Rebranded for the age of irony

The first website went online 25 years ago, more or less. I love that, 'cause it means I lived a full TWO YEARS without the scourge of the Internet. Someday, when my grandkids have dumped me in a home and only visit via VR, I look forward to busting that trivia out and seeing how dismayed they are.

get it girl (link)

1. How Twitter became -- or was allowed to become -- a "hunting ground" for trolls. Blame a half-baked radical speech policy that spiraled out of control. Former employees say Twitter's (largely white male) leadership were so consumed by free speech they didn't want to intervene. And by the time they did, the struggling co. had other priorities.

2. The Internet is obsessed with dead girls; the feminist Internet, most of all. In tweets and blog posts, these victims become symbols intended to remind and appall. The dynamic's inherently exploitative -- but it's not evil, per se. There's arguably meaning to be found in this morbid virality.

3. There are almost 60,000 refugees in Greece, and most of them have phones. They're using them to get news, to keep in touch with family, and to try to find new homes. CNET has a big package out on tech and the refugee crisis, but I like this story particularly: little anecdotes about online life from on the ground in Greece.

4. Dozens of YouTube creators have allegedly preyed on fans dazzled by their online status. Years after the first reports came out, however, the community's still in a state of crisis. YouTube itself isn't gonna go there, and grassroots anti-harassment is pretty small-time. That leaves only parents between their preteen daughters and the dudes they hero-worship online.

5. Podcasts have always been a game by/for white men. That's finally changing. Women like Phoebe Robinson, Crissle West and Aminatou Sou are leading a new, more diverse era in podcasting.

also a gymnast ... of sorts (link)

Postscripts: Hikea. Porndub. Wokemoji. The Internets of forgetting and fraternities. How to buy a gun on Facebook and how to hack an election. "Anxiety is a constant" in makeup videos," which is probs why I don't watch them. The real man behind Joanne the Scammer. The real teens behind Hot Global "News." There's no such thing as "innocuous data," esp. when it mimics you. Why trolls love anime. How a text message is sent. Color me slightly less than surprised: Pokemon Go has a CEO-sized privacy problem.

Wholesome memes. Phelps memes. Dead memes. Woke memes. The old origins of digital words and the *original* augmented reality. Book plots as big data; slow games as smoke breaks; Facebook Live witchcraft as mourning. Apparently even rapists and ax-murderers get their own site for online dating! The fall of the content farm; the fall AND rise of the GIF. Silicon Valley wasn't supposed to be so damn capitalist. Why you can't be a dark-skinned black girl in Pokemon Go and how social media saves puppies. In closing, Martha Stewart -- like SO MANY of us -- has rebranded for the age of irony.

Until next week!
@caitlindewey

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