On April 1, 2026, TYDE and UVA’s Digital Technology for Democracy Lab hosted “Financial Lives in a Networked Generation: How Finfluencers, Fin-Tech, and FOMO Shape Young Adults’ Financial Well-being,” a report launch and webinar. The online event marked the launch of a report drawn from the initial findings of the Financial Lives in a Networked Generation (FLiNG) project, led by UVA associate professor and TYDE affiliate Lana Swartz with TYDE postdoctoral research associate Max Brichta.
Young adults are coming of age in a financial environment that is markedly different from that of previous generations: digital, fast-paced, and increasingly shaped by platforms and AI.
The webinar explored five key domains transforming young people’s financial lives: the hustle economy, finfluencers, online financial communities, new forms of credit and lending, and high-risk retail investing and gambling. Together, these trends reveal the emergence of a participatory, yet precarious ecosystem in which financial products are woven into everyday digital culture and economic decisions blur with entertainment and identity.
View the Webinar: