We're entering a world of advertainment, where videos aren't exactly ads and they're not exactly content. Trying to decipher what a video is is difficult for the average viewer — and nearly impossible to regulate.
Social media is news now, even when it doesn't have to be. How the act of digital voyeurism only gets more unsettling with each passing event.
One of the largest problems personified by the internet is shifting joy into competition. How does the dissolution of the line between personal and professional time impact our willingness to connect outside of our phones?
Reddit is making major changes to how Reddit users can hang in their own space. There are various theories as to why but the answer is clear: Google.
Open Source allowed the internet to become the transformational space it is today. Is it possible anymore when the spirit of collaboration is killed on sight by the pressure of shareholder returns?
Twitter (X) may remove the block button after more than a year of rumors. What does this say about our progressively worsening digital autonomy?
There are too many platforms to keep up with, and trying to determine which ones are most important leaves us juggling networking problems and identity crises. How do we fix the insatiable need to be seen by the right group?
The Department of Justice alleges that a group called Tenet Media floated wads of cash into right-wing YouTube creators pockets to promote Russian propaganda. The issue is just a symptom of a much larger plague facing YouTube
Roblox is entering adulthood, and as part of that is seeing an emphasis change from leisure to labor. Does this help ensure Roblox becomes the great global mall of tomorrow at a time when physical malls are all but gone?
Gannett's decision to kill Reviewed is an example of Google's continued bulldozing of certain coverage — but it comes at a moment when trusted publications have more leverage than ever
The FTC's attempt to take on the internet's Unreal Problem is much more complicated when you realize the rot starts from the core.
I have a general theory that people care more about top 10 lists in 2024 than they did in 2004 because no one has any idea what’s really popular anymore beyond the NFL and Taylor Swift. More than 43% of Gen Z audiences participate in a fandom that no
Almost everything you interact with is designed to interrupt your day. This is what the battle for attention boils down to: how long can someone or something interrupt you? Take a gander at your Screen Time usage, a feature literally created to quantify those periods of interruption. My most recent
There’s a Wall Street Journal story that occasionally makes its way around X from time to time. I saw it just last week again. The article isn’t groundbreaking, but it catches me every time. Basically, people aren’t “posting” as much. If you haven’t read, the Journal
When I saw Oppenheimer last summer, I remember being surprised to see a teenager whipping out his phone to record the Trinity test scene. It wasn’t the actual recording that shocked me. I’m used to the brightly lit phone in a dark theater even if my raised-in-the-early-00s brain
Joe Biden was the Too Old Candidate. Kamala Harris is the Hopeful Candidate. Donald Trump is the MAGA Candidate. J.D. Vance is the first ever Main Character Candidate. A symptom of chronic posting, the main character is someone who tweets a thought — often innocuous, but sometimes contrarian or downright
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I never know how to start one of these “hi!” posts, despite years of writing a newsletter. There’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you’ve come across my work in Puck, my time spent co-hosting Downstream, or maybe you stumbled upon Musings on Mouse at