Does Gen Z have a “thoughtfluencer” epidemic? When “educational content is the antithesis of brain rot,” it doesn’t matter whether a creator is a real expert or not—young viewers simply want to break up their endless scroll with something that feels intellectual. And in general, seeking more thought-provoking content on everything from The Odyssey to neuroscience is not a bad thing. This online trend is coinciding with an uptick of in-person reading events and young people visiting libraries, which is partially driven by people on their feed encouraging them to become more educated in their own time. However, the drawbacks are that maintaining an audience as a “thoughtfluencer” requires frequent, bite-sized posts, which doesn’t exactly align with deep research and nuanced explanations. Others note any content that simply appears to have sources, whether they’re cited and verified as credible or not, gains trust and consuming it may be a viewer’s final learning step rather than the doorway to their own ideas. (Dazed)
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