<p>In case you missed it, we're (re)launching our <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/protein-in-print/" rel="noreferrer">JOURNAL</a> next week – a printed annual packed with all-new, original features across 100 pages. </p><p>First launched in <a href="https://store.protein.xyz/products/protein-journal-1?ref=protein.xyz" rel="noreferrer">2010</a> and updated in <a href="https://store.protein.xyz/products/protein-journal-12-es-devlin?ref=protein.xyz" rel="noreferrer">2014</a>, we’re <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/make-zines-not-content/" rel="noreferrer">practicing what we preach</a> with Vol. 3. Inside you’ll find a year of SEEDs decoded, group chats on culture’s weird twists and the signals shaping what’s coming next – from peak social media to yearning, liminality and the strange little things that make 2026 feel… 2026. We’ve got it all covered and if you're in London next week, <a href="https://luma.com/9dd8zg4w" rel="noreferrer">come to the launch</a>. Protein JOURNAL will be free to <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/membership/" rel="noreferrer">MEMBERS</a> and available to buy in the <a href="https://store.protein.xyz/?ref=protein.xyz" rel="noreferrer">STORE</a> for £15.</p><hr /><p><a href="https://www.protein.xyz/tag/seeds/" rel="noreferrer"><strong>SEEDS</strong></a><strong> </strong>(17 to catch up on 😮‍💨)</p><figure class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a class="kg-bookmark-container" href="https://www.protein.xyz/notes-on-resale/"><div class="kg-bookmark-content"><div class="kg-bookmark-title">Notes On Resale</div><div class="kg-bookmark-description">How resale platforms are shaping the way we shop and show up in the world.</div><div class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img class="kg-bookmark-icon" src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/icon/protein-logo-alpha-3-24.png" alt="" /><span class="kg-bookmark-author">Protein XYZ</span><span class="kg-bookmark-publisher">Joanna Lowry</span></div></div><div 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<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kleinkleinklein/" rel="noreferrer">Matt Klein</a>, Head of Foresight at Reddit and founder of <a href="https://zine.kleinkleinklein.com/" rel="noreferrer">ZINE</a>, spends months each year manually sifting through global trend reports to get a feel for how culture is actually moving. Reading more than 70 forecasts side by side, he looks for the patterns, tensions and contradictions that machines tend to smooth over. In conversation with Protein XYZ editor John Sunyer, Klein reflects on what emerges when you slow down and read culture by hand – and why intuition, ambiguity and lived experience still matter in an age of dashboards, metrics and AI. </p><hr /><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>This year's <a href="https://zine.kleinkleinklein.com/p/meta-trends-2026" rel="noreferrer">META Report</a> feels unusually deep and intentional – almost archaeological in how it’s put together. Can you outline the process a bit? How long does something like this actually take? How many people are involved? </p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>It’s just me, however each year I have a friend lend a mind to ensure I’m not off base. It’s roughly a three-month process and it usually starts around mid-November, when all the annual reports begin to drop. From there, it’s about gathering everything and reading through it all.</p><p>I’ve definitely gotten faster over time – I know which reports are garbage and which are actually worth digging into. I won’t name names, but anyone who’s been doing this work long enough knows which ones are empty calories.</p><p>From there, it’s extremely manual. I parse out individual trends from each report, capture how they’re described, and then do that over and over again. Eventually I start colour-coding: okay, green themes feel connected; these pink ones are circling around something about overstimulation; these others are about slowing down or re-orienting life.</p><p>Just by sitting with all of that text, you start seeing connections – this links to that, that echoes this. And the important thing is I don’t want to just dump this into AI and have it spit out themes. I keep trying and it doesn’t work. This is about developing a pulse for what people are actually talking about. You can’t outsource that to a machine, which isn’t experiencing culture.</p><blockquote>Culture isn’t coded – it’s lived. Pattern recognition here is a practice. And it’s also longitudinal: how do these ideas mutate year after year? That immersion gives you something no AI can replicate.</blockquote><p>Once everything’s clustered, I’ll use AI in a very specific way – pulling representative keywords from each cluster of trend description and scoring them by social listening across media, film scripts, white papers, etc. That’s how we end up with two rankings: a human rank (how often something is mentioned) and a data rank (how much it’s actually showing up and growing in the world).</p><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>And the discrepancies between those two? When those diverge, how do you think about that? Do you trust one more than the other, or is it really the relationship between them that matters?</p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>There’s always discrepancy, which is valuable intel. You have to use both rankings. I don’t think debating which one is “better” is useful – it’s not a binary choice where we have to pick one. Each has blind spots; together they create nuance.</p><blockquote>Here’s something I’ve never really shared publicly. You can map human rank against data rank, and then add a third dimension – growth velocity over the last few years. Suddenly you have a prioritisation matrix.</blockquote><p>For example, two years ago, the META Trend “AI Colonisation” scored high across the board: human rank, data rank, growth. Fast forward to now, and that trend has sunk – not because it was wrong, but because it fully matured. AI has permeated any and everything.</p><p>Another example: environmentalism. A few years ago – high human rank, high data rank, high growth. This year? Not a single environmental META Trend. That disappearance tells you something important.</p><p>When you combine these lenses, you get insight you’d never get from intuition alone or data alone.</p><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>Fascinating. Would you be open to sharing that framework with us?</p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>Yeah – I can share that graph.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/02/2024-META-Trends-Scored.001.jpeg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w600/2026/02/2024-META-Trends-Scored.001.jpeg 600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1000/2026/02/2024-META-Trends-Scored.001.jpeg 1000w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1600/2026/02/2024-META-Trends-Scored.001.jpeg 1600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/02/2024-META-Trends-Scored.001.jpeg 1920w" /><figcaption><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">META Report Data vs Human Framework from 2024</span></figcaption></figure><p>Another layer I look at is discrepancy rank – where human attention and data reality are misaligned. Take hyper-convenient shopping: low human rank, higher data rank. People don’t love talking about it, but behaviourally, and according to the data, it’s massive.</p><p>Then compare that to “Environmental Everything”: very high human rank, but lower data rank. Which raises a bigger question – are trend reports documenting reality, or are they trying to will preferred futures into existence?</p><blockquote>I don’t have an answer. But I think that tension – between aspiration and observation – is where things get ethically interesting and question what are the purposes of these documents. Seed preferred futures or perpetuate hype?</blockquote><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>This connects to something Protein has been thinking about recently. A report on chaos versus control uncovers how brands are splitting between hyper-controlled, tightly managed identities and others that openly embrace chaos. It made me think about what you’ve said before about discordianism – chaos not as a breakdown of reality, but as a feature of it.</p><p>Do you think we’ve crossed a cultural threshold where chaos is no longer something people instinctively resist? Or is this just another oscillation that will eventually swing back?</p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>That’s the question. Do you want your communications, branding and entertainment to mirror the chaos of the world – or to provide relief from it?</p><p>I don’t think it’s either/or. It oscillates. Right now, you see surreal, chaotic male comedians like Tim Robinson, Nathan Fielder, Connor O’Malley and Eric André having a real moment. They’re metabolising chaos through absurdism. They’re translating chaos into something that’s laughable.</p><p><strong><em>Protein</em></strong> America is leading the way in cultural unpredictability and chaos right now. </p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>Yeah, totally.<strong> </strong>It’s fascinating because you’d assume that in moments like this, people would seek stability and comfort in their media. Instead, you see the opposite: let’s dial that shit up. It’s not always about escape. So sometimes it’s about translation – making the chaos palatable, survivable. </p><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>You’ve asked consultants and strategists what the defining word of our moment is – nostalgia, belonging, performative and boredom all came up, which Protein has explored through SEEDs over the past year. If you turned that question inward, what are the two or three words that feel most true to you right now?</p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>Hyper-convenient. Impatient. Black-and-white. Closed-minded. Timid.</p><blockquote>What we desperately need right now are the inverses of those words: friction, patience, ambiguity, curiosity, openness. These are all matters of nuance. Those are the prerequisites for a civil society. And we’re lacking in these skills and attributes.</blockquote><p>They’re upstream of everything – communication, media literacy, cooperation, vision, empathy. And we’re flailing.</p><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>What strikes me is that those qualities – patience, ambiguity, nuance, curiosity– are often very quiet. They’re not performative. They’re not rewarded by metrics or visibility in the workplace or in most social settings. It feels like we live in a culture that actively disincentivises them.</p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>Totally. We’re hypnotised by dashboards – by metrics, outrage, visibility. Spectacle. In a crowded media environment, we’re rewarded for speaking louder, not listening better.</p><p>Quiet confidence – the ability to sit back, observe, hold an opinion without broadcasting it – that muscle is atrophied. Can you have a thought without documenting it? Can you sit with yourself for 30 seconds without needing to post the thoughts that emerged? That sounds small, but it’s harder than it should be.</p><p><strong><em>Protein</em></strong> Recently we published a SEED titled Ambiguity Maxing. Do you think it ties into what you were just saying – about people consciously stepping back for a moment? Or is it something else? Because I also think when a lot of people now go on Instagram, say, everything is becoming so polished. There are so many content creators now. People feel like they can’t post anything anymore, that it’s too crap. Do you think it’s a bit of both? Or do you think ambiguity maxing and “camouflage culture”, which you’ve written about before, is happening for another reason? Are people just getting sick of social media? And: are they really? It’s easy to say we are, of course, but for me, the reality is very different. People love to complain. They aren’t logging off. </p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>It’s easy to say we’re over it, yet we still participate. We want to step away, but we can’t. We want to use the dumb phone… </p><p><strong><em>Protein</em> </strong>None of my friends have a dumb phone. I’ve never seen one. </p><p><strong><em>Matt Klein</em> </strong>Exactly. But I’m proud of my home screen. It’s hard but, right now, I only have a few apps. I try to live that way, but I know it’s difficult – basically impossible – to go back to ambiguity. I often go back to entertainment because it’s a good crystallisation of this. </p><p>Take <em>Severance</em>, for example. I think about ambiguity in that context. People might say David Lynch or <em>Twin Peaks</em> would never survive today because of how strange, ambiguous and open-ended it is. And yet, <em>Severance</em> is pretty ambiguous, and there’s a cult following of people forming communities around it, theorising because it doesn’t make immediate sense.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/02/Klein-Phone-4-1-1.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="300" height="653" /><figcaption><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">Matt Klein's Home Screen</span></figcaption></figure><p>So yes, there’s definitely an appetite for this. If you build it, they will come. Make a weird show that doesn’t make sense, and people will engage with it, dive into Easter eggs, analyse it obsessively. If <em>Twin Peaks</em> came out today, there’d be subreddits and sleuths doing exactly that.</p><p>The problem is that our entertainment industry is timid. They’re beholden to dashboards and metrics, so they don’t make opportunities that don’t make sense on paper. Yet when a show defies that logic – like Nathan Fielder’s <em>Rehearsal</em>, a Tim Robinson sketch, or <em>Severance</em> – people show up and love it.</p><p>It comes down to the difference between post-rationalising and pre-rationalising. Right now, we live in a moment of pre-rationalising: we won’t commit to anything unless we can justify it in advance. “Do I have the dashboard? The metric? The deck? The support?” If the data doesn’t say yes, nothing happens. Post-rationalising is the opposite: you throw spaghetti against the wall and figure out why it worked after the fact.</p><p>This is much harder to do today. Yet when you create something that seems nonsensical on paper – like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heated_Rivalry" rel="noreferrer"><em>Heated Rivalry</em></a>, a low-budget gay hockey show in Canada – it can be loved and embraced once it exists.</p><blockquote>The question for clients, advertisers and entertainment organisations becomes: how do you build tolerance for post-rationalisation when numbers can’t always, or shouldn’t always guide you? Numbers can be a trap – they hinder us creatively. I don’t have the answer on how to overcome our fear and resistance here, but that’s what I’m obsessed with.</blockquote> <table class="tg"><thead> <tr> <th class="tg-0pky">SEED</th> <th class="tg-0pky">#8383</th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">DATE</td> <td class="tg-0pky">05.02.26</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">PLANTED BY</td> <td class="tg-0pky">PROTEIN </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p></p>

