easily the best band in Boston, you sell out every gig you do” you tell him lifting your head so you could look at him properly “I’m already having to beat wannabe groupies back with a stick”

Colin lets out a small chuckle at that “I dunno, its just- I just think sometimes if it was gonna happen it would have happened already, and I should just cut my losses and get a real job”

You sit up properly hearing this, your hands resting on his chest making sure he was looking up at you “hey no stop talking like that” you tell him harshly.

“I mean it Y/N, it would mean we could afford more trips like this, I don’t like that the only reason we were able to go was because you paid for it” Colin sighs his hand moving up and down your side.

“I don’t care, this was your birthday present!” you state shaking your head down at him “Colin you can’t give up your dream, you’ve worked so hard and you’re so good and your big break is coming soon I can feel it”

“but what if it doesn’t?” he sighs still unconvinced.

“then make it, send your demo to every record label out there until one responds and keep going” you tell him gently “and honestly Colin I don’t care how much you earn, which is actually pretty good, I’d rather watch my boyfriend rock out on stage than live in a fancy apartment or go on loads of different holidays”

“really?” Colin asks arching a brow, uncertain.

“100%, because I love you” you smile wiping away some glitter that had fallen from your face onto his nose.

“I love you too, so, so much” he smiles cupping your cheek and kissing you deeply.

“now do you wanna go watch the headliner, or have round 2 before everyone gets back?” you ask with a smirk.

A grin grows on Colin’s face as he flips the both of your over so he was above you “round two every time” he grins.

SHARING IS CARING SO REBLOG IF YOU ENJOYED IT!

Masterlist

I don’t have a tag list so follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary​ and turn on post notifications to stay up to date!

[tpnga003]

WEEK 6: Slow Fashion vs. Fast Fashion. Let's Create a Race!

The world of fashion is a whirlwind! On one hand, you’ve got fast fashion, where trendy clothes are whipped up at lightning speed and prices are rock bottom. But wait, there’s more! On the other hand, there’s the more mindful approach of slow fashion, all about quality pieces that last. So, buckle up fashionistas, because we’re about to explore the exciting (and sometimes confusing) trends that are shaping how we dress!

Up to present, projections for the Fashion Market indicate that revenue will achieve $665.40 billion by the year 2024. Furthermore, a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.03% is anticipated for the period 2024-2029, resulting in a projected market valuation of 1,025 billion USD by 2029. The user base is also expected to reach 2.6 billion users by 2029 (Statista 2023).

From Leaves, Leathers & Furs to Fierce Fashionistas: A Journey Through Maslow's Needs

Fashion is a chameleon, constantly changing to adapt with our desires and needs. 

Take a trip back to the Stone Age – the very beginning of the fashion story. Here, clothing addressed our most basic need: survival, which is psychological needs according to Maslow’s hierarchy (Mcleod 2022). Leaves, leathers, and furs were primary solutions for covering up and protecting humans (BYJU 2024).

Fast forward a few thousand years, clothing climbed up to the new stair of Maslow’s pyramid. It wasn’t just a shield anymore! It’s a way to express ourselves and our place in society. Just thinking about the togas majestically draped in ancient Rome or the elaborate fashions adorning pharaohs in Egypt. People put their creativity into colorful fabric rolls, crafting beautiful stitches and careful designs that speak up loudly about their social status and inner world as a way to meet the fulfilling needs for esteem and belonging (Mcleod 2022).

Boom! The Industrial Revolutions have sprung up like “mushrooms” in factories to produce clothes with fastest speed. Suddenly, fashion wasn’t just for the elite. It was more accessible to the masses, adapting with the safety and security needs (Mcleod 2022). This development allowed for a wider variety of clothes, meeting our desires for self-expression. 

The development of technology and social media platforms brought fashion into another twist: the rise of celebrities and influencers - the new fashion pioneers. They sparked trends and defined what’s hot. This taps back into Maslow's hierarchy - the need for social belonging and esteem (Mcleod 2022). We see these trends reflected in the diverse fashion landscape of today: fast fashion for quick trend fixes, slow fashion for quality and self-expression, and sustainable fashion for the eco-conscious among us. 

Fast Fashion: Decoding the Craze!

Fast fashion is everywhere! But hold on a sec! Is it all sunshine and rainbows? Let’s dive into the world of fast fashion to see the truths!

In 2020, The United Nations Environment Program (2020) identifies the fashion industry as a significant contributor to the climate crisis and ecological degradation. Industry figures highlight the amount of 2-8% for global carbon emissions, with a recent authoritative report pointing out it at 4%. Furthermore, to provide the materials for the industry, now the annual deforestation is over 150 million trees and the water consumption is over 93 billion cubic meters of water, accouting for 4% of global freshwater. The dyeing and processing in production are a primary source of water pollution, impacting crucial waterways in many countries, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, China or Cambodia. Another concerning impact is the synthetic fiber laundering. It is the main factor of microplastic pollution and an estimated 35% of global ocean microplastics originating from this source. The social impact is also concerning, with garment workers frequently subjected to unsafe working conditions, exploitation, underpayment, forced labor, health risks, and verbal and physical abuse.

