Kieran Press-Reynolds (born 2000)[1] is an American music/arts journalist based out of New York.[2][3][4] According to their profile at men's fashion magazine GQ, Press-Reynolds tends to cover internet music and "madcap" social media influencers in their work. Additionally, Press-Reynolds has written articles for publications such as entertainment trade magazine Variety, youth culture magazine the Face, Fordham University student publication the Fordham Ram, pop culture website Vulture, and daily newspaper the New York Times.[5][6][7][8][9] They author a column at Pitchfork titled "Rabbit Holed", which is described as a "deep dive into songs and scenes at the intersection of music and digital culture, separating shitpost genius from shitpassé lameness."[10] They also served as Junior Digital Culture Reporter at business news website Business Insider, where they wrote about TikTok influencers and other online trends.[11]

Kieran Press-Reynolds
Born
Kieran Press-Reynolds

2000 (age 2526)
Occupations
  • Music critic
  • author
Parents

Personal life and views

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Press-Reynolds' parents are English music critic Simon Reynolds and American writer-editor Joy Press.[1]

Regarding the state of modern music journalism, Press-Reynolds has stated the belief that parasocial interaction is required in order to be successful in the field. They explained in an interview on Substack: "People need to feel like they know you and your taste profile, and will almost treat you like an artist yourself. They want that vulnerability or personality to come through."[2]

Press-Reynolds has stated the belief that social media apps such as Snapchat have had an adverse effect on the social skills of children. They said: "I knew people in high school whose friendships were almost solely based on sending 'streaks' to each other every day, and then saying pretty much nothing when they were actually in person. The functionality trained you to bypass verbal communication altogether and just send images of random shit to people. It was like the most skeletal form of acquaintanceship ever, but the aura of consistency that came with having a high streak gave you this fake sense of intimacy. It's dumb." They later admitted they abandoned the app altogether upon the introduction of the SnapMap feature, claiming they found it creepy.[4]

References

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  1. 1 2 Reynaldo, Shawn (2025-07-15). "Kieran Press-Reynolds Is Mapping the Brainrot Continuum". First Floor. Retrieved 2026-02-11.
  2. 1 2 Reynaldo, Shawn (2025-09-02). "Main Character Music Journalism". First Floor. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  3. https://www.ninaprotocol.com/posts/digging-kieran-press-reynolds-1774374146686
  4. 1 2 Catucci, Nick (2023-02-17). "My Internet: Kieran Press-Reynolds". Embedded. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  5. "Kieran Press-Reynolds". Variety. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  6. "Kieran Press-Reynolds - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  7. "Kieran Press-Reynolds". The Fordham Ram. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  8. Nast, Condé. "Kieran Press-Reynolds". GQ. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  9. Reynaldo, Shawn (2025-07-15). "Kieran Press-Reynolds Is Mapping the Brainrot Continuum". First Floor. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  10. Nast, Condé. "Rabbit Holed". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  11. "Kieran Press-Reynolds". Business Insider. Retrieved 2026-05-25.