<p>A recent <a href="https://x.com/dennismuellr/status/2008502837009924276"><u>post on X</u></a> sparked discussion about Gen Z’s growing habit of “being a regular” at neighbourhood cafés, restaurants and shops – maxxing out the depth of a few place-based relationships and the benefits that come with them:</p><blockquote>regularmaxxing changed my life. <br /><br />i go to the same café every day to work. and tip between 30-50%. <br /><br />now i walk in like i own the place:<br />- they gave me a paid-for parking spot<br />- when i bring friends, they get orders for free<br />- can make myself off menu drinks<br />- can send my parcels there<br />- they are community, introduce me to other regulars<br />- got employee wifi, kept my mac charger there<br /><br />i did that in nyc, cpt, bcn. it works everywhere if you stop chasing the dopamine of  “new”</blockquote><p><em>Business Insider</em> then framed it as Gen Z’s response to the fatigue of chasing what’s new in town, often at the expense of more durable social connections: </p><blockquote>Exhausted from years of chasing exclusive reservations and trendy foods from viral videos and ordering app deliveries from ghost kitchens, young adults in America are now looking closer to home for something you can’t promote on Instagram and TikTok: their own version of Central Perk [in Friends] or Cheers. These local bars, restaurants and coffee shops where everybody knows your name are most notable for what they mean to their regulars more than what they’re selling to anyone outside of the neighbourhood.</blockquote><p>On X, reactions ranged from calling it the greatest life hack of all time to seeing it as a telling signal of how many aspects of social life were eroded – and replaced – by immaterial substitutes for real relationships. Hidden among hundreds of comments were more reflective takes on what regular-maxxing actually is, and how it works:</p><blockquote>“I do this too but with 3 places in rotation. One café = one community. Three cafés = three networks that cross-pollinate. Single café you max out the network quickly. You know everyone. You’ve met everyone. The serendipity flattens.”</blockquote><blockquote>“What you unlocked isn’t about money or tips, it’s about: showing up predictably, treating people generously and with respect, and becoming part of a micro-community”.</blockquote><blockquote>“No, I’m saying that an incremental tip of $1-3 has 10000x the ROI of spending that on virtually anything else”</blockquote><p>So what is this, really? An attempt to carve out pockets of predictability in an increasingly uncertain reality? Extractive behaviour disguised as care? Or a universal desire to feel like we really count in an era of social atomisation? A friend once defined luxury as “getting everything good in life without asking, absolutely for free.” The most revealing part of the discourse is how often people emphasise the non-monetary perks – adding texture to the original claim: “I walk in like I own the place.” For some, regular-maxxing equals the good feeling of getting:</p><ul><li>menu items named after you</li><li>handwritten cards when staff hear you’re moving</li><li>invitations to employees’ birthday parties</li><li>appointments reshuffled to make room for yours</li><li>mushroom-foraging tips</li><li>access to staff-only backyards where you can smoke weed </li><li>shopping before opening hours</li><li>staying after close, just to hang out</li></ul><p>Regularmaxxing, in this sense, is less about optimisation than about relational surplus – the moments where commercial logic quietly dissolves. I recently had a regular-maxxing experience in a family-owned hardware store, where they repeatedly recommended the cheapest or second cheapest option available, clearly “protecting” me from falling into commercial traps placed there for all the folks with little experience and an even smaller desire to get to know them.</p><p>At the same time, the “maxxing” suffix itself has spread everywhere: <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/ambiguity-maxxing/" rel="noreferrer">ambiguity-maxxing</a>, <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/food-for-thought/" rel="noreferrer">protein-maxxing</a>, knowledge-maxxing, friction-maxxing, nervous-system-maxxing. Why the urge to reframe ordinary habits as performance metrics? What feels so transgressive about liking regular things?</p><p>“I’m not enjoying average coffee – I’m regular-maxxing.” “I’m not going down rabbit holes alone – I’m knowledge-maxxing.” Narrative Botox for the mundane, somehow making it feel more legitimate.</p><p>Philip Teale, a <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/contribute/" rel="noreferrer">SEED CLUB</a> member, <a href="https://forum.protein.xyz/t/regularmaxxing/1231" rel="noreferrer">draws a connection between regularmaxxing and the original logic of normcore</a>, as defined by K-Hole in their 2013 <a href="http://google.com/url?q=https://khole.net/issues/youth-mode/&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1770040748097690&amp;usg=AOvVaw0sFLqGnIqU4pLnG5Uln016"><u>Youth Mode</u></a> report:</p><blockquote>“Once upon a time people were born into communities and had to find their individuality. Today people are born individuals and have to find their communities. Normcore doesn’t want the freedom to become someone.  Normcore wants the freedom to be with anyone. In Normcore, one does not pretend to be above the indignity of belonging.”]</blockquote><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-02-at-14.35.48.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="1562" height="1014" srcset="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w600/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-02-at-14.35.48.png 600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1000/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-02-at-14.35.48.png 1000w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-02-at-14.35.48.png 1562w" /><figcaption><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">K-Hole 2013 Youth Mode Report</span></figcaption></figure><p>And yet, there’s a linguistic paradox at the centre of it all: a desire to escape a metrics-obsessed world, expressed through a word that contains measurement itself – <em>maxx</em>.</p><p>Some of the my favourite regular roasts capture this tension perfectly:</p><ul><li><em>“Routine is called regular maxing now”</em></li><li><em>“This feels like a completely American approach to try to make friends and create community by throwing money at people”</em></li><li><em>“This only happens in white cities”</em></li></ul><p>As an immigrant in the US who intentionally spends part of the year on a small fishing island, regularmaxxing feels less like a hack and more like a refusal to be treated as a tourist forever. In many smaller towns and marginalised communities, interdependence isn’t aspirational – it’s reality. Bar owners stagger their days off so they can drink at each other’s places. Disagreements don’t escalate because everyone relies on everyone else – emotionally, physically, financially.</p><p>Is that resilience-maxxing? Or simply what happens when life hasn’t been fully flattened into transactions and rewards?</p><p>This distinction becomes sharper when contrasted with platform-mediated loyalty. <em>Business Insider</em> notes that: </p><blockquote>Money spent via Blackbird app increased by 1,000% in 2025, allowing patrons to reserve a table, pay the bill and earn perks at local stores.</blockquote><blockquote>Bilt, the rent rewards platform that aims to make every aspect of where you live more rewarding, got valued last summer for over $10 billion.</blockquote><p>Techno-centric solutions promoting fabricated loyalty clearly work. But it will never feel the same as receiving something from another human being who had no obligation to give it. That unpredictability – the serendipity – is precisely what makes it meaningful. It’s an invisible bond with a very visible outcome: proof that your presence matters.</p><blockquote>Maybe regular-maxxing is simply Gen Z recognising the difference between reward-maxxing and relationship-maxxing, via a detour into informal economies. Thankfully, there are still places that make this distinction tangible. Places where the wifi is spotty, but your face still has face value – determining the discount you get, or the extra thrown into your bag. Not because of an app, but because people remember your presence, your contributions, your existence.</blockquote> <table class="tg"><thead> <tr> <th class="tg-0pky">SEED</th> <th class="tg-0pky">#8382</th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">DATE</td> <td class="tg-0pky">03.02.26</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">PLANTED BY</td> <td class="tg-0pky">ALICE JASMINE CRIPPA </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p></p>

