{"id":84323,"date":"2025-04-14T07:58:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T11:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/?p=84323"},"modified":"2025-05-01T08:59:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:59:19","slug":"ghibli-starter-packs-backlash-against-social-media-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/ghibli-starter-packs-backlash-against-social-media-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghibli, “Starter Packs”… Backlash Against Social Media Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is LinkedIn\u2019s business strategy starting to backfire? With its increasing focus on video and visual content, LinkedIn continues down the path of \u201cTikTokification\u201d that began a few years ago. But add an overabundance of AI-generated posts to the mix, and you get a bloated feed that\u2019s starting to wear on many users of the platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magali Brochu, founder of Obrigado, summed up the current mood on LinkedIn perfectly in one post:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c50% are doing the starter pack trend. 50% are complaining about the starter pack trend. Are we really debating memes like it\u2019s some existential dilemma? Just breathe\u2014it\u2019s a trend. Want to do it? Do it. Don\u2019t want to? Scroll. No need to write a thesis on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

For professionals who haven\u2019t yet fallen into the LinkedIn addiction, the \u201cstarter pack\u201d is a visual format generated using AI. It typically shows a figurine-style packaging featuring the author, along with accessories representing their job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before that, a viral meme trend involved generating portraits in the style of Studio Ghibli\u2014the renowned Japanese animation studio behind The Boy and the Heron<\/em>. This wave of AI-stylized imagery quickly flooded LinkedIn feeds, to the dismay of many users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Are we giving any thought to the environmental impact of all this?”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLinkedIn, we need to talk,\u201d wrote children\u2019s author Betty Piccioli. \u201cI made the decision a few weeks ago to unfollow every person, company, or organization using generative AI in their posts. Yes, that includes your cute little Ghibli-style portraits or this week\u2019s starter pack trend.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Her gesture is meant to protest a range of issues\u2014\u201cenvironmental, social, the illegality of artistic theft, replacing artists, far-right manipulation\u2026\u201d\u2014while acknowledging that her stance might be seen as radical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others have taken a more measured approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe’re all kind of caught up in the starter pack wave right now,\u201d wrote Alexanne Ouellet, a digital marketing consultant, on her LinkedIn. \u201cBut while we\u2019re having fun generating 48 prompts per minute, I can\u2019t help but ask: are we giving any thought to the environmental cost of it all? I\u2019m not pointing fingers\u2014just sharing a reflection. I actually dug into the topic recently… and the numbers really shocked me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Even casual users of the platform have reached their breaking point with AI-generated posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI rarely post on LinkedIn, but I\u2019ve had enough,\u201d declared Oc\u00e9ane Lhomme, a senior project manager.
\u201cFirst it was Bref<\/em>, then the Ghibli-inspired AI images, and now the starter packs\u2014ENOUGH! These trends are killing originality and creativity. People don\u2019t even think anymore\u2014they just follow a wave, hoping the algorithm will throw them a bone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When Generative AI Creates \u201cOriginal\u201d Concepts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 1st, everything came to a head. April Fool\u2019s Day turned into the perfect storm as everyone scrambled to post something \u201coriginal\u201d on their personal or business accounts. The result? A glut of eerily similar posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content creation consultant and Isarta trainer Francis Jette caught on when he noticed two Quebec cities had posted nearly identical zipline-related jokes. A quick search revealed that dozens of cities\u2014both in Quebec and abroad\u2014had made the same gag. Companies, too, joined in with equally absurd fake product launches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jette confessed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m one of the first to use AI\u2014but when you’re brainstorming, you have to expect you\u2019re not the only one with that idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To break from the flood of trendy posts, he opted instead to share a bright, authentic portrait taken by professional photographer Aurore Degaigne, along with a much-needed reminder:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cJust a reminder: You don\u2019t have to jump on every trend. Especially if you really want to stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is LinkedIn\u2019s business strategy starting to backfire? With its increasing focus on video and visual content, LinkedIn continues down the path of \u201cTikTokification\u201d. But add an overabundance of AI-generated posts to the mix, and you get a bloated feed that\u2019s starting to wear on many users of the platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":84328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[90,17],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84329,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84323\/revisions\/84329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isarta.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}