on gen z cultures and subcultures
Finding your algorithm means finding your visuals.
For years, marketers have talked about cracking the algorithm like it’s some sort of tech training to bust open a piñata.
The thing is, Gen Z’s algorithm consists of various cultures and subcultures.
Every feed, on any media, is a reflection of their tastes, obsessions, opinions, and aspirations.
One person’s TikTok is full of Formula 1 edits and race-day outfit inspiration. Another’s endless BookTok reviews and annotated paperbacks.
The recommendation engine isn’t showing demographics; it’s surfacing subcultures.
And that’s gold when you’re trying to figure out who you’re talking to, and what they’re looking at.
As you know, the smartest brands aren’t trying to appeal to everyone anymore. They’re learning visual languages and sticking to them.
Small World, the agency behind some of Gen Z’s most culturally fluent campaigns, famously uses burner phones with completely different TikTok algorithms to study internet microcultures.
One phone might be trained on alt-fashion creators. Another on gaming communities. Another on wellness content. Over time, each device develops its own “personality”.
Imagine a wall full of phones, each with a different feed.
Kind of creepy.
But the goal isn’t so much trend-spotting as it is pattern recognition.
The people working for this are looking for things that repeat, not one-off viral videos by mistake. What colors repeat, what jokes, what transitions, and which visual language signals belonging?
Ultimately, you want to be talking to people fan to fan, not brand to fan.
Which leads us to fandom.
In China, luxury fashion houses are uncovering the powerful chamber of secrets: books and poetry fandoms.
Take Hot Topic’s Mall Rats series. Rather than producing polished ads about alternative fashion, Small World created a TikTok sitcom populated by the kinds of characters Gen Z alt communities instantly recognize: the overdramatic goth, the chaotic emo best friend, the mall employee who knows everyone’s business.
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