Once a signifier of luxury or novelty, custom products and services are now within reach of the everyday consumer, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithm-led platforms, and the COVID-era digitisation boom. Today, everyone wants to be the main character of their brand experience.

From decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) run on Discord to city-wide mutual aid groups, people are finding safety and optimism in numbers. For growing numbers of people, collective action is emerging as the only viable solution to compounding crises and deepening alienation.

Fizz is a social media app created for college students that aims to address the isolation that many feel when they arrive on campus. Started by two college dropouts, the app favors candid interaction over the curated nature of legacy social media – just like its Gen Z user base.

Looking to swap out the culture of infinite online engagement for more intentional social interaction, Minus is a platform bringing a scarcity mindset to people's social media use by limiting the number of posts a user can create to 100 over a lifetime – no exceptions.

BeReal is a social media app that hinges on the principle of scarcity. By limiting posts to one a day, it encourages users to share a snapshot of their daily lives in real-time rather than curating an idealized feed – a reflection of how demands for authenticity may reshape online communications.

Social media has become omnipresent in our daily lives and is a fundamental resource for understanding the world around us. But what impact does society's evolving relationship with the news and Big Tech platforms have on our individual understanding of conflicts and crises?