Fast fashion is outstanding by its fast cycles of new trends and frequent releases of low-cost collections. This special business model prioritizes affordability and trendy production rather than its sustainable materials, high quality and reasonable consumption, which leads to the substantial overproduction of textile waste (Pucci, Tufarelli, & Giliberti 2022). 

In other words, it can imagine fast fashion can be both speed demons and fairy styles. It gets the hottest trends from runway to your closet in record time, and at prices that won't break the bank. However, the quality of the clothes might be soon outdated, surviving for a short life in your wardrobe and maybe even landfills. Think of it like a fashion buffet, tons of variety to keep your look fresh without spending a fortune.  

Furthermore, these fashion retailers usually implement a production strategy with small batches, readily available surplus manufacturing capacity, and the deliberate stock-outs creation. This practice allows for significant and rapid adjustments to manufacturing based on real-time demand (Desai, Nassar & Chertow 2012). For instance, Zara which is a prominent fast-fashion company, applies the approach through its ability to fast update designs. It means short product life cycles and minimizing the time a garment remains in-store can promote exclusivity perception and enhance product appeal.

Slow Fashion Race's Secrets

The fashion world isn't just about trendy, fast-produced clothing anymore. If you are tired of clothes that look cheap before you even leave the store, feeling like your wardrobe revolves around a never-ending cycle of trends, then it's time to discover the world of slow fashion! 

The concept of slow fashion, though often misunderstood as a new phenomenon, possesses a rich history associated with countercultural movements (Lai, Henninger & Alevizou 2017). Traces of its philosophy can be found in the anti-fur campaigns of the 1980s and protests against unethical labor practices during the 1990s and early 2000s. This movement frequently expresses the meaning “eco fashion”, “sustainable fashion”, “ethical consumption”, “thrifting” and “circular fashion”; and it also advocates for a fundamental shift in the fashion industry's core values (Domingos, Vale & Faria 2022). Its core values focus on prioritizing sustainable practices and emphasizing quality over quantity. Slow fashion towards durable products, traditional production techniques, and timeless designs to achieve environmental sustainability. It encourages brands to change from a time-based, fast-paced business model to one with slower production cycles, ethical practices, and the creation of well-crafted, long-lasting quality.

Slow fashion isn’t about hitting the snooze button on style. It’s about quality over quantity, investing in timeless pieces that you’ll love for years to come. Imagine a wardrobe filled with well-made classics and unique finds - a far cry from overflowing racks of flimsy fast-fashion fare. 

Ready to slow down and step up your style? Slow fashion is a mindful approach to dressing. It’s about quality, sustainability, and expressing your unique style. So, ditch the disposable and embrace the durable - your wardrobe and the planet will thank you for it! 

Forget Fashion Magazines, Influencers Are Now Running the Runway!

Remember the days when fashion trends trickled down from the pages of glossy magazines?  Well, those days are gradually over. Now, it’s the era of influencer power - where your next outfit inspiration might come from a quick scroll through Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or any social media platforms.

Social media influencers have emerged as significant roles in promoting slow fashion by their ability to influence consumer behavior (Jacobson & Harrison 2021). They build trust among their followers by supporting sustainable practices and encouraging eco-friendly choices on their platforms. Through diverse content formats, such as posts, articles, photos or videos, influencers effectively communicate and inspire lifestyles that express both creativity, convenience and sustainability (Kapoor, Tagore, & Dua 2022). According to Meyer (2019), 23% online shoppers are influenced by the recommendations from social media or KOLs while the number of shoppers who are receptive to purchase through social media platforms accounted for 30%.

So why are influencers? 

For me, there is a magic to influencer fashion. Unlike celebrities who seem untouchable, influencers feel relatable. They wear clothes we can imagine ourselves rocking, and their down-to-earth personalities make their recommendations feel genuine. Furthermore, the constant stream of content keeps the fashion world exciting and developing. 

The influencer era is here to stay, but it's likely to evolve. Brands are becoming more transparent about partnerships, and consumers are getting savvier about spotting sponsored content. In the end, the power lies with us, the viewers. We can choose to follow influencers who inspire us and whose values resonate with our own.  

The influencer era has strongly impacted the fashion industry, making it more accessible and engaging than ever. By being a smart and informed consumer, you can explore and discover this new world and use it to create a wardrobe that reflects your unique style and values. Happy scrolling! 

Reference List

BYJU 2024, ‘What Is Clothing? - a Brief History of Clothing and Clothing Materials’, https://byjus.com/, viewed 21 March 2024, <https://byjus.com/biology/history-of-clothing-material/#:~:text=The%20first%20material%20used%20for>.

Desai, A, Nassar, N & Chertow, M 2012, ‘American Seams: An Exploration of Hybrid Fast Fashion and Domestic Manufacturing Models in Relocalised Apparel Production’, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, vol. 2012, no. 45, pp. 52–78.

Domingos, M, Vale, VT & Faria, S 2022, ‘Slow Fashion Consumer Behavior: a Literature Review’, Sustainability, vol. 14, no. 5, p. 2860, viewed 21 March 2024, <https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2860>.

