🎧 Open Tabs: 2016 isn’t nostalgia—it’s timestamp clout

Happy Friday 👋Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation:* Alix Earle just got a Netflix deal [1:00]. We kicked things off with the news that Alix Earle is officially getting a Netflix reality show - announced, fittingly, via a get ready with me video on TikTok. The show appears to lean into a Kardashian-style family dynamic, centering around her blended family and inner circle. We discuss why this move feels inevitable, how Netflix is clearly angling to compete with YouTube and Bravo-style fandoms, and why Earle is uniquely positioned to succeed where traditional celebrity reality stars may be plateauing.* Our POV: Alix understands narrative control across platforms, emotional transparency without over-explaining, and how to collapse personal life, branded moments, and distribution into one cohesive story. Just looking at her last 3 TikTok posts alone shows how modern creators shape perception without press releases. Netflix’s smartest move here isn’t the show itself, it’s betting on creators who already know how to manage audience intimacy at scale.* Additional reading:* Alix Earle sets Netflix reality show with family* What Netflix’s expansion teaches us about multi-platform strategy* YouTube’s vibe recession and the limits of utility [14:40]. Next, we unpacked reporting around YouTube’s “vibecession”: despite platform-wide growth, many creators are seeing declining engagement on long-form content as YouTube aggressively pushes Shorts. * Our POV: YouTube used to set the tone of internet culture. Now, TikTok has taken its place. The biggest problem we’re personally seeing with the platform is its curation. TikTok’s algorithm is so sensitive that it feels like it can read our minds and by comparison YouTube’s recommendations and algorithm isn’t hitting. Since YouTube has become such a huge search engine, the platform feels more utilitarian and less creative.* Additional reading:* The YouTube vibecession* Everyone can’t stop talking about 2016 [29:30]. Every media outlet is talking about “Gen Z’s obsession with 2016.” We disagree. This isn’t nostalgia, nor is it Gen Z driven. Instead, it’s millennials posting proof-of-life receipts—evidence that they were early, online, cool, hot, and culturally fluent long before Gen Zs.* Our POV: This isn’t about wanting to go back, it’s about signaling longevity. 2016 posts are less “take me back” and more “I’ve been here.” When every platform rewards novelty, timestamp clout becomes a way to assert credibility and cultural seniority. * Additional reading:* Was 2016 the last good year?* For better or for worse, it’s 2016 again on the internet* Why 2026 is the new 2016 - what Gen Z’s nostalgia means for marketers* The Metaverse is over [38:45]. In case you missed it, last week we had an impromptu conversation about the Metaverse and why it missed the mark. A few days later, Meta announced that they were shifting away from the Metaverse to focus on AI. Does Zuck listen to Open Tabs?* Our POV: The metaverse didn’t fail - it just lost the PR war. What actually stalled wasn’t the idea of immersive digital worlds, but the way it was branded: corporate, hardware-heavy, and prematurely future-facing [remember the weird floating torsos?]. Meanwhile, the behaviors that were supposed to define the metaverse - identity play, virtual economies, social worlds, and persistent digital spaces - never went away. They just kept evolving quietly inside games [Roblox, Minecraft, etc.], fandoms, and creator-led platforms.* Additional reading:* Well, there goes the metaverse* Where Meta’s metaverse vision went wrongThanks for listening! 🎧 🤍 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mtdeco.substack.com/subscribe