You’re Thinking About Online Trends All Wrong

Aug 12, 2026 5:30 AM

From pessimism around dating to AI reshaping culture, cyber-ethnographer Ruby Thelot tells WIRED why people are putting too much stock into things that go viral.

Photo-Illustration: Darrell Jackson; Getty Images

For the last decade on social media, Ruby Thelot has asked himself the same questions when he encounters viral content online: Is this an ad? Is this account real? Is this an actual trend or just a fluke?

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Reporting from WIRED contributed to this story.