Jan 9, 2025 · 55m · big-technology
Why The Costco Guys And Hawk Tuah Took Over The Internet
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the Big Technology Podcast, host Alex Kantrowitz and guest Ryan Broderick analyze how algorithmic feeds, pandemic habits, and the decline of legacy digital media have fueled the rise of mass-appeal 'normie' virality and decentralized social platforms.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Alex holds 26.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Alex as informed peer 5.9 Guest teaching 4.7 Guest disagreement 2.3 Alex pushing back 3.0
speaking balance: gold is Alex, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 15:43 Challenging the Dilution Premise
Ryan directly rejects Alex's hypothesis that social media fragmentation dilutes user interest by questioning if Alex felt that way during the multi-platform era of 2012.
Hardest push from Alex ▶ 11:40 Challenging Bluesky Growth ProjectionsAlex explicitly pushes back against Ryan's claim that Bluesky will hit 100 million users, arguing that many hyped platforms fizzle out like Clubhouse.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 2:27 Reframing Algorithmic Virality Around Lockdown HabitsRyan educates the host by reframing the root cause of normie virality, arguing it was driven primarily by pandemic lockdowns forcing mainstream demographics online rather than algorithmic feed mechanics alone.
Alex holds their own ▶ 38:32 Diagnosing BuzzFeed's ObsolescenceAlex demonstrates his domain expertise by articulating how social platform recommendation algorithms made BuzzFeed's core curation business model redundant.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Alex as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Alex pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algorithmic Feeds, Pandemic Habits, and Normie Virality | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Alex opens with an informed thesis explaining how the shift from follow graphs to algorithmic recommendation feeds caused normie virality. Ryan reframes this argument by asserting that pandemic lockdown behavior brought mainstream audiences online permanently. Alex follows up by probing whether these normie figures truly transcend recommendation algorithms. | |
| Dark Social, Private Communities, and the Rise of Bluesky | 6 | 4 | 3 | 6 | Alex directly challenges Ryan's optimistic projection that Bluesky will reach 100 million users, comparing it to ephemeral hype cycles like Clubhouse. Ryan defends the platform's architectural flexibility while detailing how internet weirdness has retreated into dark social channels like Discord. Alex probes for details on platform dynamics and user behavior. | |
| Platform Fragmentation and the 2012 Internet Parallel | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | Alex suggests that extreme social media fragmentation across multiple clones makes the medium as a whole less relevant. Ryan challenges this premise by comparing today's landscape to 2012 when platforms like Tumblr, StumbleUpon, and Reddit coexisted without diluting the web. Alex acknowledges the historical point and questions whether Bluesky serves as an algorithmic counterbalance. | |
| Deconstructing Normie Memes: The Costco Guys and Hawk Tuah | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Alex demonstrates deep familiarity with viral creators by citing behind-the-scenes footage and podcast charts for the Costco Guys and Hawk Tuah. Ryan contextualizes these creators as modern iterations of morning shock jocks and America's Funniest Home Videos. The tone remains collaborative as both speakers analyze creator franchising models. | |
| Shock Stunts, Paywalls, and OnlyFans Economics | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Alex introduces the viral stunts of OnlyFans creator Lily Phillips and asks about the platform's broader cultural reach. Ryan explains how paywalls incentivize creators to produce lazier, more provocative public stunts to funnel audiences into paid subscriptions. Alex largely listens and facilitates the analysis. | |
| Digital Media Decline: BuzzFeed and the Sale of Hot Ones | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Alex demonstrates strong media industry expertise by diagnosing how algorithmic feeds replaced BuzzFeed's primary value proposition as an aggregator of viral culture. Ryan and Alex draw upon their shared newsroom background to discuss how events like 'the dress' caused major platforms to clamp down on publisher viral traffic. The exchange operates as high-level peer analysis. | |
| Post-Election Realignment: From Culture War to Class Discontent | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | Alex questions whether the culture war is receding simply because the political right won the electoral argument. Ryan offers an alternative lens, citing Jonah Peretti's thesis on identity capitalism and suggesting that digital audiences are burning out on culture war grievances in favor of economic frustration. Alex probes whether this shift signals an era of violent political expression. |
Statements from this episode (14)
Broderick: The pandemic turned internet culture into mainstream culture in 2020
“Internet culture became culture in twenty-twenty. This is like the moment where, you know, Stephen Colbert is wearing AirPods and doing his TV show on Zoom from his bathtub. You know, the barriers broke down. Every family got a group chat that didn't have one.…”
TikTok's algorithm serves mainstream viral content directly without human aggregators
“They don't need aggregators. They don't need communities to surface things for them. It's kind of becoming it's, it feels counterintuitive, but essentially if you're a super normal person who likes really basic stuff like a blowjob joke or going to Costco, you…”
Broderick predicts Bluesky will reach 100 million users by early 2026
“Blue Sky
Is now north of twenty-five million users, and it's well on its way to, let's, let, let's say that by this time next year, maybe even sooner, Blue Sky is gonna be around a 100,000, Blue Sky will be around a hundred million users, which I looked up th…”
Clubhouse was merely a pandemic conference call simulator for bored rich guys
“The most embarrassing moment in social media history as far as I'm concerned.
Acting like that was anything other than just like a conference call simulator for board rich guys during the pandemic.
I hate that app.”
Kantrowitz: No single platform will win the post-Twitter social media fragmentation
“With something like a blue sky, you have now have blue sky, you have threads, you have Instagram, you have Twitter, and instead of like one winning out, which there won't be an absolute winner, you're just going to have diluted experiences everywhere”
StumbleUpon drove more publisher web traffic than Facebook did in 2012
“When you and I first started working together, you know, stumble upon was the thing driving the most traffic, not Facebook for most publishers.”
Roy: Bluesky restores genuine social networking missing from major platforms
“There's distribution, and then there's the actual kind of network and engagement side, and Blue Sky is the latter, which I think is good because there hasn't been that on any of the big platforms in a long time.”
Mainstream internet virality recreates 90s local radio and America's Funniest Home Videos
“I would say that on the normie internet, the zinternet, you know, however you want to describe it, there are essentially two kinds of things that are constantly going viral. Stuff that local radio stations would talk about 30 years ago, and stuff that would be…”
Jake Paul built a production company to franchise viral internet stars
“When Hawk Tua blew up, she was reached out to by Jake Paul's production company, and he's essentially created a company that captures viral stars and then figures out how to effectively franchise them.”
Newsweek estimates 1.4 million American women are creators on OnlyFans
“A recent report in Newsweek estimates that 1.4 million American women are using OnlyFans.”
OnlyFans generated $1.3 billion in revenue and $658 million in profit
“It was reported they made 1.3 billion dollars in revenue, six hundred fifty eight million dollars in profit.”
Public viral content degrades as it becomes pure lead generation for paywalls
“So as paywalls have filled up the web, I think that has also changed the nature of what we're all seeing, which is that it's all getting lazier and sillier, because, and more provocative, because it's trying to get you to go behind the paywall.”