<p>Born in the late 1990s, I’ve watched the internet shapeshift in real time. It started as a raw tool for peer connection, evolved into an influencer-driven stage for performance, and has now become an AI-saturated landscape where speed dictates culture and virality outweighs meaning. </p><blockquote>As synthetic content floods our feeds, the question shifts from what’s trending to what’s trustworthy. </blockquote><p>Recently, online influencers and media outlets have started calling 2026 “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethgracecoyne/2026/01/11/2026-is-the-year-of-analog-living-how-will-this-impact-fashion/" rel="noreferrer">the year of analogue</a>”. The phrase circulates online – a paradox that perfectly captures the tension of the moment. The message is about disconnection; the medium is still very much the feed.</p><p>One unexpected outcome of this shift is the resurgence of analogue and tactile media not as <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/dirty-words-5-nostalgia/" rel="noreferrer">nostalgia</a>, but as infrastructure for meaning, trust and identity. A consequence of an over-digitised world that leads many people to feel burnout, as digital systems optimise for speed, scale and automation, shortening our attention span to a point where many of us <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/27/gen-z-watch-tv-subtitles-i-understand-why"><u>can only watch movies with subtitles on</u></a>.</p><p>There’s rebellion in this, too. As companies such <a href="https://tech.yahoo.com/general/articles/amazon-wants-know-only-purchase-185937032.html" rel="noreferrer">as Amazon quietly remind us</a> that we don’t actually <em>own</em> most of what we buy online, physical formats start to look more radical. Tactile media introduces friction, materiality and intention – qualities increasingly valued by young people and smart brands alike.</p><p>It would be naive not to acknowledge that the first digital shift also turned real-life connection into performance. It marked the beginning of the systemic curation of everyday life for pictures and videos. The 2012-2013 Tumblr era was also filled with an analogue fascination, but it was much more nostalgic, with the use of analogue filters and vinyl collected “for the vibes” and the romanticisation of being an “old soul”.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-17.50.58.png" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="890" srcset="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w600/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-17.50.58.png 600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1000/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-17.50.58.png 1000w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1600/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-17.50.58.png 1600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-28-at-17.50.58.png 2172w" /><figcaption><a href="https://www.instagram.com/boysclub.world/" rel="noreferrer"><span style="white-space:pre-wrap">@boysclub</span></a></figcaption></figure><p>The new shift takes it a step further, driving trends like “analogue bags” and “arts and crafts dinner parties,” which convey a moment of disconnection that eventually makes its way onto social media. The transition from offline to online, although unspoken, is made clear from the start through Pinterest-perfect decorations, curated to make photos and videos of the night visually interesting and optimised for social media algorithms.</p><p>And the illusion doesn’t stop there. A psychologist friend recently mentioned that even in her very offline practice, the only reliable way to attract clients now is through building an online brand. Scroll long enough and you’ll see it everywhere: doctors, salespeople and other professions that once existed entirely IRL are now competing in the attention economy.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-video-card kg-width-regular"> <div class="kg-video-container"> <video src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/media/2026/01/SnapInsta.to_AQN_8C2go7joB809oYbZsnziRNDfQcOXUgJ0Lmuw6rU9vzlajBAZojDpI71kof5Niie0qhKK-yXcwlHdsDOK_GuHVy31J9WMhB_mhQ0-1.mp4" poster="https://img.spacergif.org/v1/720x1280/0a/spacer.png" width="720" height="1280" preload="metadata" style="background:transparent url('https://www.protein.xyz/content/media/2026/01/SnapInsta.to_AQN_8C2go7joB809oYbZsnziRNDfQcOXUgJ0Lmuw6rU9vzlajBAZojDpI71kof5Niie0qhKK-yXcwlHdsDOK_GuHVy31J9WMhB_mhQ0-1_thumb.jpg') 50% 50% / cover no-repeat"></video> <div class="kg-video-overlay"> <button class="kg-video-large-play-icon"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M23.14 10.608 2.253.164A1.559 1.559 0 0 0 0 1.557v20.887a1.558 1.558 0 0 0 2.253 1.392L23.14 13.393a1.557 1.557 0 0 0 0-2.785Z"></path> </svg> </button> </div> <div class="kg-video-player-container"> <div class="kg-video-player"> <button class="kg-video-play-icon"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M23.14 10.608 2.253.164A1.559 1.559 0 0 0 0 1.557v20.887a1.558 1.558 0 0 0 2.253 1.392L23.14 13.393a1.557 1.557 0 0 0 0-2.785Z"></path> </svg> </button> <button class="kg-video-pause-icon kg-video-hide"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <rect x="3" y="1" width="7" height="22" rx="1.5" ry="1.5"></rect> <rect x="14" y="1" width="7" height="22" rx="1.5" ry="1.5"></rect> </svg> </button> <span class="kg-video-current-time">0:00</span> <div class="kg-video-time"> /<span class="kg-video-duration">2:10</span> </div> <input type="range" class="kg-video-seek-slider" max="100" value="0" /> <button class="kg-video-playback-rate">1×</button> <button class="kg-video-unmute-icon"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M15.189 2.021a9.728 9.728 0 0 0-7.924 4.85.249.249 0 0 1-.221.133H5.25a3 3 0 0 0-3 3v2a3 3 0 0 0 3 3h1.794a.249.249 0 0 1 .221.133 9.73 9.73 0 0 0 7.924 4.85h.06a1 1 0 0 0 1-1V3.02a1 1 0 0 0-1.06-.998Z"></path> </svg> </button> <button class="kg-video-mute-icon kg-video-hide"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewbox="0 0 24 24"> <path d="M16.177 4.3a.248.248 0 0 0 .073-.176v-1.1a1 1 0 0 0-1.061-1 9.728 9.728 0 0 0-7.924 4.85.249.249 0 0 1-.221.133H5.25a3 3 0 0 0-3 3v2a3 3 0 0 0 3 3h.114a.251.251 0 0 0 .177-.073ZM23.707 