Shows / Open Tabs
Open Tabs
Stay ahead of the latest news, trends, and moments that are shaping digital and social media. Each episode, the M.T. Deco team digs into the cultural moments that are taking up real estate in our Google tabs and brains, pulling out practical, actionable insights that you can actually use. M.T. Deco is a multidisciplinary agency that creates impactful digital strategy and social media content. For more, join us on Substack
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Episodes
Open TabsSkims’ advent calendar backlash and the Daddy Issues fallout
This week’s tabs: the Skims advent calendar backlash and what Sofia Franklyn’s Daddy Issues means for the Alex Cooper brand. Timestamps: 🎁 1:54 - Skims is…
Open Tabs🎧 Cool girls, long lines, and angry customers
This week’s tabs: The Disney adult is getting a rebrand, waiting in line has become a social status symbol, and frustrated customers are taking their…
Open Tabs🎧 Brands are getting in on the ACOTAR hype
This week’s tabs: why it feels like every brand has an ACOTAR collab and the rise of co-working livestreamers. Timestamps: 📚 7:42 - ACOTAR [A Court of Thorns…
Open Tabs🎧 Why the internet loves “lore”
This week’s tabs: “Lore” is Sprout Social’s 2026 Word of the Year, and Banana Republic is turning to TikTok sitcoms to win over younger shoppers. We discuss…
Open Tabs🎧 Elizabeth Holmes is the ultimate “girl failure”
This week’s tabs: Instagram is testing long-form video, Elizabeth Holmes is Gen Z’s latest “girl failure,” and a creator will be host SNL for the first time…
Open Tabs🎧 UC Berkeley is turning their athletes into content creators
This week’s tabs: Universities are turning student athletes into content creators, and LEGO is finding a whole new audience in adults. Timestamps: 🏈 0:00 -…
Open Tabs🎧 Can Victoria’s Secret still sell the fantasy?
This week’s tabs: Victoria’s Secret gave its iconic fashion show a social media makeover. We’re breaking down how the brand is using creators, celebrity power…
Open Tabs🎧 The internet wants more lore and less pretending
This week’s tabs: Brands are using Easter eggs to deepen fandom and Gen Alpha is bringing back the stigma around being a poser, from lifestyle tourism to…
Open Tabs🎧 TikTok live is the new QVC
This week’s tabs: Beauty brands are bringing QVC-style shopping to TikTok Live, and creators are proving that the best brand partnerships are built on stories…
Open Tabs🎧 Workplace witchcraft & the rise of cute AI
This week’s tabs: Executive women are turning to astrology and tarot to navigate their careers, and Big Tech is giving AI assistants the cute-character…
Open Tabs🎧 What the NHL gets wrong about women
This week’s tabs: The NHL tried to capitalize on the hockey romance boom and listicles are making a comeback in the age of AI. Timestamps: 🏒 0:00 - The NHL…
Open Tabs🎧 Kids are turning Spotify into a group chat
This week’s tabs: Kids are turning Spotify comments into group chats and New York City is becoming the unofficial soundstage for social media. Timestamps: 🎧…
Open Tabs🎧 Algorithms are out, blogs are in
This week’s tabs: Personal blogs are making a comeback with young women and CoStar is launching a dating app for book lovers. Timestamps: 💻 0:00 - The personal…
Open Tabs🎧 We’re obsessed with an Olive Garden influencer
This week’s tabs: Youth sports are becoming more expensive, competitive, and all-consuming, and we’re unpacking what that means for kids, parents, and the…
Open Tabs🎧 Everyone wants to be a lifestyle brand
Today’s topics: Duolingo is taking its language-learning shtick to New York Fashion Week, and we’re asking whether its latest merch drop is actually the…
Open Tabs🎧 Alix Earle is on TV and teen magazines are back in print
Today’s topics: Alix Earle is officially a reality TV star, and we’re breaking down what Earle Meets World says about the creator-to-reality-TV pipeline, the…
Open Tabs🎧 Is TikTok becoming one big comment section?
Today’s topics: TikTok is updating their comment sections to be more like iMessage, and workshopping Megan Collins’s upcoming piece breaking down Ross’ latest…
Open Tabs🎧 Daisy Chain Fields Festival, RushTok, and the business of belonging
Today’s topics: Why Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields Festival feels like a new model for cultural and brand experiences, and how sorority recruitment has…
Open Tabs🎧 How Poppi is recruiting it’s next employees on TikTok
Today’s topics: Why so many influencers are making the jump into real estate, and how Poppy is turning social media into its newest recruiting tool…
Open Tabs🎧 Brands, please get better at reading the room
Today’s topics: Callaway and Good Good Golf are facing backlash over a brand collab that went very wrong, Lovesac learned the hard way that snarky brand…
Open Tabs🎧 The platform wars are getting weird
Today's topics: TikTok is trying to make Substack happen [and Substack users are not exactly thrilled], YouTube is paying creators millions to keep their…
Open Tabs🎧 Are Savannah Banana games the next PR stop?
Today’s topics: Young people are finding new ways to use Instagram without being beholden to the algorithm, and the Savannah Bananas are turning baseball into…
Open Tabs🎧 What's the line between content and real life?
