The Feed: Soothing sport content, cowboy carter and edating
The Feed
The Feed (@thefeed.global) is powered by We Are Social’s Cultural Insights team. We’re diving into the top three posts from the month so far – trends include sports brands creating soothing content, the BeyHive supporting Beyoncé’s Country music career, and edating blurring the lines between on and offline romance.
Read on to find out what they all mean, and why they’ve been taking over our social feeds.
Sports brands are using soothing edits to help zone fans in
”This is so ✨aesthetic✨” reads a fan comment on a short video published to X by the NBA’s Boston Celtics. The video is sports content, but not the typical kind – delicate, jazzy piano overlays saturated imagery of players like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, not in intense moments of gameplay, but jingling car keys, thudding footsteps down halls, watching cameras flash as they approach the TD Stadium. As a near-silent film, the video shifts the focus away from the action-packed, fast-paced nature of basketball and instead zones in on the soothing and sensorial.
This ambient, cinematic style isn’t a one-off – it’s making waves across the sports world, from the moments in between to game highlights which hone in on the relaxing elements of performance, like rhythmic movements and satisfying sounds.
Beyoncé’s BeyHive are mobilising against Country music gatekeepers
After Beyoncé’s latest Country single was denied airplay by an Oklahoma radio station, fans have begun an online campaign to demand stations add the single to their playlists. Fans have organised across social platforms and created a dedicated website to request her songs on Country radio – leading to major stations to include her music on their playlists.
In the realm of Country music, securing radio play is crucial for success. However, the industry often upholds a narrow perspective of the genre, shutting out diverse voices such as Beyoncé and Lil Nas X from entering their airwaves. As the BeyHive infiltrates Country music spheres, it is instigating a shift in how these stations operate. They can no longer be the sole arbiters of Country music; instead, they must respond to the demands of emerging fanbases yearning for increased diversity across the music industry.
Edating is blurring the lines between on and offline romance
“I would have never thought that me getting on Discord and joining a John Mayer server of all things…that I would meet somebody.” This excerpt, from the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of the unlikely destination Gen Zers are finding romance, is part of an emerging behaviour known as edating. Primarily used to describe those who meet and date through gaming, it’s a reflection of the blurring of on and offline worlds, with interest-based Discord servers often acting as the foundation for IRL relationships. On TikTok, edating is a source of romanticisation and ridicule: whether it be homemade edits of couples mic’d up and being cute on Roblox or anecdotes from those who have ventured into edating and experienced deep regret.
As Gen Z continue to spend most of their lives online, the line between social media and ‘real life’ is more blurred than ever. The rise of edating speaks to how emergent internet behaviours like interest-based hangs on Discord and Roblox are impacting the future of romance and offline relationships at-large.
