digital natives

Sydney Poggi of France Télévisions said the public broadcaster is on track to become the leading news provider on YouTube, a striking claim for a public service outlet built around channels like franceinfo. The remark comes as French broadcasters compete with digital-native media for online audiences and raises questions about how public money shapes global platform dominance.

OpenAI has published a piece describing how it is building advertising for the way people actually use AI, signalling a move to shape how brands reach users inside AI products. The announcement points to ad formats designed around conversational and assistant-style interactions rather than traditional web placements. Marketers and industry watchers are weighing what this means for the future of digital advertising and user experience.

A widely shared observation argues that young people raised on social media, AI, smartphones and other products of information capitalism — so-called digital natives — hold the most negative views of these technologies' social impact. The point being circulated is that their first-hand experience gives their concerns weight, and that society perhaps ought to listen more closely to what they are saying about the tools shaping their lives.

At the E-commerce Packaging and Label Expo, speakers from shaving brand Harry's and beauty company Glossier discussed how the two digitally native brands expanded from direct-to-consumer sales onto retail shelves. Their packaging and branding strategies had to adapt to win attention in physical stores, offering a case study for other e-commerce-first companies considering the same move.

Online fashion retailer Revolve has acquired a minority stake in 437, a Toronto-based activewear startup. The investment signals Revolve's continued push into the fast-growing athleisure and activewear market, adding a digitally native fitness brand to its portfolio. Details on the size of the stake and financial terms have not been disclosed.

Digital-first brands are expanding into physical retail, opening stores after building their businesses online. The shift reflects a broader trend in the retail sector, as e-commerce-native companies seek in-person customer experiences, brand visibility and new revenue channels. Commentators note that physical locations can complement rather than compete with online sales, though costs and real estate risks remain key challenges for these formerly online-only businesses.

Retailers are being told to take Generation Alpha — children born from around 2010 onward — seriously as consumers with their own purchasing influence. Fast Company reports that this youngest cohort increasingly expects brands and stores to listen to their preferences, shaping family buying decisions and pushing companies to rethink how they market to and design experiences for them.

Commentators are revisiting the question of digital identity: who users really are online, how that identity is verified, and who controls it. The argument is that the internet was built without a native identity layer, leaving verification scattered across passwords, platforms and governments, and fuelling ongoing debates about privacy, authentication and trust online.

Sports Business Journal has published a feature examining how Barstool Sports, once a fringe blog operation, worked its way into mainstream sports media. The piece traces the company's growth from raunchy, internet-native content into a brand that now competes for mainstream audiences, talent and partnerships alongside legacy broadcasters. It highlights the media industry's broader shift toward personality-driven, digital-first sports coverage.

Advocates argue that expanding broadband access on tribal lands is not simply about faster internet, but about tribal sovereignty and self-determination. The discussion frames connectivity as a tool that lets Native nations build their own economies, education systems, and digital infrastructure on their own terms. The argument is that broadband policy should be shaped and controlled by tribes themselves rather than imposed from outside.