Welcome back to Lately, The Globe’s weekly tech newsletter. I’m Jacob Dubé from the audience team, covering for Samantha Edwards this week. If you have any newsletter feedback or just want to say hello to a real-life human, send us an e-mail.
In this week’s issue:
👶🏼 Young rich moms are getting a rebrand online
💒 Why making fun of the ultrawealthy doesn’t work any more
🎨 The confidence-boosting tattoos banned on social media
😇 These teen podcasters from Calgary want you to be happier
Influencers
Young moms are getting a rebrand on social media – if they’re rich
Kylie Jenner has become the face of trendy young rich moms.ANDREA RENAULT/AFP/Getty Images
Young parents haven’t always been shown in the best light. Through the 2000s, shows such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant tended to portray its young moms as cautionary tales who faced shame from their friends and family. But when novelist Leila Mottley saw then-20-year-old Kylie Jenner announce her pregnancy in 2018, she was surprised to see the reaction online steer more toward envy and excitement. In the years since, young mom influencers have become prevalent on social media, sharing their parenting journeys – as well as their extravagant lifestyles. As Mottley writes in an opinion piece for The Globe: “We have swung from one side of the spectrum of public belief to another.” It raises the question, are young moms popular again on social media, or is this merely another way we’re glorifying the wealthy?
Health
Areola tattoos can help get breast cancer survivors get their confidence back. So why does social media target their businesses?
Lara Jade Brown speaks with a breast cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy in her Toronto studio on June 14.Jennifer Roberts/The Globe and Mail
For breast cancer survivors, one of the toughest challenges in recovery is returning to a sense of normalcy, especially if surgery was involved. A mastectomy, or the removal of a breast, is a common treatment for larger tumours, and often the nipples or areolas are removed during the operation. The areola tattoo industry aims to help breast-cancer survivors regain confidence in their bodies. Artists such as Lara Jade Brown say demand has increased for these high-detail tattoos, and many clients find her on social media. However, Ms. Brown calls strict censorship rules the bane of her business. Despite the restorative nature of her work, some platforms ban her account outright and others constantly take down her posts, citing explicit content. Read more about Ms. Brown’s unique tattooing skills in the latest edition of our Mastering It series.
Billionaires
Opinion: Eating the rich? We’re barely tweaking the rich
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, leave the Aman Venice hotel in Italy on June 29.Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
Social media was having a field day this past weekend commenting on the wedding of billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez – poking fun at everything from the ugly wedding invitations and the carpet at the ceremony to the fratty superyacht foam party. But are we really accomplishing anything by dissing the rich online? Pop culture is rife with jabs at the ultrawealthy – The White Lotus and Mountainhead are recent examples – that don’t really seem to connect with their intended effect. As Adrian Lee writes, when pop culture is telling us that it’s good enough to generate nothing more than a “Ha! Got ‘em!”, satire and sarcasm feels increasingly like an impotent response. It’s easy to mock the cartoonishly wealthy Bezos’s taste in wedding decor, but it’s missing the mark on the real issue: how they got so rich in the first place.
What else we’re reading this week:
Inside ‘AI addiction’ support groups, where people try to stop talking to chatbots (404 Media)
Bluesky is plotting a total takeover of the social internet (WIRED)
AI is making everyone on dating apps sound charming. What could go wrong? (Washington Post)
Adult Money
Getting sporty
Supplied
As we settle into summer, pickleball remains all the rage. But with a new sport comes the need for new gear (here I am just having bought my latest pair of softball cleats) and, as always, a good pair of shoes is a must-have. Pickleball shoes need to offer the wearer more stability for side-to-side motions to help avoid ankle injuries. Truc Nguyen put a list together of six pairs to try out, including the sleek Skechers Viper Court Pro 2.0 for men, and the Tyrol Volleys for women.
Culture Radar
Happiness
Anastasia Korngut, right, and sister Mercedes host in-person pop-ups and have a website with free happiness advice and teen-friendly swag.LEAH HENNEL/The Globe and Mail
For young people seeking advice on happiness and wellness, it’s hard to look to someone twice your age for tips. That’s part of why the teenagers behind the hit Hack Your Happiness podcast have risen to the top of the Spotify charts. Sisters Mercedes and Anastasia Korngut – aged 17 and 15, respectively – created their brand of “small bits of happiness” while researching how to manage the stress of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Erin Anderssen chats with the podcasters on their tips to stay happy.