Today’s topics: The backlash against filming in public is growing as people push back on being unwilling extras in someone else’s content, and Hinge turns its…
Open Tabs🎧 Everyone's outside this summer except the guy living in a Netflix billboard
Today's topics: Gen Z is finally leaving the house [yay!] for a "summer of outside" and Netflix planted an actor inside a house-shaped billboard on Sunset…
Open Tabs🎧 Lo-fi is having a moment (and so is messy internet drama, thank God)
This was a bit of a free-range episode, so enjoy our tangent-filled conversation! Here’s what we covered today: A lo-fi Instagram show following an NYU grad's…
Open Tabs🎧 Utility is the digital strategy word of the year
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today's topics: Reddit is adding native video and a "spoken Reddit"…
Open Tabs🎧 Nobody wants to see your Birkin anymore
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today's topics: Meta is working to combat the “creepy” reputation that their…
Open Tabs🎧 The micro-influencer takeover
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today’s topics: what a new USC Annenberg study reveals about Gen Z’s…
Open Tabs🎧 Micro-communities, Spotify music videos, and anti-marketing
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today’s topics: the new social media app that promises no algorithm and no…
Open Tabs🎧 The internet's whataboutism problem
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com What’s on the docket today: the Dunkin’ x Parke collab, the bean…
Open Tabs🎧 Gap's genius marketing, ballet-core, and the Phia fallout
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today we're talking about the Gap x Hailey Bieber jean drop and what it says…
Open Tabs🎧 Can an app cure loneliness?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today, we're talking about why Meta pulled its new AI image feature just days…
Open Tabs🎧 Meta keeps trying [and failing] to make cool happen
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Today, we're talking about why friendship is becoming one of the internet's…
Open Tabs🎧 Taylor Swift's wedding, brand slop & utility creators
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Wednesday: * Taylor Swift’s wedding felt anticlimatic [00:00]. The…
Open Tabs🎧 The Taylor Swift wedding frenzy + the business of fandom
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Friday: * Taylor Swift's "royal wedding" speculation [00:00]. The…
Open Tabs🎧 Can you trademark internet culture?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Wednesday: * TikTok’s “hot girl” controversies [00:00]. Two content…
Open Tabs🎧 Everything feels like gambling now
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Friday: * Meta wants to be your bookie [~00:03:18]. Meta is reportedly…
Open Tabs🎧 Smart glasses have a branding problem
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Wednesday: * Creators take over Cannes Lions [~00:01:55]. Brand spending…
Open Tabs🎧 Inside Fishtank Live, the reality show with no rules
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Friday: * Wired’s deep dive into Fishtank Live, the 24/7 unmoderated…
Open Tabs🎧 Unpacking MrBeast's 500 million subscriber milestone
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Wednesday: * MrBeast becomes the first YouTuber to hit 500 million…
Open Tabs🎧 What does your drink say about you?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This episode: * Creators are filling Love Island USA’s content void…
Open Tabs🎧 Why The Backrooms is the perfect Gen Z horror movie
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This Wednesday: * Love Island US is going social media silent [~00:00:52]…
Open Tabs🎧 What happened to Glamour Magazine?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This week we cover: * The rise of snail mail clubs [~00:01:07]. We dive into…
Open Tabs🎧 Zillennials are in their ✨whimsical✨ era
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This week: * Spotify is reserving concert tickets for superfans [~00:00:35]…
Open Tabs🎧 Is 90% of the internet fake?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com This week: * The rise of parallel play for adults [~4:31]. A Real Simple…
Open Tabs🎧 The internet is trying to buy Spirit Airlines
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday! 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 Is the internet killing reality TV?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday! 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 Spotify wants to be a one-stop-shop. Should it be?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday! 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 Would you pay for Instagram Premium?
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday! 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 The brand Olympics are here — and they're held in the desert
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Hi 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly Substack…
Open Tabs🎧 In defense of brain rot
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 Going offline is the new luxury
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 Alix Earle didn’t just launch a brand—she built a game
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mtdeco.substack.com Happy Friday 👋 We’re back with this week’s episode of Open Tabs, our weekly…
Open Tabs🎧 The future of TV isn’t just watching - it's participating
Happy Friday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * The Oscars are evolving for the scroll-first era [~0:30]. We felt this…
Open Tabs🎧 Open Tabs: Gen Z misses the old TikTok
Happy Friday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * Gen Z is already nostalgic for TikTok’s early days [~1:20]. A new Harris…
Open Tabs🎧 Open Tabs: When CEOs go viral for the wrong reasons
Happy Friday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * The McDonald’s CEO taste test — and the executive social media dilemma…
Open Tabs🎧 Open Tabs: The future of kids content (and corporate creators)
Happy Friday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * Kids content on YouTube: evergreen, evolving, and oddly unpredictable…
Open Tabs🎧 Why LinkedIn feels so cringey right now
Happy Thursday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * Avoiding LinkedIn cringe and how the platform is [trying] to evolve…
Open Tabs🎧 Open Tabs: Is MrBeast the Willy Wonka of Gen Z?
Happy Friday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * Super Bowl ads and cultural relevance [0:00]. We started with the Super…
Open Tabs🎧 Open Tabs: The privacy paradox for content creators
Happy Friday 👋 Here’s everything we covered in this week’s Open Tabs conversation: * Khaby Lame sells his likeness for (almost) a billion dollars [0:00].We…