June 26, 2024: Bumble’s Dilemma

This week on The Deep Dive: Financial influencers have run out of things to say, the Sexual Revolution + Capitalism = Bumble and those weird billboards, Justin Timberlake has so little to say that he released a song about having nothing to say (ft. Chris Stapleton), KONY 2012 was even weirder than you remember, and is the internet really to blame for our loss of community?

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SOCIAL MEDIA

The Growing Hatred For Finance Influencers by Donna (22:18)

Financial influencers on YouTube have hit a wall. At this point, nearly all of them have exhausted every bit of useful financial advice in their earliest videos, which helped many of them grow to reach the massive followings they have today. But the advice pipeline has run dry, and in an effort to maintain their internet presence, audience’s attention, and lifestyles, even the most reliable financial influencers have started to lose the trust of their loyal followers by engaging in shady practices. In this video, Donna explains the fundamental problem with channels that are based on providing educational content. At first, it’s super helpful, and viewers are granted access to life-changing advice they otherwise may have never received. As more people seek out their guidance, the algorithm does what it does best and repays them in views and subscriber count – until they learn everything they need to know and stop watching.

CULTURE

Bumble and the sexual revolution by Alice Cappelle (24:48)

The dating fatigue is real, and more and more people who would otherwise like to date have, understandably, had it with the apps and now have nowhere else to turn. Recently, Bumble, the so-called “feminist” dating app, has even managed to alienate its core audience further, which is an obvious problem for the industry. Because dating apps are acutely aware that where women go, men will follow – and we all know who society values more in that equation. In this video, Alice Cappelle breaks down the feminist theory that has been convoluted in the years since the sexual revolution to fit awkwardly within the confines of capitalism and patriarchy. In other words, the exact conditions that made Bumble’s existence and reputation for being “for the ladies” possible. What is it about female divestment from the patriarchy that is so scary to Bumble that it put up a bizarre billboard about celibacy that it later had to apologize for?

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