Can there really ever be too much love?!
Let us begin today's newsletter with a moment of silence for @everyword, the Twitter bot/conceptual art project that not only ended this weekend, but -- IMHO! -- ended badly. @Everyword, you'll recall, was tasked with tweeting every word in the English language, starting with A and ending on Z. Instead it ended on étui, which I think we can all agree makes no logical sense. In either case, it gives me a chance to recommend @streetsnsheets, my other favorite Twitter bot. Onward!
1. "Vine celebrity" is an actual, paying profession. Stars of the six-second video network are scoring significant advertising deals a -- and making $$ in the process. Niche, the appropriately named ad agency that partners social media stars and advertisers, says it's currently working with 3,000 social media "celebrities." (I hope one of them's shovel girl.)
2. That "viral" video or news story probably ... isn't. We tend to think of the Internet as a democratic, egalitarian place, where anybody with a blog and a little dedication can theoretically become famous. Sadly, the opposite is actually true: Traditional power structures are in force online, and most "viral" content exists in that ecosystem.
3. Do we reallyyyyy need to learn code? Not all of us, probably not, no. PHEW.
Have yet to start Orange is the New Black season 2, but I'm p. on-board with this cat parody.
Pocketables: The problems with cultural appropriation ... including the complexities of labeling it a "problem," at all. (2800 words/11 minutes)
Postscripts: Selfies are the new autograph, Twitter is the new Match.com, tai chi is the new yoga, Snoop Dogg is the new Psy. Who invented autocorrect and how rumors spread these days. An argument against Yelp, by Momofuku's David Chang. 15 facts about Buzzfeed that will totally blow your mind. Nine celebrity fad diets, photographed as still-life paintings. Can adults read YA fiction? Can there really ever be too much love?! (I take that back ... there totally can be. And I adore pugs.)
Until tomorrow!
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