*Be* the nerd you wish to see in the world

If you resolved to find love in the New Year, you mayyyyyy have already missed your shot. The first Sunday of the year is the biggest one for dating sites, believe it or not. Your alternatives include offline dating -- eugh -- or promising upstarts like White People Meet. Because there's nothing like casual racism for turning over a new leaf!

(Programming note: Are you a designer, an illustrator, or a human who is talented at Microsoft Paint? I'm looking for a banner-thingy to make the top of this newsletter more attractive, and if you don't mind working for cookies/Internet shout-outs... we could get along great!!)

1. How your Facebook News Feed gets made. In short: computer scientists, data scientists, behavioral researchers ... and some black magic even this epic feature couldn't quite decipher.

2. Inside the online cult of dogspotting. The "sport" (if you can call it that) only looks easy. Up close, there are lots of very strict rules -- and very mean people! -- in the world of competitive dog photography.

3. You can keep your uptalk plug-in, thx. "Just Not Sorry" is an app that vows to help women stop emailing in "ineffective" ways. But in this case, ineffective just means feminine. And that is ~sOo~ not okay.

Every time I think I've found the perfect metaphor for Internet culture a better one comes along (link) :-(

Postscripts: Y'all Qaeda. Butts. Hell on earth. Be the nerd you wish to see in the world. The five emotional stages of virality and the 25 words white people stole. Pressing health question: Is it even safe to sleep with your smartphone?! A history of red lipstick; a flashback to the days of "may i c u home." What HAVE people done for a Klondike bar? You don't even wanna know.

See ya tomorrow!
@caitlindewey

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