Cultural trends

Social media has become the default news platform for digital natives (for better and / or worse)

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Hanna Kahlert
The tragic turn of events last week in Ukraine have shaken Europe and the world. People are frightened, politicians are tense, markets are volatile , and no one knows what will come next. However, as news has emerged of the situation, an interesting phenomenon has become clear: while robust reporting may be difficult to come by, and official communication lines are intermittently down , digital natives are keeping tabs on the situation through social media.
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The Oscars in 2022 – Attempting to hold the line against digital disruption

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Tim Mulligan
The 94thAcademy Awards are only 26 days away, and the long-established hype machine for promoting the Oscars, as they are popularly known, is well underway. Arguably, as the first Oscars post-pandemic (where the pandemic has been side-lined in favour of a resumption of post-lockdown life), the movie industry will be hoping that the Oscars return to their traditional default position at the pinnacle of the entertainment ecosystem.
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If Web3 is so forward-thinking, why is it so male dominated?

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Tatiana Cirisano
Strike up a five-minute conversation with someone in the Web3 space, and any combination of the words “forward-thinking”, “revolutionary”, and “equitable” is bound to come up. Many proponents of NFTs, DAOs, the metaverse, and other Web3 concepts seek to use decentralisation to dismantle old systems and bring power to the people — and their intentions are, for the most part, good.
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Fandom drivers
From fan psychology to NFT demand

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Mark Mulligan, Karol Severin, Srishti Das and Tatiana Cirisano
Fandom is entertainment’s growth currency, yet it remains both under-valued and poorly understood. While other entertainment currencies can be accurately measured (number of streams, number of sales, number of views, etc.) it is only the effects of fandom that can be quantified (number of likes / shares, merchandise sales, etc.
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The internationalisation of content: What it means when local goes global

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Hanna Kahlert
Digital-first life has broken down cultural borders, allowing content and fans from all over the world to spread far and wide on both a niche and mainstream level. It is now possible for small independent artists to have substantial yet geographically disparate global fanbases, and for mainstream artists with global name recognition to have only small cores of dedicated fans.
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