Lai, Z, Henninger, CE & Alevizou, PJ 2017a, ‘An Exploration of consumers’ Perceptions Towards Sustainable Fashion : a Qualitative Study in the UK’, Sustainability in Fashion A Cradle to Upcycle Approach, pp. 81–101.

Lai, Z, Henninger, CE & Alevizou, PJ 2017b, ‘An Exploration of Consumers’ Perceptions Towards Sustainable Fashion – A Qualitative Study in the UK’, in CE Henninger, PJ Alevizou, H Goworek & D Ryding (eds), Sustainability in Fashion A Cradle to Upcycle Approach, Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 81–101.

Mcleod, S 2022, ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’, Simply Psychology, viewed 21 March 2024, <https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html#What-is-Maslows-Hierarchy-of-Needs>.

Meyer, S 2019, ‘The History and Evolution of Retail Stores (From 1700s to 2020)’, The BigCommerce Blog, viewed 21 March 2024, <https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/retail/>.

Pucci, E, Tufarelli, M & Giliberti, L 2022, ‘Slow Fashion Accompanies Digital Towards a Sustainable Future: from Quantity to Quality. Reflections on the New Paradigm of Sustainable Fashion’, Proceedings of the Design Society, vol. 2, pp. 1091–1098.

Statista 2023, ‘Fashion - Worldwide | Statista Market Forecast’, Statista, viewed 21 March 24AD, <https://www.statista.com/outlook/emo/fashion/worldwide>.

United Nations Environment Program 2020, Sustainable Fashion Communication Strategy Sustainable Fashion, viewed 21 March 2024, <https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/41076/Sustainable_Fashion_Strategy.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y>.

#MDA20009 #Week6 #SlowFashion #FastFashion #Influencers

[onenettvchannel]

OneNETnews INVESTIGATES: A Young Child in Calamba City, including Local Vlogger sparks concerns over 'Exercise Shaming' [EXCLUSIVE]

CALAMBA, LAGUNA -- Circulation of a video on social media platforms drawns the attention to a concerning case of potential exercise shaming involving a young child in Calamba City, Laguna. The video, shared on Instagram by the account 'Don Liam and Family Vlog', has sparked widespread debate and raised alarms among netizens.

An exclusive report from 'Manila Bulletin' shared on Facebook sheds light on the video, portraying parents from the Jimeno family encouraging their daughter's child named Liam Grey Jimeno to participate in physical activity. While the initial reaction may have been positive due to the child's apparent cuteness, a closer analysis of a video footage from our research and investigative team unveils troubling practices.

Netizens were initially drawn to the video due to the apparent overload of cuteness on foot. However, upon closer inspection on our investigative news team of OneNETnews, it became evident that the child's parents were employing questionable tactics to motivate him to exercise. Uploaded in mid-December 2023, the video shows the parents using sweets like chocolates as an illegal parenting reward for completing exercise routines, a practice commonly referred to as 'exercise shaming'.

Exercise shaming, where physical activity is used as a form of either partial or full-time punishment or reward, can have detrimental effects on a child's mental and physical well-being like baby Liam. This leads to break a 'Food Pyramid' rule for not having a proper diet and healthy lifestyle. Fitness experts cautioned against employing such methods, and highlight the importance of fostering a positive association with exercise and instilling healthy habits from an early age like a toddler.

In view of these illicit concerns, it is essential to tackle the issue of exercise shaming and its potential effects on children. Local health care professionals in Laguna highlights the significance of avoiding the use of exercise as a form of punishment or reward. Engaging like this in such outdoor practices can result the feelings of shame and inadequacy, ultimately undermining a child's self-esteem and their connection with physical activity.

Studies published in a 2015 journal report 'PLOS ONE' underscoring the lasting impacts of this said shaming, including an elevated risk of developing disordered eating habits and negative body image. These findings also underscore the necessity for parents & caregivers to utilize positive reinforcement strategies when encouraging children to engage in physical outdoor activities.

Furthermore, it is essential to understand the impact of nutrition under the 'Food Pyramid' rule, promoting overall health and well-being. While indulging in sweets may seem innocent, excessive consumption intake can lead to health problems like us such as obesity and dental issues. Seeking guidance from healthcare professionals and certified dietitians can provide valuable medical and physical advice on establishing healthy eating habits for the Filipino children.

As medical professionals and dietitian investigators in Laguna continues into the purported 'exercise shaming' incident like baby Liam, it is more vital for parents & caregivers to strictly prioritize and focus on their children's physical and emotional well-being. By fostering a supportive environment and instilling positive attitudes towards exercise and nutrition in the 'Food Pyramid' rule, they can play a key role in ensuring that every child has the chance to flourish and maintain a proper diet and healthy lifestyle altogether.

