You probably heard about GameStop, the WallStreetBets subreddit, Robinhood app and what’s been called the biggest “short squeeze” in 25 years – all of which was last week boiled down to the phrase “meme stock mania.” You also may’ve heard of Pepe the Frog, a cartoon character created for a comic book in 2005 that somehow, in a weird, circuitous, Internet way, became a meme for the alt-right, … [Read more...] about Pepe the Frog, GameStop & the gamification of reality
Social Media
Young artists & activists wrapping 2020 in light
So many of us lost heart, our voices, our strength at different points in the past year, and possibly none more than young people. “Since the start of the pandemic, mental health-related emergency department visits increased by 31% for 12-17-year-olds,” Mental Health America cites data from the Centers for Disease Control as showing. And according to YPulse, 64% of Gen Z-ers themselves say their … [Read more...] about Young artists & activists wrapping 2020 in light
Beyond ‘The Social Dilemma’ to social solutions
The Social Dilemma, now on Netflix, is a polemic, not a documentary. I mean, the Oxford English Dictionary says a documentary “provides a factual record or report,” and this film does not do that. There’s nothing wrong with a polemic, or a wakeup call. It’s perfectly reasonable to create a film with the intention to wake people up from using tech and media unthinkingly. It is wrong to represent … [Read more...] about Beyond ‘The Social Dilemma’ to social solutions
‘Automated fame’: 1 of the TikTok stories of the moment
You’ve undoubtedly seen news stories about Charli D’Amelio, 2020’s 16-year-old TikTok phenomenon, with 6 billion likes and 82 million followers since she joined the app last spring. It was the part about “automated fame” that really caught my attention in a New Yorker story this past weekend. Charli became “the most popular creator on TikTok” partly just because of who Charli is – a very grounded … [Read more...] about ‘Automated fame’: 1 of the TikTok stories of the moment
Yup. New ‘Blue Whale’ with a Momo-style twist
Here we are again. Remember “Blue Whale,” then “Momo”? Well, the B.W. challenge, or self-harm “game,” has been warmed over and repackaged with a new name and face with the creepiness of a Momo. This time it’s a weird, scary version of the cartoon character Goofy. [I don’t know—does familiarity make it less scary or more so?] In any case, its predecessors were both hoaxes, so it would be hard for … [Read more...] about Yup. New ‘Blue Whale’ with a Momo-style twist