Virality vs popularity, and the demise of reliable stats
From the Garbage Day newsletter, some reflections on the connection between virality and popularity (highlights mine): The conclusion I’ve come to this summer — one I’m still not…
Category: social media
Is it time to re-start building the internet?
Note: This is cross-posted from my newsletter, to which you can subscribe here. x Here are some thoughts that have been kicking around my head for some time.…
Refractive Fragmentation — where did social media go?
“An X never, ever marks the spot,” Indiana Jones once famously stated. Only in this one particular case, it totally does: When Twitter became X, it very much…
Ways to think about alternative social media
We know the many ways social media platforms are failing us. But/and I think it would be tremendously helpful to expand our vocabulary and thinking about these things…
Are social platforms a bit like fossil energy after all?
I never subscribed to narrative that Data is the New Oil — i.e. it’s highly valuable and a tradable commodity. Nor that it’s like oil in that it…
Thoughts on Tracking and Targeting
Over on Threads I had an exchange about targeted ads: are they better than generic ads? Is ad tracking really bad? I see some real, relevant and big…
The state of election disinformation as we head into 2024
The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) recently released this report (“Seismic Shifts“, PDF) about the state of counter election disinformation initiatives in the US, and the trust…