Emotional Risk Economies: Prestige
This article is Part 3 of 4 in our Emotional Risk Economies series, a framework that explores how different categories operate under distinct emotional contracts on social media. Each installment examines the structural pressures, audience psychology, and platform incentives shaping brand risk in real time. Emotional Risk Economies Universe: Part 1: Trust Economy || Part […]
Emotional Risk: Trust Economies
Emotional Risk Economies Universe: Part 1: Trust Economy || Part 2: Alignment || Part 3: Prestige Over the next four weeks, we are digging into the four Emotional Risk Economies that actually determine how far a brand can go on social media: Trust, Alignment, Prestige, and Escape. Platforms may flatten everyone into the same feed, but they do not flatten […]
Super Bowl LX: Cultural Flex, Commercial Miss
Every year, the ListenFirst strategy team puts together a monster report on the Super Bowl, distilling what actually broke through across platforms, moments, and brand plays — not just what aired between downs. Here is a deep dive into the report, with some extra spice on the controversy that dominated the news cycle before and […]
TikTok’s Privacy Overhaul and the Rise of a Real‑World Backlash
A seemingly routine policy update turned into a cultural flashpoint, prompting a wave of mass deletions as users grapple with heightened data collection and mounting political anxiety. When millions of TikTok users opened the app earlier this month, they were greeted with a demand to accept a new privacy policy before scrolling could resume. On […]
Quick Dip: 2016 Core
2016 Core Is Back: Why A Decade On, Social Media Is Loving 2016 Again The cream rises to the top, as they say. // 2016 Fashion Blog Back to 2016 From chokers and bottle flips to viral throwbacks and unfiltered content, the “2026 is the new 2016” wave reveals a collective longing for simpler internet […]
What’s New at ListenFirst: 2026
Expanding Your Social Intelligence Program with Our People in More Places – Webinar Recap In our recent webinar, CEO Miranda McWeeney and Head of Growth Devin Carroll introduced ListenFirst’s expanded 2026 offerings. These additions give brands deeper intelligence, cleaner data, and more support across the entire social analytics workflow. While our core owned analytics platform […]