1.706A1 1 0 0 0 22.293.292l-22 22a1 1 0 0 0 0 1.414l.009.009a1 1 0 0 0 1.405-.009l6.63-6.631A.251.251 0 0 1 8.515 17a.245.245 0 0 1 .177.075 10.081 10.081 0 0 0 6.5 2.92 1 1 0 0 0 1.061-1V9.266a.247.247 0 0 1 .073-.176Z"></path> </svg> </button> <input type="range" class="kg-video-volume-slider" max="100" value="100" /> </div> </div> </div> </figure><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTyys3FDMXe/" rel="noreferrer">Eugene Healey recently shared a video</a> titled “The Analogue Delusion”. In it, he referenced a <em>Vogue Business</em> article that framed unplugging as the new “<a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/how-unplugging-became-luxurys-most-valuable-currency" rel="noreferrer">luxury currency</a>”, alongside <em>The New Yorker’s</em> widely-shared essay claiming “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/its-cool-to-have-no-followers-now" rel="noreferrer">it’s cool to have no followers now</a>”. <em>The New Yorker</em> made explicit what the other two pieces didn’t: that the uncomfortable truth beneath the analogue theory is that “things are status symbols because they are inaccessible to the majority of the population,” and that professional visibility and online presence are “a survival strategy”.</p><p>Privilege is often not made explicit in the media. Instead, you’ll see articles about how the new listening bar targeted at the wealthy portion of the population in your local city is the new “it-place”, or how brands such as Heineken and Bodega are partnering on campaigns to create a <a href="https://www.theheinekencompany.com/newsroom/dialing-up-nights-out-heineken--bodegas-boring-phone/"><u>limited edition “boring phone”</u></a> inspired by the “dumb phone trend”: narratives that frequently exclude the reality of a large portion of the population who can hardly make their phone payments on time, despite having a four-hour commute while still having to perform online for a minimum-wage job. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/2026/01/PressRelease-HeinekenBodega-FEATURED-Desktop-v2.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1125" srcset="https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w600/2026/01/PressRelease-HeinekenBodega-FEATURED-Desktop-v2.jpg 600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1000/2026/01/PressRelease-HeinekenBodega-FEATURED-Desktop-v2.jpg 1000w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w1600/2026/01/PressRelease-HeinekenBodega-FEATURED-Desktop-v2.jpg 1600w, https://www.protein.xyz/content/images/size/w2400/2026/01/PressRelease-HeinekenBodega-FEATURED-Desktop-v2.jpg 2400w" /></figure><p>There is, however, a more hopeful side to the analogue shift. Its emphasis on sensory experience has led to the development of more inclusive products – some designed for people with disabilities – <a href="https://www.designnews.com/automotive-engineering/automakers-shift-gears-physical-controls-make-a-comeback-in-vehicle-design]" rel="noreferrer">reintroducing buttons</a>, knobs, printed materials, textures and tactile feedback in place of endless touchscreens.</p><p>But if this movement is to escape its privilege bubble, we must look to the past for answers. Since much of the world moved online, the physical world has changed beyond belief, leaving many people indoors not by choice, but by necessity.</p><p>Governments have systematically gotten rid of third spaces. In São Paulo, where I live, parks are increasingly saturated with <a href="https://www.meioemensagem.com.br/midia/neooh-cria-circuito-de-midia-ooh-no-parque-nacional-do-iguacu" rel="noreferrer">out-of-home advertising</a>, turning public space into a physical extension of our already chaotic digital lives. History tells us that the Global South often becomes the testing ground for these experiments, so it’s only a matter of time before the consequences spread further.</p><p>At the same time, the cost of living has risen so sharply that something as simple as meeting friends on a weekend has become a financial calculation for a large portion of the population.</p><blockquote>So how do we reset to real – without turning disconnection into another gated luxury? </blockquote><h3 id="the-three-pillars-of-real">The Three Pillars of Real</h3><p>Any meaningful shift must rest on three pillars: <em>infrastructure</em>, <em>values</em> and <em>laws</em>. Failing to do this will probably result in the same cycle of propaganda we’re experiencing today, where we actively vilify our addiction to phones while sustaining the trillion-dollar industry that profits from it:</p><ol><li>Infrastructure comes first. Governments everywhere must pave the way by creating more parks, green spaces and other communal spaces that don't require QR codes or the internet to exist, while ensuring a minimum level of comfort to people who are trying to disconnect and live a more grounded life.</li><li>The second is values. We need to move from a capitalist-centric worldview to a species-centred one – human and more-than-human. If unplugging makes life more livable for some, it should be possible for all. That starts by putting a stop to treating others as competitors and cultivating a reality that embraces cultures and different behaviours as opportunities to learn and grow, not as differences that must be colonised or taken advantage of for personal profit.</li><li>Finally, laws and incentives matter – but only if they address root causes. Legislation without systemic change becomes performative, a branding exercise disguised as progress. </li></ol><p></p><blockquote>For brands, the return of tactile media is an early signal of a deeper revaluation: away from speed and scale, toward care, depth and intention. This isn’t an aesthetic trend to package and sell. It’s an invitation to redesign systems that respect human limits, sensory needs and the desire to be present in an increasingly automated world.</blockquote> <table class="tg"><thead> <tr> <th class="tg-0pky">SEED</th> <th class="tg-0pky">#8381</th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">DATE</td> <td class="tg-0pky">29.01.26</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">PLANTED BY</td> <td class="tg-0pky">VICTÓRIA OLIVEIRA </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p></p>

