What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future 2025: The Meme of the Year
Dec 28, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Kate Lindsay, host of Slate's ICYMI podcast, explores the evolving landscape of internet memes. She highlights how a viral kiss-cam moment involving Coldplay sparked debates around public scrutiny and class resentment. Kate examines the ethics of online punishment and reflects on our obsession with identifying individuals. She also discusses interesting cultural critiques from the 'Republican makeup' meme to the origins of the 6'7 meme, and predicts that while memes will evolve, they won't disappear anytime soon.
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Private Moment Turned Global Story
- The 2025 meme of the year was a live concert moment that became a global story almost overnight.
- Kate Lindsay argues this shows how social media turns private moments into public spectacles with terrifying speed.
Citizen Surveillance As Social Reality
- The incident illustrates modern surveillance by citizens, not just governments.
- Lindsay calls it the "final boss" of social media-enabled lack of privacy.
Rapid ID And Misinformation Cascade
- Kate Lindsay recounts how identification and false ID cascaded across LinkedIn and Twitter within hours.
- She describes misidentifications, harassment of an uninvolved co-worker, and fake statements spreading fast.