The creative genius and parasocial peril of TikTok's 'Wrong Text' trend

Somewhere in the last few years, reading quietly became cool again. Actual, physical, dog-eared-paperback reading, not just the Kindle-in-secret kind. Bookshops that were meant to be dying out are opening in record numbers, teenagers are picking Colleen Hoover over their phones (well, sometimes both at once), and “what are you reading” has become a genuine icebreaker rather than something only your English teacher asked.

i’m intrigued by the clean girl aesthetic and its prominence over the past few years. that is, i can’t stop thinking about how it strips away any semblance of individuality.