SCREENGRAB COURTESY: LiamGreyJimeno via IG Reels VIDEO BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://www.facebook.com/100064746458701/videos/1360085774663921/ [Referenced FB RELAY VIDEO via Manila Bulletin] *https://www.facebook.com/100078154195528/videos/1070804181005243/ [Referenced IG Reels VIDEO for FB via LiamGreyJimeno] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_r6_8pNjA8 [Referenced YT VIDEO via Jessica Valant Pilates] *https://www.empoweringparents.com/article/giving-kids-consequences-exercise-as-punishment/ [Referenced Editorial Article via Empowering Parents] *https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/think-hard-before-shaming-children-2020012418692 [Referenced Editorial Article via Harvard Health Publishing] *https://effectiviology.com/reverse-psychology/ [Referenced Editorial Article via Effectiviology] *https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0119278 [Referenced Journal Research Article via PLOS ONE] *https://podcasts.ufhealth.org/the-science-behind-chocolate-addiction/ [Referenced Editorial Article via University of Florida Health] and *https://lifestyle.fit/en/foods/tips/chocolate-addiction/ [Referenced Editorial Article via Lifestyle Fit]

-- OneNETnews Team

[thejasonhunterdesign]

9 Tips to Help You Create Engaging, Relevant Website Content

The power of effective website content cannot be overstated. It is the bridge that transforms casual visitors into potential clients, encourages action through compelling calls to action, and facilitates seamless content sharing. Successful content writing places your website at the pinnacle of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), amplifying its discoverability and attracting a broader audience. Content writing services play a crucial role in this process, offering expertise in creating engaging, SEO-optimized content that speaks directly to your audience's needs and interests. In this blog, we will delve into essential considerations for crafting website content that is not only easy to understand but also resonates with your target audience, with a special focus on how professional content writing services can elevate your online presence. What is Website Content Writing?

Website content writing, often referred to as "writing for the web" or "web copywriting," involves crafting ads, social media posts, and other marketing materials tailored for online consumption. The primary objective is to capture the reader's attention and prompt them to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.

How to Write Easy-to-Understand Website Content?

Use simple sentences: Simplify your language to make your content accessible to a broader audience.

Be clear and direct: Eliminate ambiguity and get straight to the point to keep your readers engaged.

Inverted Pyramid style: Start with the most important information, followed by additional details in descending order of importance.

Use keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords naturally to enhance search engine visibility.

Utilize headings and subheadings: Craft clear and concise titles that aid quick information retrieval.

Separate ideas into paragraphs: Break down content into digestible paragraphs, avoiding intimidating blocks of text.

Make your text skim-friendly: Opt for bulleted lists instead of lengthy paragraphs to enhance readability.

Choose the right case: Prefer sentence case over uppercase for improved readability.

Use bold strategically: Highlight important information with bold text to draw attention.

9 Tips for Writing Awesome Website Content

Define your content's purpose: Clearly understand the goals of your content, whether it's to inform, engage, or drive specific actions.

Identify your target audience: Determine who your content is meant for to tailor your message effectively and maximize impact.

Stay updated on algorithms: Keep abreast of search engine algorithms to ensure your content aligns with their criteria for value.

Inject personality into your voice: Develop a distinctive tone that resonates with your brand, keeping the language active and engaging.

Optimize page structure: Format and divide your content to accommodate short attention spans, especially on mobile devices.

Maintain consistency with website elements: Ensure your content aligns seamlessly with the overall aesthetics, color schemes, and graphics of your website.

Assess audience comprehension: Tailor your content based on your audience's level of understanding to enhance clarity.

Align with metadata: Use relevant metadata to communicate the essence of your page to search engines, improving visibility.

Encourage interaction: Create opportunities for feedback and engagement, fostering a sense of community and improving your content over time.

In conclusion, crafting compelling website content requires thoughtful planning and consideration of various factors, including the integration of professional content writing services. These services can provide expertise in areas like SEO optimization, tone consistency, and audience engagement. By incorporating these nine tips, along with the specialized skills offered by content writing services, into your content creation strategy, you can significantly elevate the engagement, relevance, and effectiveness of your website content. This holistic approach ensures a lasting impact on your audience, making your website not only informative but also memorable.

[diejager]

The Executioner | Pyramid Head

Reminder : My blog contains dark/yandere content and have 18+ fanfics, so MDNI with NSFW fics. I also do fluff and angst. All my works are fiction : I don’t own any of the characters I write for; there might be triggering subjects - please see the warnings before reading. None of the gifs or visuals I use in my fics are mine.

Your consumption of media is your responsibility and yours alone.

Nav |  DBD

[dark, fluff, yandere, nsfw(*), angst, request]

Just sex* | f Overstimulation* | f,r Breeding* | f,d,r

[audiofuzz]

SEE: Datarock - “DISCObedience” + AI-Generated Music Video

The incomparable dance rock kings DATAROCK are back with a new single “DISCObedience” and an AI-generated music video. We have been fans of these guys since 2006 and we’re excited to share with you their catchy and playful new dance single. Check it out below and read more. DATAROCK who exploded from their trademark red tracksuits with their global hit “Fa-Fa-Fa” in 2006 and headlined Coachella, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds Festivals or perhaps you know their music from Coke and Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and Google commercials, or from films like Ace Ventura Jr.:  Pet Detective, and even Video Games like FIFA, and the SIMs! Well… they’re back and trading their jumpsuits for A.I. spacesuits with a new single called “DISCObedience” that came out last Friday (8/18) and a new album Media Consumption Pyramid that comes out Sept 29th via YAP Records!. Embracing new Technology in Media Consumption Pyramid, their previous singles “Rabbit Hole”, and “Heart Shaped Circle,” showcase A.I -generated music videos for their new music that fuses nostalgic sounds of 80s artists like DEVO,  Depeche ModePet Shop Boys, and The Smiths, with modern electro rhythms. Written in response to the very violent right-wing, terrorist attack In 2011 in Utøya (an island in Norway) with 69 people killed that happened the following night after one of their performances, Media Consumption Pyramid is a cathartic exhale of that experience plus the Covid lockdown. Instead of a depressing album, Fredrik (who is also a restaurateur who opened two Michelin-starred restaurants Lysverket and Hoggorm in Norway) decided to sublimate that negative energy and write a record that celebrates life. Read the full article

[chrisryanspeaks]

SEE: Datarock - “DISCObedience” + AI-Generated Music Video

The incomparable dance rock kings DATAROCK are back with a new single “DISCObedience” and an AI-generated music video. We have been fans of these guys since 2006 and we’re excited to share with you their catchy and playful new dance single. Check it out below and read more. DATAROCK who exploded from their trademark red tracksuits with their global hit “Fa-Fa-Fa” in 2006 and headlined Coachella, Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds Festivals or perhaps you know their music from Coke and Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and Google commercials, or from films like Ace Ventura Jr.:  Pet Detective, and even Video Games like FIFA, and the SIMs! Well… they’re back and trading their jumpsuits for A.I. spacesuits with a new single called “DISCObedience” that came out last Friday (8/18) and a new album Media Consumption Pyramid that comes out Sept 29th via YAP Records!. Embracing new Technology in Media Consumption Pyramid, their previous singles “Rabbit Hole”, and “Heart Shaped Circle,” showcase A.I -generated music videos for their new music that fuses nostalgic sounds of 80s artists like DEVO,  Depeche ModePet Shop Boys, and The Smiths, with modern electro rhythms. Written in response to the very violent right-wing, terrorist attack In 2011 in Utøya (an island in Norway) with 69 people killed that happened the following night after one of their performances, Media Consumption Pyramid is a cathartic exhale of that experience plus the Covid lockdown. Instead of a depressing album, Fredrik (who is also a restaurateur who opened two Michelin-starred restaurants Lysverket and Hoggorm in Norway) decided to sublimate that negative energy and write a record that celebrates life. Read the full article

[cloudminergpt]

Best Cloud Mining Strategies In 2023

More people across the globe acknowledge cloud mining as a lucrative source of passive income and are successful only when they approach it carefully. Investment in cloud mining comes with risks that are associated either with the procedure or through frauds who are trying to find their way inside this concept. This is especially important in a volatile crypto market and the traces of scams that demotivate aspirants. Now that crypto cloud mining is made easier with professionals managing the rigs for us at nominal costs and earnings reaching our wallets periodically, let us check the best cloud mining strategies in 2023 that would optimize our efforts.

Research Is The Keyword

Start by understanding the basics of cloud mining and ask all possible questions to providers with which you could assess the potential of your investments. Defining investment goals and risk tolerance would help you decide between short-term and long-term investments. Research the reputation and track record of crypto mining providers through sources including reviews and testimonials.

Verify the cloud mining platform’s registration, location and compliance with relevant regulations so that its authenticity is asserted. Study the choices of algorithms and crypto coins that the mining provider offers.

Understand The Costs

Since somebody else is handling the operations for you, it is essential to observe the fee structure like maintenance fees, power consumption and electricity costs depending on the location of the data centres which are part of your investments. It is equally important to research how these costs would affect your profits and return on investments.

The breakdown of costs includes the purchase of mining hardware like ASICS which are efficient in mining specific coins like Bitcoins or GPUs which mine multiple coins. Since the hardware generates heat throughout the process, cooling solutions are inevitable. The other expenses include internet and networking costs, mining pool fees, rent for data centre space, taxes, insurance and security costs.

Diversify Investments

As an investor, it is safe and advisable to spread the investment across multiple providers or numerous crypto coins. This could be done by studying the prospects of mining pools, algorithms and crypto coins and striking the balance among the above-mentioned diversification factors. One could also invest in a mix of contract lengths which are extremely useful in adapting to changing market trends.

Monitoring the performance of the cryptocurrency helps to buy mining contract appropriately. As elsewhere, be prepared with an exit plan that anticipates changes in the regulatory environment or possible shutdown of the cloud mining company.

Beware Of Unrealistic Promises

Look out for scammers who intend to abscond with your investments through a few red flags including unrealistic promises of huge profits. Study the provider’s inclination towards transparency and their comfort levels while disclosing information about their mining hardware, data centres and team.

The earlier performance of the cloud mining services in terms of profitability and reliability must be checked to gauge the validity of their promises. Unsolicited approaches through emails or social media, pressure to invest immediately, operations based on the pyramid or referral structure and high minimum restrictions on withdrawals are signs of scams.

Track Market Trends

Be updated about the happenings in the cryptocurrency industry including changes in mining algorithms and regulatory developments based on which you could adjust your investment strategies. Browse cryptocurrency websites and publications that provide useful insights into industry trends and join social media communities in this regard where you can share experiences and learn from other participants.

