So here's one I haven't heard:
Today, after realizing that a million people think Justin Bieber's about to die, I signed off on my 52nd Internet debunk -- meaning I've spent an ENTIRE YEAR tracking viral Internet lies. What have I learned from this trial, besides the fact that it never concludes?
Stories that confirm conspiracy theories are very rarely true.
If it sources Russian or North Korean media, it needs a rigorous review.
Nabisco doesn't make fried-chicken Oreos and hippos don't live in lakes.
Absolutely ~everything~ on the Internet can be faked.
Onward!
1. The case for an Internet ratings system. So here's one I haven't heard: Web strategist Eric Garland wants to make the Internet nicer by making it more like ... the real world. To wit: no anonymity, full accountability for the things you say/do/tweet. It's certainly not practical, but it sounds alright to me.
2. Black Twitter is way more than the sum of its tweets. "Those hashtags in so many ways are indicators of a certain degree of cultural competency. To understand some of them, and I stress “some,” you have to understand African-American vernacular English. To understand others, you need to have historical perspective on the issue. And so a lot of that rises out of a common experience of living as a black person, and specifically to living as a black person in the United States."
3. Finally, a YouTube teenie-bopper we can all believe in! He's a smart, progressive, recently arrested, 17-year-old Singaporean.
It's Friday get out of my wayyyy
Postscripts: A record store for YouTube. A recipe for emoji. The end of boredom and the birth of the quantified baby. Those dancing girl emoji are actually ... not. So this is what Anonymous hath finally wrought. Meerkat already has a problem with misogyny; we all, I think, have issues with Instagram food envy. Buzzfeed falls in my estimation; Dove remains the absolute worst. No matter how you Google, you're basically cursed.
Enjoy the weekend! See you Monday,
@caitlindewey
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