Let's be real:
Every time I convince myself that humanity is essentially intelligent/good, something like this quickly reminds me that we actually live in an smdh world. A Twitter bot that does nothing but tweet ~random Gamergate buzzwords~ legitimately convinced someone that it was a real person, who promptly engaged it in argument. (New Year's resolutions for 2015? Get off social media.) Now the links!
1. Inside the battle for Ask.fm, the site where ISIS just recruited three American teens. Ask.fm is basically every parent's worst nightmare: a social network responsible for nine teen suicides and the radicalization of three otherwise normal kids. The site's new management is waging war on the trolls and terrorists -- but it isn't yet clear who's going to win.
2. What happens when you tweet that "white men have it hard." It's a casual bit of sarcasm that, on Twitter at least, reveals volumes about human nature, the American psyche, and how social media brings out the worst in both.
3. How Charles Johnson build his "empire of fear." Johnson, the polarizing blogger of pooped-the-floor fame, has promised to sue Politico for libel over this story. If that doesn't entice you, I'm not sure what will!
Man, goats really ARE the new cats.
Pocketable: Pilot Instagrams are gorgeous. They're also ... extremely illegal. (3108 words/12 minutes)
Postscripts: The original comment section. The best holiday stuff on Netflix. This, my friends, is Mail Kimp -- except the dance remix. (All the H/Ts to @pittsburghliz.) How to hack the holidays and be a friend in the digital age. Why exactly these year-in-culture lists seem to be all the rage. All dogs go to heaven. All old people should Skype. Would a teenager think you're cool? (Let's be real: If you still say "cool," the answer is *probably* no.)
Until tomorrow!
@caitlindewey
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