Nicholas Lising-White is a behavioural analyst at Canvas8. With a degree in human geography from UCL, he is interested in the impact of differing cultural conditions on human behaviour. Outside of work, he can be found meandering between cafes on his bike, testing his culinary skills, and intermittently pottering around a rugby pitch.

People are taking a patchwork approach to self-expression to feel like they have control over how their identity is generated. Yet as individual expression becomes more mutable and mistrust in social systems abounds, there’s one place above all that people are seeking integrity and guidance: brands.

Reality Split

Global

Communications

Social networking

Resale and online marketplaces

Year-on-year growth of TikTok’s monthly active users slowed markedly in December 2023, and some commentators are suggesting TikTok Shop could be to blame. Users are frustrated by an overload of advertising content when they value TikTok for its ability to facilitate community.