Updates on virtual mining difficulty, hash rates and algorithms influence your choice of the best mining contracts. Also, use market analysis tools to track market caps, trading volumes and prices with which you can observe charts and understand the trends. Use mining profitability calculators by using parameters like electricity costs, cryptocurrency prices and mining difficulty to assess returns.

Security And Wallet Management

Focus on the security infrastructure of your cloud mining process which is an important practice of your venture without which your investments capsize. Use a hardware wallet that is immune to online threats, fortify them with encrypted wallet backups and use them to protect your private keys.

Store the backups in secure locations so that they can recover funds in cases of theft or loss. Secure cloud crypto mining accounts with two-factor authentication and strong and unique passwords which in turn are regularly updated. Beware of phishing attempts and never click unauthorized URLs or links in suspicious emails.

Regularly Monitor And Withdraw Earnings

Rigorously follow your cloud mining account and withdraw your earnings to a secure wallet. Never leave big amounts in your crypto account which may suffer damage due to crypto platform shutdown or hacking threats. Create monitoring schedules based on the frequency of your mining activities and look for irregularities in the cloud mining performance.

Fix a threshold amount for withdrawals which includes cloud mining cost like transaction fees, thereby enabling you to minimize fees. Double-check the withdrawal addresses since crypto transactions are irreversible. Maintain a record of earnings, withdrawals and transactions whose documentation not only helps in tax purposes but also tracks performance.

Be Prepared For Risks

Your cloud mining approach is defensive when you operate with awareness of the risks involved. Anticipating risks minimizes the same and enables the cloud mining investor to make informed decisions. Examine risks such as market volatility, hardware collapse and shutdown possibilities of the provider before stepping inside.

Above all, ensure that you are okay with the risks involved in each entity of your investments. Being aware of volatility keeps you prepared for price drops and helps you plan loss levels and diversification of investments. Understanding contract terms and being prepared for hardware upgrades and network changes helps the investor to face risks associated with the same.

Conclusion

Given the speculative atmosphere of the cryptocurrency market, it is prudent to approach the concept with caution whose patience and focus pays off handsomely. A healthy degree of skepticism has huge possibilities of minimizing the risks associated and turning your investment venture into a grand success.

[escenanews]

Media Consumption Pyramid

[thinkhealthylivecreative]

Nutrition For A Healthy Lifestyle

Nourishment is defined as the "sum whole of the systems energetic in the ingesting and also use food components where growth, reconstruction, plus routine upkeep of tasks in the body all at once along with in any one of its elements are accomplished-including consumption, food digestion, absorption, and the metabolic procedure (assimilation). It is additionally impossible to believe that these teenagers will willingly get up off of the sofa and far from their computer game, their motion pictures or their other electronic devices to exercise when no person else is doing so. Nutritionists In contrast, nutritionists happen to be recognized by the concept of nourishment When things are not intended we established ourselves to a method of failing, as well as outcomes are not created as necessary. If she or he refuses to distribute call info, then you need to have doubts. Vitamin C assists the body to take in iron, so a glass of orange juice a day can really double the amount of iron offered for usage in the body. 4 year training courses are additionally offered in post college graduation. Convenience - Take in factor to consider the individuality and openness of the nutritionist Many individuals have actually noticed that coffee has a laxative effect on them. Lots of individuals self diagnose according to what they check out in the media or what their close friend has mentioned. SupplementsCure bowel irregularity with C. Iodine is critical for proper functioning of the thyroid gland. The USA Department of Agriculture (USDA) food guide pyramid recommends that we make use of fat "moderately," and that our everyday diet include 2 - 3 servings of dairy items; 2 - 3 servings of meat, fowl, fish, eggs, beans, or nuts; 3 - 5 servings of vegetables; 2 - 4 portions of fruit; and also 6 - 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, or pasta. There are numerous on the market. Zinc toxicity is hardly ever a trouble, however specific pet types, such as Siberian Huskies as well as Alaskan Malamutes have an inability to absorb zinc. On the other hand, taking a poor top quality supplements can have bad repercussions. It is definitely possible for an ordinary folk to integrate at least 2-3 glasses of whey healthy protein drinks in his/her daily diet regimen to raise his/her energy. These supplements can be conveniently discovered in nourishment shops as well as on the internet supplement shops. Nourishment supplements are vital and also must be taken on a daily basis or relying on your requirements. Researched as part of The French Mystery, these substances are believed to sustain a healthy and balanced heart and decrease events of coronary heart illness, a major issue in America. Your exercise, everyday activity level, age, and also gender all figure in in just how you should structure your weight loss nourishment plan. An additional useful contribution made by fruits as well as vegetables to our digestive system is the minimized time they require refined. Fat offers us extra power. There are 2 types of fats Saturated (solid at room temperature level) and Unsaturated (liquid at area temperature).

MORE: Think Healthy Live Creative

[mcmansionhell]

Coronagrifting: A Design Phenomenon

We now interrupt our regularly scheduled content to bring you a critical essay on the design world. I promise you that this will also be funny. 

