In their place, podcasts and TikTok took over. On this date, the top trending audio clip wasn't from NBC but from the "Strike Force Five" podcast—a limited series featuring the five late-night hosts (including Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon) discussing the strike while raising money for their out-of-work staff. This moment symbolized the shift: legacy media was being replaced by direct-to-consumer audio and short-form video.
But one viral phenomenon stood above all: . While not a mainstream radio #1 yet, the "HOTTOGO!" dance had exploded on TikTok. On 23 08 22, every entertainment outlet was writing about the "delayed explosion" of Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess , calling it the ultimate example of how albums find their audience months later through social media choreography. The Social Media & Meme Ecosystem On this specific Tuesday, the dominant platform for popular media discussion was TikTok , but X (Twitter) was in a chaotic transition. Under Elon Musk’s ownership, the platform had just removed the "block" functionality (temporarily) and news broke on 23 08 22 that major advertisers were still fleeing. This decentralization forced media critics to move to Threads by Meta, which, while initially successful, was on 23 08 22 experiencing a massive drop in daily active users—a 70% decline from its launch peak. familytherapyxxx 23 08 22 renee rose and venus
The data on this date was stark. In 2022, there were 599 scripted TV series. By August 2023, that number was projected to fall below 400 for 2024 due to the strike and spending cuts. For the consumer, this meant fewer new releases and longer gaps between seasons. Finally, we cannot discuss popular media on 23 08 22 without gaming. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was three days away from release (Aug 25), and the hype from FromSoftware fans was deafening. Meanwhile, Baldur’s Gate 3 had fully consumed the PC gaming world following its August 3 launch. On this specific Tuesday, the "bear sex" meme (referencing a possible romance scene with a druid) had crossed over into mainstream media, with news anchors awkwardly describing it. In their place, podcasts and TikTok took over
For historians of , 23 08 22 serves as a perfect metaphor for the early 2020s: an industry that was stripped of its normal production cycles (thanks to the strike), starved of easy money (thanks to Wall Street), and forced to rely on what it had left—raw audience enthusiasm. But one viral phenomenon stood above all: