> The reality is that the internet has become decentralized; rather than people staying in one gigantic, unified group with shared trends and moments like they used to, users go their separate ways, with social media algorithms providing hyper-curated content that pushes users toward smaller groups with niche shared interests.
Huh, this feels exactly backwards. The web used to be WAY more decentralized.
Im not so sure, the big "fall" of labubus so far was for flippers and their profits, Popmart on the other hand has been selling more than ever with their restocks still selling out almost instantly.
Them being accessible and there being supply for much demand is having hit equilibrium. Give it another year or two before grave dancing. Many are still just only buying them now with them being accessible.
Adam Conover argued that the craze is an indicator of economic nihilism, that people who can’t afford these things buy them anyways as an expression of hopelessness that they’ll ever have a pathway to legitimately changing their station: https://youtu.be/l1O6bN2zWSM?si=QGd51tfmh8lOjezk
As a subculture dedicated to being in the know on certain things, HN commenters purposely showing theyre being out of touch on this specific subculture is pretty funny.
It's not that serious, I promise. When you were a kid you probably also had beany babies, furbies, crazy bones, magic cards, tamagotchis, tech decks, steel bearing yo-yos, or whatever else thing was a fad. Guess what, those were all made in China too.
This summer I walked main Newbury street (one of main shopping street in Boston) and parked on it was a sweet, sweet looking brand new McLaren (had to go on their web site to identify from my picture, I think it was an Artura Spider) in a very classy matte-black paint, with custom license plates saying LABUBU. A very incongruous combination between what that car is and the plates it was sporting. I did not observe a labubu hanging on the rear view mirror which I expected should have been present.
I think this speaks more to using the trending TikToks of the world as a gauge for what is popular. It’s not a great gauge. Just because the trend there is waning, IRL this toy/brand has a huge opportunity to stick around for awhile. It’s still selling plenty, has a platform to do more, etc. Just because people aren’t posting it, or because the algorithm isn’t surfacing those posts, doesn’t mean the trend is dead.
It feels like the article doesn’t really say anything. The popularity of Labubu is something worth analyzing, and many similar phenomena have existed in the past or will appear in the future. But Labubu also has its unique aspects; it’s just that the article’s author wasn’t capable of properly studying what makes Labubu distinctive.
I only have some vague ideas, not enough to write an article. But if you want to write an analysis, it’s best to come up with something new.
Labubus peaking and falling doesnt really say much about scarcity and trends. Labubu is made by a public company, who's stock skyrocketed, and essentially decided to go all in and mass produce to meet the popularity
thats one option. But other companies sometimes choose to keep the scarcity and secrecy for years, even decades, and if they play their cards right it keeps working
Labubus fall is more about its makers decision to increase sales numbers instead of keeping them flat and generating more and more and more hype
Hermes can sell a $15,000 Birkin to everyone, im sure they can figure out the supply chain aspects if they really wanted to. and within a month everyone that wanted one would have one and sales would drop. Hermes will have a spike in sales, followed by a drop
Instead they force you to play years long games with their sales staff to get an opportunity to spend $15,000. And decades later people still opt in to spending thousands of dollars on plates and scarves hoping one day they will be offered one
This is just as true about a $40 Supreme, or Aime Leon Dore T-shirt, than it is for a $15,000 handbag. If you keep the scarcity going just right, it lasts much longer
The article is too optimistic in its view of how short-form video allows everyone to partake in these trends. In an attention-driven culture where nothing cool can be kept a secret, as the very essence of coolness would be defined not by the thing itself but by how many people watched your tiktok about it, you end up with these nonsense low-quality “viral trends” that everyone is talking about because everyone is talking about it.
Very little of it is actually good. So what then, if it’s able to spread faster than ever before? It stinks!
Thats interesting if true, but my cause to doubt it is that I have seen shops catering to the labubu format, that is the expensive mystery box toy, popping up with heaps of varied stock. In fact they dont even seem to center the labubus. Labubu might go away but I think its cultural significance of tiktok 200 dollar toy unboxing is going the distance.
> The reality is that the internet has become decentralized; rather than people staying in one gigantic, unified group with shared trends and moments like they used to, users go their separate ways, with social media algorithms providing hyper- curated content that pushes users toward smaller groups with niche shared interests.
Erm. What's with the optimism at the end here? Isn't this the example of the exact opposite? Despite being promised "curated niche interests" somehow these attention algorithms on huge centralized platforms find a way to turn everyone on the platform into a consumer of a particular trendy item?
I find it so disturbing that a lot of "niche interests" on the Internet these days seem very consumer focused.
I started seeing the word "Labubus" everywhere a few months ago and thought "Are we still talking about those red-soled high heels? Weren't they popular like 10 years ago?"
> The reality is that the internet has become decentralized; rather than people staying in one gigantic, unified group with shared trends and moments like they used to, users go their separate ways, with social media algorithms providing hyper-curated content that pushes users toward smaller groups with niche shared interests.
Isn't it weird to describe as a societal or cultural trend something that can be changed with a pull request?
It feels like the article’s point about the “mush” of modern internet trends maps surprisingly well to the IT world. We see the same dynamic with tech stacks: rapid micro-trends, constant novelty, and a tendency to adopt tools because they’re circulating in the feed rather than because they solve a real problem.
I think it’s not catastrophic, most of this churn is harmless — but it does create noise. The challenge is simply recognizing when a trend is signal vs. when it’s just another iteration of the cycle. A bit more intentionality in how we pick technologies would already go a long way.
I found the whole thing so depressing from an environmental perspective. A completely pointless and manufactured hype cycle to push something with no utility whatsoever. Now some factories in China are pumping out labubu clones that will end up in the bargain bin of a dollar store.
It makes any effort to reduce my environmental footprint feel so pointless. Why even bother?
Pokémon is also a high volume business but is reaching 30 years in 2026. Keeping alive a trend for so long is impressive.
Jean-Claude Biver (watch personality) famously said: « people want exclusivity, so you must always keep the customer hungry and frustrated ».
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[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 43.1 ms ] threadZero value, fuelled and pushed by celebrities far and wide and they are not even rare to begin with.
Huh, this feels exactly backwards. The web used to be WAY more decentralized.
On the other hand, they've only recently penetrated my greater social circle, so I'm not so certain as this author that the trend has ended.
Them being accessible and there being supply for much demand is having hit equilibrium. Give it another year or two before grave dancing. Many are still just only buying them now with them being accessible.
It's not that serious, I promise. When you were a kid you probably also had beany babies, furbies, crazy bones, magic cards, tamagotchis, tech decks, steel bearing yo-yos, or whatever else thing was a fad. Guess what, those were all made in China too.
I only have some vague ideas, not enough to write an article. But if you want to write an analysis, it’s best to come up with something new.
thats one option. But other companies sometimes choose to keep the scarcity and secrecy for years, even decades, and if they play their cards right it keeps working
Labubus fall is more about its makers decision to increase sales numbers instead of keeping them flat and generating more and more and more hype
Hermes can sell a $15,000 Birkin to everyone, im sure they can figure out the supply chain aspects if they really wanted to. and within a month everyone that wanted one would have one and sales would drop. Hermes will have a spike in sales, followed by a drop
Instead they force you to play years long games with their sales staff to get an opportunity to spend $15,000. And decades later people still opt in to spending thousands of dollars on plates and scarves hoping one day they will be offered one
This is just as true about a $40 Supreme, or Aime Leon Dore T-shirt, than it is for a $15,000 handbag. If you keep the scarcity going just right, it lasts much longer
Very little of it is actually good. So what then, if it’s able to spread faster than ever before? It stinks!
Erm. What's with the optimism at the end here? Isn't this the example of the exact opposite? Despite being promised "curated niche interests" somehow these attention algorithms on huge centralized platforms find a way to turn everyone on the platform into a consumer of a particular trendy item?
I find it so disturbing that a lot of "niche interests" on the Internet these days seem very consumer focused.
That's how in touch with fashion I am.
Isn't it weird to describe as a societal or cultural trend something that can be changed with a pull request?
I think it’s not catastrophic, most of this churn is harmless — but it does create noise. The challenge is simply recognizing when a trend is signal vs. when it’s just another iteration of the cycle. A bit more intentionality in how we pick technologies would already go a long way.
It makes any effort to reduce my environmental footprint feel so pointless. Why even bother?
But if it makes someone happy then sure whatever. Crazes like this have been a thing for centuries and wouldn’t treat too much into it re internet
Interesting take. What exactly is meant with "the way it was before", and when was that?