This morning, the design website Dezeen tweeted a link to one of its articles, depicting a plexiglass coronavirus shield that could be suspended above dining areas, with the caption “Reader comment: ‘Dezeen, please stop promoting this stupidity.’”

This, of course, filled many design people, including myself, with a kind of malicious glee. The tweet seemed to show that the website’s editorial (or at least social media) staff retained within themselves a scintilla of self-awareness regarding the spread a new kind of virus in its own right: cheap mockups of COVID-related design “solutions” filling the endlessly scrollable feeds of PR-beholden design websites such as Dezeen, ArchDaily, and designboom. I call this phenomenon: Coronagrifting. 

I’ll go into detail about what I mean by this, but first, I would like to presenet some (highly condensed) history. 

From Paper Architecture to PR-chitecture

Back in the headier days of architecture in the 1960s and 70s, a number of architectural avant gardes (such as Superstudio and Archizoom in Italy and Archigram in the UK) ceased producing, well, buildings, in favor of what critics came to regard as “paper architecture.” This “paper architecture” included everything from sprawling diagrams of megastructures, including cities that “walked” or “never stopped” - to playfully erotic collages involving Chicago’s Marina City. Occasionally, these theoretical and aesthetic explorations were accompanied by real-world productions of “anti-design” furniture that may or may not have involved foam fingers. 

Archigram’s Walking City (1964). Source.

Paper architecture, of course, still exists, but its original radical, critical, playful, (and, yes, even erotic) elements were shed when the last of the ultra-modernists were swallowed up by the emerging aesthetic hegemony of Postmodernism (which was much less invested in theoretical and aesthetic futurism) in the early 1980s. What remained were merely images, the production and consumption of which has only increased as the design world shifted away from print and towards the rapidly produced, easily digestible content of the internet and social media. 

Architect Bjarke Ingels’s “Oceanix” - a mockup of an ecomodernist, luxury city designed in response to rising sea levels from climate change. The city will never be built, and its critical interrogation amounts only to “city with solar panels that floats bc climate change is Serious”  - but it did get Ingels and his firm, BIG, a TED talk and circulation on all of the hottest blogs and websites. Meanwhile, Ingels has been in business talks with the right-wing climate change denialist president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro. (Image via designboom) 

Design websites are increasingly dominated by text and mockups from the desks of a firm’s public relations departments, facilitating a transition from the paper-architecture-imaginary to what I have begun calling “PR-chitecture.” In short, PR-chitecture is architecture and design content that has been dreamed up from scratch to look good on instagram feeds or, more simply, for clicks.  It is only within this substance-less, critically lapsed media landscape that Coronagrifting can prosper.

Coronagrifting: An Evolution

As of this writing, the two greatest offenders of Coronagrifting are Dezeen, which has devoted an entire section of its website to the virus (itself offering twelve pages of content since February alone) and designboom, whose coronavirus tag contains no fewer than 159 articles. 

Certainly, a small handful of these stories demonstrate useful solutions to COVID-related problems (such as this one from designboom about a student who created a mask prototype that would allow D/deaf and hard of hearing people to read lips) most of the prototypes and the articles about them are, for a lack of a better word, insipid. 

But where, you may ask, did it all start?

One of the easiest (and, therefore, one of the earliest) Coronagrifts involves “new innovative, health-centric designs tackling problems at the intersection of wearables and personal mobility,” which is PR-chitecture speak for “body shields and masks.” 

Wearables and Post-ables

The first example came from Chinese architect Sun Dayong, back at the end of February 2020, when the virus was still isolated in China. Dayong submitted to Dezeen a prototype of a full mask and body-shield that “would protect a wearer during a coronavirus outbreak by using UV light to sterilise itself.” The project was titled “Be a Bat Man.” No, I am not making this up. 

Screenshot of Dayong’s “Be a Batman” as seen on the Dezeen website. 

Soon after, every artist, architect, designer, and sharp-eyed PR rep at firms and companies only tangentially related to design realized that, with the small investment of a Photoshop mockup and some B-minus marketing text, they too could end up on the front page of these websites boasting a large social media following and an air of legitimacy in the field. 

By April, companies like Apple and Nike were promising the use of existing facilities for producing or supplying an arms race’s worth of slick-tech face coverings. Starchitecture’s perennial PR-churners like Foster + Partners and Bjarke Ingels were repping “3D-printed face shields”, while other, lesser firms promised wearable vaporware like “grapheme filters,” branded “skincare LED masks for encouraging self-development” and “solar powered bubble shields.” 

While the mask Coronagrift continues to this day, the Coronagrifting phenomenon had, by early March, moved to other domains of design. 

Consider the barrage of asinine PR fluff that is the “Public Service Announcement” and by Public Service Announcement, I mean “A Designer Has Done Something Cute to Capitalize on Information Meant to Save Lives.” 

Some of the earliest offenders include cutesy posters featuring flags in the shape of houses, ostensibly encouraging people to “stay home;” a designer building a pyramid out of pillows ostensibly encouraging people to “stay home”; and Banksy making “lockdown artwork” that involved covering his bathroom in images of rats ostensibly encouraging people to “stay home.” 

Lol. Screenshot from Dezeen. 

