83% of the Web is rubbish

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(Who among you did not get that reference? In either case, the links!)

1. On alienation, isolation and the plight of the modern nerd. The "nerd" word gets thrown around pretty casually these days, applied just as frequently to Gamergaters as Silicon Valley billionaires. But there's a big difference between the two. And when we conflate them, the real nerds -- the 34-year-old unemployed virgins who are literally living in their parents' basements -- only become more isolated, more alienated, and more angry.

2. Meet the 21-year-old, male college student who makes big $$ tweeting like a girl. His name is Cameron Asa and he has 1.2 million followers on his main parody handle, alone. What's more, Asa says he's part of an unofficial network of parody tweeters who make thousands of dollars per message -- and who can make memes like #AlexfromTarget go global in minutes.

3. What it's like to get doxed by an online mob. Stand-up comic Brock Wilbur does not write about gaming. He had absolutely no skin in the Gamergate debate. But that crowd has been harassing him for nearly two weeks -- apparently by mistake.

Just walk to the liquor store, you lazy human meme.

Pocketable: Understanding the cult of My Little Pony, because that's definitely a thing. (3373 words/14 minutes)

Postscripts: Parody Twitter. Potato porn. Will you go back to Target? "Yeah, probably." Why Zuck only owns one T-shirt and how drones are finding lost WWII planes. 21 reasons not to use Venmo /13 nasty foods on Pinterest. Is this really real? Is this really fake? Only the genius behind Snopes can say. (But I believe 83% of the Web is rubbish, in either case.)

Until tomorrow!
@caitlindewey

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