Get woke and stay woke

File this travesty under old-world monarchical bullshit: Boaty McBoatface will in fact NOT be the name of a new British research ship!! Last month, to the Internet's endless amusement, the name received a hundred thousand votes in an online poll. But per the UK's Science Minister, it's not quite ... "suitable."

1. What we can learn about harassment from the Victorians, who solved the understudied public safety issue of their time. That issue was food, which okay, is v. different -- but does suggest some solutions to life online! For one thing, would-be reformers need to do their work in public, and not behind the walls of private companies. Otherwise it's impossible to attack abuse systematically.

2. Meet the man funding 8chan, to his own detriment. Jim Watkins admits that the self-funded forum hasn't yet seen much in profits. In the meantime, however, he has other revenue -- like the money he makes farming pigs.

3. Speaking of 8chan, should we actually TRY to feed the trolls? If you never engage them, then you never know!

what happens if i ... bad idea
(link)

Postscripts: Bennui. Elect meme. Get woke and stay woke, ideally. Every game Twitch has banned. Who will die next on Game of Thrones. Iran through social media and Internet comment author bios. How Facebook could tilt the election. How social smeared a missing kid. The alt-right explained for your amusement + edification. YouTube is SO DRAMA. The world without Internet would be ... less so. Last but not least, many "smart" chatbots are actually dumb puppet shows.

Until tomorrow!
@caitlindewey

Do you like this newsletter? Please send it to a friend! If you don't like this newsletter, please send it to an enemy. If you have questions or feedback, hit "reply" to talk to me.