The Summer of the Switcheroo: How a New TikTok Trend Exposes the Absurdity of Digital Life Imagine a woman on a couch, smiling warmly at her husband. She asks him a question about her pregnant body, and in response, he lets out a long, guttural “Ewwww.” It’s a moment that seems painful and awkward until the viewer realizes they’ve been set up. The question she originally asked was completely different, and the video has been cleverly edited to make his horrified reaction seem like a response to her body, rather than the mundane query it actually was. This is the…

There is something almost universally comforting about a red discount sticker. A price crossed out on a website, a savings badge, a countdown clock: these small visual cues promise one of the most basic human experiences in shopping, getting a bargain. We all want to feel that we have been clever, that we waited at the right time, that we found a dress or a jacket we love and then bought it for less than it was really worth. But what happens when the discount that is advertised was never real? That, it turns out, is the accusation now made…