#722: Everyday photos and streaming bandits
Plus the dehumanizing drudgery of TikTok hacks
Hi, hello!, and happy weekend. (Apologies that this one’s hitting your inbox a day late.) You’re reading the Saturday Sunday edition of Links I Would Gchat You If We Were Friends: a lovingly curated collection of brand-new writing on internet culture and technology.
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If you read anything this weekend
“Can the Media Survive?,” by Charlotte Klein for New York. Speaking of endangered media artifacts, I feel like New York is maybe one of five outlets that still publishes big, splashy take-outs like this. Klein interviewed some 50+ executives, editors and founders for this package on the present and future of media, which manages to serve as both a thorough state-of-play (AI! paywalls! indie journalism!) and an unexpected trove of fun, bitchy gossip (“Condé Nast is … so stupid.”) This feels particularly relevant during a week in which both The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times completely shit the bed on their presidential endorsements, and when one of the students in my mag journalism class earnestly asked if I’d ever considered doing something different. “It just doesn’t seem like there’s any money or job security in media,” she said, and I … sadly could not really argue with that!
“What Can You Learn from Photographing Your Life?,” by Joshua Rothman for The New Yorker. I loved this nuanced, philosophical reflection on “everyday” photos — the mundane, repetitive snaps of our pets, partners and children that mass by the thousands in our camera rolls. Few of us will ever revisit these photos, let alone print or otherwise memorialize them. But Rothman argues that the mere act of taking an “everyday” photo serves an almost meditative purpose — helping us appreciate the passage of time and “emphasizing the rhythms of existence.”
“I Took A TikTok Class. What Happened Next Blew My Mind,” by Alex Sujong Laughlin for Defector. Laughlin, who you may know best as half the duo behind the podcast Normal Gossip, shelled out $1,000 for a class with an influencer who promised to teach students to use TikTok to make friend and influence strangers. Alas, what it actually taught was a series of tiring TikTok hacks, designed less to “engage” actual people than algorithm itself.
“Character.ai Faces Lawsuit After Teen’s Suicide,” by Kevin Roose for The New York Times. Who are these millions upon millions of people using AI “companionship” apps? To me, it’s the most intriguing question in a booming industry that’s inherently intriguing, by its mere existence. This story suggests one concerning answer (and, sorry, another thing for parents to worry about): Many of the users of AI companion apps are lonely, vulnerable teenagers. Worse, until a 14-year-old Character.ai user named Sewell Setzer committed suicide last spring, one of the largest companies in this space had no safety features or restrictions geared at underage teens.
“Confessions of a Spotify Vandal,” by Andy Cush for Hearing Things. I’m both inspired and amused by Catbreath?, stet the ?, a Robin Hood for the Spotify era. By publishing songs with names like “Cozy Fall Playlist” or “True Crime Podcast,” he both diverts plays away from the big names in streaming … and inconveniences hordes of complacent users. For his trouble, Catbreath gets a lot of hate mail and about $150/month. Tellingly, that’s “more than I make from anything else I’ve put on the internet,” including more sincerely named songs.
In case you missed it
The most-clicked link from last weekend’s edition was this profile of the “conspiracy-peddling gossip” grifter Jessica Reed Kraus. Highly recommend!
On Wednesday, I wrote about the growing conflicts between traditional tarot practitioners and new AI entrants. Sorry/not sorry, but this will be the full extent of our 2024 Halloween content.
Postscripts
Who gets the TikTok in the divorce? Can you spot the election misinformation? A genuine Google Maps mystery. An appreciation for MS Paint and Comic Sans. How influencers have changed LA dining. The $2 billion election betting craze, explained. A maze game that illustrates how hard it is to get an abortion in different U.S. states.
Streaming costs more as viewers like it less. Phone-tracking surveillance tech should scare us all. The end of Ozempic influencers and Amazon’s ocean-clogging air pillows. Viral animal tourism. An “electrosensitive” enclave. Last but not least: The real-life consequences of high school TikTok fame.
BELOW the paywall you’ll also find:
Unlocked links from the The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic
A short dispatch from real life
This week’s reading & watching recommendations
That’s it for this week! Until the next one. Warmest virtual regards,
Caitlin
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