Trends
What teens around the world are into right now
Roblox Published the Numbers on What Making Games There Pays
On September 3, Roblox published the numbers for the people who build on it. Creators earned over $1.5 billion across 2025. The same report says more than 42,000 creators are in the program that converts what they make into real money, and that the one in the middle of them took home about $1,500 over twelve months.
A Survey Asked 1,949 Japanese Students How They Use Their Phones
Nifty Kids, a Japanese site for children, asked 1,949 elementary and middle school students how they use their phones. Asked whether they consider themselves addicted to their phone, 52.5% of middle schoolers said yes, while 63% of elementary schoolers said no. The moment that makes them feel that way most often is looking up and finding that an hour has gone by.
Nintendo Is Running Two Directs on Back to Back Days
On September 8 at 7am PT there is a roughly 30 minute Direct built around the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, and at the same hour the next day comes Nintendo Direct 9.9.2026, about 45 minutes long. Both times come straight from Nintendo's own Direct page. On the East Coast that is 10am, and in Seoul and Tokyo it lands at 11 at night.
Korea's Most Opened Game Last Month Was Not Really a Game
The August user rankings for mobile games in Korea are out. The app the largest number of people opened over the month was Roblox at 2.81 million, with Block Blast next at 2.02 million. Those two are opposites in almost every way, yet they sit at one and two, and the top six slots are in exactly the same order as last month.
Why People Watch Days of Speedrunning Without Stopping
Speedrunning means finishing a game as fast as it can possibly be finished. There are events where runners take turns doing that in a relay for days without a break, and donations that arrive during the stream go to a charity. One event this July collected more than 2.4 million dollars.
The First Harry Potter Film Turns 25, and It Went Back to Cinemas
The first film opened on 16 November 2001, which makes this year the twenty fifth. So it went back into cinemas worldwide at the end of August, with ten minutes of behind the scenes footage that had never played in a theatre before.
Why Taiwan Has More Than Ten Thousand Claw Machine Shops
Walk down a side street in Taiwan and you will hit a shop that is nothing but lit glass boxes with no staff anywhere. There are more than ten thousand of these unstaffed claw machine shops across the island. And every machine has to tell you the amount that guarantees you walk out with something.
'Guess I'll Dance Parapara,' the Line That Started a Meme
RESCENE's Minami started dancing out of nowhere on a beach in Geoje. The line she said in that moment now gets used after a bad exam, before a scary presentation, basically any time things feel like too much. Funny thing is, the dance itself isn't even Korean.
Fifteen Yuan a Badge, 168.9 Billion Yuan a Market
A whole mall floor turning into badge shops. In China those little things are called guzi. One thumbnail-sized badge runs about 15 yuan, and the whole market came to 168.9 billion. What sits between those two numbers?
Thirty Years of Photo Booths, From Tokyo to Daegu and Back
The four-cut booth did not appear out of nowhere. A sticker photo machine that landed in a Tokyo arcade in 1995 traveled through Daegu and came back to Tokyo, and thirty years are folded into that one strip of paper.
Why That Song Won't Leave Your Head
Doo doo doo doo, it just started playing in your head, right? Baby Shark passing 17 billion views and those exam season banned song lists are the same phenomenon. It has a name: the earworm.
Korean Teen Slang 101: From Lucky Vicky to Chugumi
Half the words in your friend's chat look like code? Here are the Korean slang words people actually use, with examples.
Why Personality Tests Are Booming Again: Life After MBTI
The MBTI craze may cool down, but new personality tests keep coming. Here is why we are all so into them.
A Short History of the Ideal-Type World Cup Bracket
Tteokbokki or mala soup, that is the question. Where the bracket-pick format came from, why it never gets old, and how to win it.
Fandom Starter Dictionary: Bias, Home Base and Photocards
If you go quiet when friends talk biases till 2 a.m., this dictionary has you covered. The essential fandom words, one by one.
The Short-Form Challenge Field Guide: Types, Tips and Staying Safe
Open your feed and the challenges pour in. Here is what is out there, what to watch for, and how to have the most fun with it.
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