<p>Over the last year or so, we’ve been planting <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/tag/seeds/" rel="noreferrer">SEEDs</a> that have been sown from our <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/contribute/" rel="noreferrer">decentralised research community</a> at a rate of two posts a week. Now, we’re turning all these incredible ideas and stories into something tangible – a printed annual packed with all-new, original features across 100 pages.</p><p>First launched in <a href="https://store.protein.xyz/products/protein-journal-1" rel="noreferrer">2010</a> and then again in <a href="https://store.protein.xyz/products/protein-journal-12-es-devlin" rel="noreferrer">2014</a>, we’re <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/make-zines-not-content/" rel="noreferrer">practicing what we preach</a> with Vol. 3 of Protein JOURNAL. Inside you’ll find a year of SEEDs decoded, group chats on culture’s weird twists and the signals shaping what’s coming next – from peak social media to yearning, liminality and the strange little things that make 2026 feel… 2026. We’ve got it all covered. </p><p>Protein JOURNAL will be free to <a href="https://www.protein.xyz/membership/" rel="noreferrer">MEMBERS</a> and available to buy in the <a href="https://store.protein.xyz" rel="noreferrer">STORE</a> from 12th Feb.</p><hr /><p><strong>Here’s a taste of what you'll find inside:</strong></p><ul><li>“You have to risk cringe to reach sublime. I was recently clowned for a meme I made. It was embarasssssinggg” – <em>Edmond Lau</em> </li><li>“I reckon we’re going to see a lot more of those provincial town influencers (eg. mid-tier Milton Keynes vibe), as everything continues to move into the hyper-specific, more anti-AI backlash (ofc), post-Geese era dad rock, <em>and</em> the return of twee aesthetics in the mainstream” – <em>Günseli Yalcinkaya</em> </li><li>“We haven’t had a naughty celebrity for a while. Especially in a fun way, not a mental health or politics way... Sudden fame has a different flavour. It’s more dangerous and hedonistic. There’s no time to over-think or over-strategise it” – <em>Sean Monahan</em></li><li>“Intentionality means figuring out your own desires, rather than outsourcing taste to the algo. In the words of writer Kyla Scanlon: ‘friction isn’t the enemy!!!! It’s information’” – <em>Sophia Epstein</em> </li><li>“Hopefully in the coming years, social media will be considered as toxic as tobacco, and the people behind it as evil as tobacco companies” – <em>Andy McAllister </em></li><li>“I want to see the return of Third Places. By that I don’t mean the sanitised ‘community hubs’ that urban planners draft into existence, but the actual ones emerging from the cracks. We’re starving for for physical spaces where you can be baptised by shared experience instead of, say, algorithmic optimisation” – <em>Ilia Sybil Sdralli</em></li><li>“I’d like to see the wellness industrial complex that transforms self-care into high-priced performance metrics disappear. Because it’s taken something fundamentally accessible – rest, movement, connection – and repackaged it as luxury achievement. When rest requires optimisation and self-care demands premium memberships, wellness stops serving people and starts exploiting them. The real opportunity is accessible integration, communal experiences, wellness as everyday baseline” – <em>Mariella Agapiou</em></li></ul> <table class="tg"><thead> <tr> <th class="tg-0pky">SEED</th> <th class="tg-0pky">#8378</th> </tr></thead> <tbody> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">DATE</td> <td class="tg-0pky">27.01.26</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tg-0pky">PLANTED BY</td> <td class="tg-0pky">PROTEIN </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

