School's out, soda's in...and AI isn't going anywhere

The Moments Matrix is a guide to what’s trending on the world’s leading social media sites. Find out what’s going viral and what's here to stay across mainstream and niche topics.

This week's matrix has been compiled by Nichefire.

Image by: The Social Intelligence Lab

Pride Month is here - queue the rainbow logos
Pride Month is here! But ahead of the month-long celebration, many have taken to social media to mock the brands that attempt to change their logos and branding to rainbow colours. To many, this has come off as inauthentic and a virtue-signalling attempt. Poking fun at virtue-signalling companies is a favourite pastime of internet trolls - but this has taken off into a mainstream meme.
Data Source: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

Next in generative AI - voice generation and image enhancing
The rapid pace of new AI tools is exciting (and may cause some concern). The latest innovations to take off have been voice generation AI platforms and image enhancing platforms. For voice generation, new music has been overlaid with AI-generated vocals in the likeness of a famous musical artist - this has caused a bit of a stir with artists, like Drake. Image enhancing has also taken the stage. Where AI-generated art creates its own image, image enhancing uses AI to fill in the gaps for images - such as changing backgrounds to fit different moods.
Data Source: TikTok, news/media, Google, Twitter, Reddit

US state legislation sparks gender-affirming care debate
Some US states, like Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, are making moves to ban gender-affirming care for youths. As a result, this has sparked further debate on the issue - with conservative and progressive audiences expressing their differing concerns for the well-being of children.
Data source:News/media, Google, Twitter, Reddit

Nvidia stock explodes after impressive earnings
One of the major winners in AI innovation has been Nvidia - who briefly hit a $1 trillion market cap (the first semi-conductor company to do so). Although Nvidia doesn't specialise in AI software, Nvidia creates the chips that power them. As we explore this AI boom - we can expect ripple effects, such as this one.
Data Source: News/media, Google

Trump Bucks - the latest scam to hit the internet
We're willing to bet a telemarketer or a scammer has given you a call... however, in the latest scam, scammers swindled many out of thousands of dollars by selling "Trump Bucks". Trump Bucks were marketed by scammers as an investment vehicle that would convert into thousands of dollars if Donald Trump won the 2024 US Presidential election. However, scammers took this a step further by creating fake, AI-generated videos of celebrities endorsing the scheme. The unfortunate reality is that scams, like AI, are getting smarter and better as well.
Data Source: Twitter, news/media, Google

The US debt ceiling panic
The US's highly-divided politicians had to tackle a major challenge this month: raise the US debt ceiling in order to avoid a default. Now we won't bore you with the nitty-gritty details, but the repercussions of the US defaulting on its debts could be catastrophic to many individuals and institutions. Despite major critics on both sides of the aisle, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were able to settle on a deal.
Data source: News/media, Google, Twitter

The debate on Ken's age
With the new Barbie movie en route to theatres, the latest debate has been about Ryan Gosling's age. Many are suggesting Ryan Gosling is too old to play Ken. And he was able to cleverly defend himself and address the big question of "why does anyone care about that?" High profile movies with major celebrities can draw significant attention and the consumers that want to get lost in the allure of it all are expressing themselves.
Data source: Twitter, news/media, Google

Feel like a model with the photogenic challenge
The latest challenge to hit TikTok gives users the opportunity test their modelling skills. The challenge has users exploring random video templates to embrace their photogenic side. The most popular template creates monochrome freeze frames from video clips, allowing user to capture model-worthy shots of themselves.
Data source: TikTok

Target in boycott troubles due to LGBTQI+ merchandise
Like Bud Light, Target has gotten itself in trouble with conservative voices due to selling LGBTQI+ apparel and merchandise. This is the latest anti-Pride attempt to tear down "woke capitalists" - and this one has been spreading to other major retailers who are also selling Pride merchandise.
Data source: Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, news/media

The series finale of Succession spikes t-shirt sales
We won't spoil the ending for you, but the latest episode of Succession caused Walmart to sell out of a t-shirt that resembled one of the outfits in the show. After someone spotted and shared on social media that an outfit one of the characters wore on the show was sold at Walmart, Succession fans went to Walmart in droves to purchase the t-shirt for themselves.
Data source: Google, news/media, web traffic, Twitter

Temu trends, but not in a good way
The latest Chinese online retailer, Temu, has been trending due to massive amounts of bots sharing and exploiting coupon codes across Twitter, Reddit, and other platforms.
Data source: Reddit, Twitter

TikTok: your source for ideas and advice for wedding dresses
#WeddingDress has been an emerging trend across TikTok now that wedding season is in full swing. Many are taking to TikTok to not only share advice on wedding dress ideas but also people are actively searching the hashtag to add ideas for their big day.
Data source: TikTok

School's out for class of 2023
School's out! Many graduates are documenting their graduation experience and sharing funny, emotional, sad, and uplifting stories about their education experiences and their pathway to graduation.
Data source: TikTok, Instagram

Whacky engineering in the Legend of Zelda
The latest installment in the Legend of Zelda series - Tears of the Kingdom - has sparked a new wave of engineering "geniuses". Videos and gaming communities have been going viral after the game launched because the game offers the ability to build incredibly preposterous machines, bridges, vehicles... anything. And many have taken the challenge on to build more impressive and raunchy feats of in-game engineering.
Data source: Reddit, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook

Getting your fix using social media
Redditors have been looking to the platform to share advice on acquiring drugs - like anabolic steroids and Adderall. Communities like r/steroidsuppliers and r/AdderallHQSource have nearly doubled in size over the past month.
Data source: Reddit

Sodas are getting healthier
The latest trend in soda may leave you healthier. Brands like OLIPOP and Poppi are storming grocery store shelves with sodas that are low in sugar, high in fibre, and full of gut-friendly prebiotics.
Data source: Reddit, news/media, Google

AR pets and gaming make their debut
Augmented reality (AR) is among some of the most innovative technologies out there. And gaming companies - like Niantic and their Peridot Pets game and merchandise - are beginning to explore what the technology can do to bring the next generation of entertainment to consumers. Specifically for Peridot Pets, players have their own AR "pets" they have to take care of - all in a mobile app.
Data source: Forums/blogs, Reddit, news/media

No-dig gardening makes gardening simple
The latest trend for not-so-green thumbs that want to get into gardening is "no-dig" gardening. And with the temperature warming up, more people are exploring the hobby. No-dig gardening is a gardening method where soil and plant debris are layered on top of the ground - meaning no tilling or stressful digging to get your plants set in the ground.
Data source: Forums/blogs, Reddit

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