The Art of Losing Friends and Alienating People By Laura Lippman Feature Laura Lippman, admittedly a rotten friend, is bummed by the ways in which friendships end as one gets older.
Airbrushing Out the Evidence of Her Son’s Differences By Sari Botton Highlight Are you really achieving representation for your child with special needs if you’re only sharing the upbeat, attractive photos on social media?
End of Discussion By Soraya Roberts Feature There’s no such thing as a 140-character exegesis: the (non)-discourse around “Joker” is the latest to prove that social media is designed for emotion, not dialogue.
‘I’m Incredulous That People Do This Repeatedly. The Second Book Thing Is So Real.’ By Zan Romanoff Feature Mary H.K. Choi discusses her latest novel, which examines how “holograms and digital envoys” represent us online, and why it feels like her “second book signals the death of my first.”
When Friendship Fades But the Images Linger By Eryn Loeb Feature Eryn Loeb looks back on a summer spent taking pictures, and a friend she lost touch with.
Twitter Won’t Miss You: A Digital Detox Reading List (and Roadmap) By Sara Benincasa Reading List Maybe it’s time for an internet break… after you read this.
Health Care Sponcon: Where Big Pharma Meets Instagram Influencer By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight Health care and medical sponsored content from influencers is growing on Instagram. But is it ethical?
In the Age of Instagram’s Travel Influencer, Your Pretty Home Is the Backdrop for Their Photoshoot By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight At Curbed, Alexandra Marvar explores homeownership in the age of the Instagram travel influencer.
The Overdose Video: America’s Latest Genre of Horror Film By Krista Stevens Highlight Posting videos of the drug addicted in active overdose to social media in a bid to publicly shame them to get clean is as about as effective as you’d expect it to be.
‘Mommy, Are We Famous?’: On the Rise of Kid Influencers on Instagram By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight Kids are a growing part of Instagram’s influencer marketing industry. At Fast Company, Katharine Schwab reports on the rising stars of the platform — and the parents managing their “careers” behind the scenes.
Shackled to Twitter By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The pros and cons of building one’s brand on Twitter.
Having the Wrong Conversations about Hate Activity By Longreads Feature How a terrified mother tried — and failed — to be a walking-talking public service announcement.
A Cover That Could Launch a Million Retweets By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight What does a magazine cover mean in the digital age?
How the Self-Publishing Industry Changed, Between My First and Second Novels By Nicole Dieker Commentary In the last few years, self-publishing and marketing your own books has become increasingly more difficult.
The Last Place Where No One Is Looking: Embracing the End Times of Snapchat By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight As once-popular Snapchat becomes an increasingly irrelevant platform, Helena Fitzgerald finds beauty in its uselessness.
A Pyramid Scheme for the Social Media Generation By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight A new breed of charlatan posts images of their fake opulent lifestyles on Instagram to lure followers into investing in sketchy financial products.
Before We All Teach Someone a Lesson By Catherine Cusick Highlight Online harassment gets out of hand constantly. Can prosocial bots help turn the tide of anonymous interactions before people become abusive?
Is 2018 the Year We Step Away From Social Media? By Nicole Dieker Commentary Spending long periods of time reading people argue with one another on the internet can be wearying. So why do we do it?
Harshing the Internet Poet’s Mellow By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Instagram poet Collin Andrew Yost got trounced online, but his experience offers a lesson in how to cultivate empathy.
When You’re Broken by Breaking News By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary If reporting becomes excessive, it can do more harm than good.
The Trump Whisperer: A Conversation with Washington Post Reporter David Fahrenthold By Cody Delistraty Feature Fahrenthold on how he follows the money, “shows his work,” and solicits leads from Twitter in covering Donald Trump.
Why Did a Young Woman Broadcast Her Death? By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight An 18-year-old Parisian woman streams her suicide on social media.
When Is an Internet Company Evil? By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight What is Facebook *really* about? Surveillance and advertising, not about “the power to build community” as its new mission statement so disingenuously puts it.
To Be an Instagram-Ready Restaurant, Don’t Forget Your Selfie-Optimized Lamps By Ben Huberman Highlight Sleek-kitschy idiosyncrasy is all the rage.
How Do Words Get Added to the Dictionary? By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary Four times a year, lexicographers update and add words to the OED. Katherine Connor Martin helps decide what makes the cut.
The Internet Won’t Prioritize Quality Without an Intervention By Catherine Cusick Highlight Ev Williams admits that the internet is broken and suggests course corrections, apologizing for Twitter’s role in putting Trump in the White House.
The Slacklash Is Here. You Should Do Something About It. By Michelle Weber Highlight Is the app that ate email eating into a whole lot more—like privacy, productivity, and personal time?
#Vanlife: Selling Their Staged World, One Social Media Post at A Time By Krista Stevens Highlight Is the social media movement a form of free-spirited nomadism, or a clever selling of the soul to brands?
In Makeover Culture, Authenticity Doesn’t Come Cheap By Ben Huberman Highlight If the “real” self is inside us, why do we constantly seek to transform our outer surfaces?
Our Memories Are Not What They Used to Be By Ben Huberman Highlight Sophie McBain asks what will become of human memory at the age of smartphones, social media, and unlimited storage in the cloud.