A look at skateparks, DIY spaces and brand-funded hubs that thrive not through polish or permission, but through collective authorship.

Or how the boring, captivating, strategic and unhinged collide.

A short theory of why everyone’s explaining everything online now.

The ideas that travelled furthest, resonated the deepest and created the most impact.

Featuring Martin Parr, Protect, Burberry, Ffern and Jim Legxacy.

With no fixed point of reference, meaning spreads fast and splinters even faster, creating a network of micro-scenes.

If you missed our FORUM last week, here are the highlights and recording.

A quiet tactic for brands looking to leave a mark, not just make a moment.

From brand buzz to micro-aesthetics, Polymarket transforms collective intuition into predicting the signals of tomorrow.

Pushing back against a culture addicted to efficiency and intent on flattening our senses.

In her new performance and book, Mindy Seu uncovers the overlooked histories shaping our digital lives.

In a world obsessed with likes and followers, people are increasingly choosing mystery – keeping secrets and making you work to get them. 

Our next FORUM asks if we’ve entered the age of _merchification_ – where every moment, movement and micro-trend can be worn, sold or souvenired? Once a sideline revenue stream, merch has evolved into a cultural language – a way to signal belonging, shape identity, and express taste in an era when we’re all brands now. We’ll unpack how merch became the medium – and what it reveals about the stories, symbols and selves we’re selling back to ourselves. REGISTER HERE This is a free event and open to all, but the recording and analysis will only be available to **MEMBERS**. * * * **SEEDS** Piracy’s BackHow streaming’s failures reawakened digital rebellion – turning piracy from a crime into an act of self-defence.Protein XYZWillem DeisingerHorseshoe Maximalism by Tony WangThe Office of Applied Strategy’s new dossier dives into a world where extremes collide, social rules bend and culture flows in unexpected directions. We speak to founder Tony Wang ahead of its release.Protein XYZProteinRewilding the InternetOnce an open ecosystem, the web has become overgrown with ads and algorithms. To survive, it needs care – not code.Protein XYZTyla JurgensMeme to BrandIt’s not what’s made, but how it travels.Protein XYZProteinMuseum of Youth CultureReflections on creativity, rebellion and self-expression.Protein XYZProteinNew Love LanguagesWhat it really means when someone likes your Instagram stories.Protein XYZRuby ThelotAbundance, EverywhereWhy culture is dead and why it isn’t.Protein XYZJoe MuggsMystery MattersIn a hyper-transparent world, the art of intrigue is resurging – and brands can learn a lot from it.Protein XYZAlexi Gunner * * * Want full access, but not a MEMBER yet? **BOOK A DEMO** * * * **CONTRIBUTE** SEED CLUB is our decentralised research community where 370+ handpicked strategists, journalists, and cultural curators sow and grow all the SEEDS every day - identifying, analysing and explaining signals in culture. As a contributor you also have the opportunity to collaborate with Protein AGENCY on client projects as well as connect and learn from an incredibly diverse, smart and entertaining group of humans. Here's a screenshot of what's being discussed right now: * * *

Have memes colonised our spirits? 

Why history – and importantly friction – are making fashion personal again.

Why culture is dead and why it isn’t.

In a hyper-transparent world, the art of intrigue is resurging – and brands can learn a lot from it.

We set fire to our Compost Theory of Culture for our Autumn BRAND BRIEFING on Tuesday — exploring why some brands are thriving on disorder while others are doubling down on discipline and what that tension means for the future. This BRAND BRIEFING goes deep into the brands, behaviours and cultural signals shaping these two powerful modes with case studies on Skylrk, KFC, Erewhon + Nothing. For decision-makers, it’s not just about spotting trends – it’s about understanding the cultural tensions your brand will need to navigate next. To access the full presentation you’ll need a******Protein MEMBERSHIP****.** * * * **SEEDS** * **Decentralising Love** by Ananya Goel If love is a verb, brands need to act. Cynicism around love today often comes from the way we’ve been trained to measure it: by whether it ends in marriage, whether it produces kin. Historically, locking love into the institution of marriage was essential for centralising kinship and inheritance. But in contemporary life, intimacy, care and belonging are increasingly being decoupled from marriage. * **Semi Permanent** by Kristoffer Tjalve Convenience, it turns out, comes at a cost. The easier something is to capture on a device, the easier it becomes to forget. For brands, this offers a lesson: maybe step back from the growth-hacking mindset that uses cookies and retargeting to cling to attention. If you make yourself too easy to remember, you also make yourself easy to forget. Is losing things online the only way to make them matter? * **What Does Taste Mean in the Age of AI?****** by Protein Our latest FORUM with Tyler Bainbridge (Perfectly Imperfect), Günseli Yalcinkaya (Dazed) and Rachel Lee (ex-DigiFairy) tackled some of the most pressing questions about the intersection of human aesthetics and artificial intelligence. As anticipated, the lively discussion — and equally active chatroom — covered a lot of ground. * **Make Zines, Not Content** by Protein _Vogue_ just hired Chloe Malle as its new “head of editorial content”, and the title says it all. She’s not editing a magazine – Anna Wintour still presides over that empire – but managing a stream of “content”. For brands, the lesson couldn’t be clearer. Treat content as information and it evaporates. Treat it as world-building and it becomes sticky, valuable, trusted. * **Messy, Human, Substack** by Protein For years, brands have chased polish and precision. Instagram feeds were grids of perfection; campaigns were rehearsed spectacles. Now, some are testing a different approach. Substack, the newsletter platform best known for independent writers, is becoming a space for brands to experiment with voice, immediacy – and, increasingly, a bit of mess. * **Inside SEED Club #2****+****#3** by Protein SEED Club is our global decentralised research community where 350+ brand strategists, insight journalists and cultural curators sow and grow all the SEEDS you see on Protein. We know who they are, but you don't, so we thought we'd ask them about what they're currently obsessing over. * * * Want full access, but not a MEMBER yet? **Join here**. * * *

Our Autumn BRAND BRIEFING explores why some brands are thriving on disorder while others are doubling down on discipline – and what that tension means for the future.

Brands are learning that not everything needs to be perfect.