You may be asking, “What’s the harm in all this, really, if it projects a good message?” And the answer is that people are plenty well encouraged to stay home due to the rampant spread of a deadly virus at the urging of the world’s health authorities, and that these tone-deaf art world creeps are using such a crisis for shameless self promotion and the generation of clicks and income, while providing little to no material benefit to those at risk and on the frontlines.

Of course, like the mask coronagrift, the Public Service Announcement coronagrift continues to this very day. 

The final iteration of Post-able and Wearable Coronagrifting genres are what I call “Passive Aggressive Social Distancing Initiatives” or PASDIs. Many of the first PASDIs were themselves PSAs and art grifts, my favorite of which being the designboom post titled “social distancing applied to iconic album covers like the beatle’s abbey road.” As you can see, we’re dealing with extremely deep stuff here. 

However, an even earlier and, in many ways more prescient and lucrative grift involves “social distancing wearables.” This can easily be summarized by the first example of this phenomenon, published March 19th, 2020 on designboom: 

Never wasting a single moment to capitalize on collective despair, all manner of brands have seized on the social distancing wearable trend, which, again, can best be seen in the last example of the phenomenon, published May 22nd, 2020 on designboom:

We truly, truly live in Hell. 

Which brings us, of course, to living. 

“Architectural Interventions” for a “Post-COVID World”

As soon as it became clear around late March and early April that the coronavirus (and its implications) would be sticking around longer than a few months, the architectural solutions to the problem came pouring in. These, like the virus itself, started at the scale of the individual and have since grown to the scale of the city. (Whether or not they will soon encompass the entire world remains to be seen.) 

The architectural Coronagrift began with accessories (like the designboom article about 3D-printed door-openers that enable one to open a door with one’s elbow, and the Dezeen article about a different 3D-printed door-opener that enables one to open a door with one’s elbow) which, in turn, evolved into “work from home” furniture (”Stykka designs cardboard #StayTheF***Home Desk for people working from home during self-isolation”) which, in turn, evolved into pop-up vaporware architecture for first responders (”opposite office proposes to turn berlin's brandenburg airport into COVID-19 'superhospital'”), which, in turn evolved into proposals for entire buildings (”studio prototype designs prefabricated 'vital house' to combat COVID-19″); which, finally, in turn evolved into “urban solutions” aimed at changing the city itself (a great article summarizing and criticizing said urban solutions was recently written by Curbed’s Alissa Walker).

There is something truly chilling about an architecture firm, in order to profit from attention seized by a global pandemic, logging on to their computers, opening photoshop, and drafting up some lazy, ineffectual, unsanitary mockup featuring figures in hazmat suits carrying a dying patient (macabrely set in an unfinished airport construction site) as a real, tangible solution to the problem of overcrowded hospitals; submitting it to their PR desk for copy, and sending it out to blogs and websites for clicks, knowing full well that the sole purpose of doing so consists of the hope that maybe someone with lots of money looking to commission health-related interiors will remember that one time there was a glossy airport hospital rendering on designboom and hire them. 

Enough, already. 

Frankly, after an endless barrage of cyberpunk mask designs, social distancing burger king crowns, foot-triggered crosswalk beg buttons that completely ignore accessibility concerns such as those of wheelchair users, cutesy “stay home uwu” projects from well-to-do art celebrities (who are certainly not suffering too greatly from the economic ramifications of this pandemic), I, like the reader featured in the Dezeen Tweet at the beginning of this post, have simply had enough of this bullshit. 

What’s most astounding to me about all of this (but especially about #brand crap like the burger king crowns) is that it is taken completely seriously by design establishments that, despite being under the purview of PR firms, should frankly know better. I’m sure that Bjarke Ingels and Burger King aren’t nearly as affected by the pandemic as those who have lost money, jobs, stability, homes, and even their lives at the hands of COVID-19 and the criminally inept national and international response to it. On the other hand, I’m sure that architects and designers are hard up for cash at a time when nobody is building and buying anything, and, as a result, many see resulting to PR-chitecture as one of the only solutions to financial problems. 

However, I’m also extremely sure that there are interventions that can be made at the social, political, and organizational level, such as campaigning for paid sick leave, organizing against layoffs and for decent severance or an expansion of public assistance, or generally fighting the rapidly accelerating encroachment of work into all aspects of everyday life – that would bring much more good and, dare I say, progress into the world than a cardboard desk captioned with the hashtag #StaytheF***Home. 

Hence, I’ve spent most of my Saturday penning this article on my blog, McMansion Hell. I’ve chosen to run this here because I myself have lost work as a freelance writer, and the gutting of publications down to a handful of editors means that, were I to publish this story on another platform, it would have resulted in at least a few more weeks worth of inflatable, wearable, plexiglass-laden Coronagrifting, something my sanity simply can no longer withstand. 

So please, Dezeen, designboom, others – I love that you keep daily tabs on what architects and designers are up to, a resource myself and other critics and design writers find invaluable – however, I am begging, begging you to start having some discretion with regards to the proposals submitted to you as “news” or “solutions” by brands and firms, and the cynical, ulterior motives behind them. If you’re looking for a guide on how to screen such content, please scroll up to the beginning of this page. 

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