An internal memo from fired data scientist Sophie Zhang explains how Facebook knew that politicians around the world were engaged in “inauthentic activity” on the social network in order to manipulate voters.
social media
Posted inCulture, Highlight, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘I Saw It on Instagram, I Had to Come’: The Desire to Document Ourselves in Nature
Are Instagrammers and selfie culture destroying the outdoors? At Outside, Lisa Chase sets off to find out.
Posted inEditor's Pick
What I Learned at the Most Instagrammed Outdoor Places
Visiting tourist hotspots like the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, Lisa Chase explores “the human desire to lose ourselves in the wild and also to extract, despoil, and package it.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Rise of a Hindu Vigilante in the Age of WhatsApp and Modi
“They pushed him against a closet and told him to strip so they could see whether he was circumcised, a sure sign that he wasn’t Hindu. After that, the group handed the man over to police.”
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes, Technology
What Happens When You Go Offline
The Information Age is also the age of information overload. Here’s what one person learned about the human brain after cleansing himself of screens.
Posted inNonfiction
My Body Is Not a Temple
All the good habits and self-optimization in the world don’t give you real control over your body. Back away from the bread starter.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Shout Out to Myspace
The site that revolutionized how people released and listened to music has died multiple deaths since its 2003 debut, but it finally gets the eulogy it deserves.
Posted inNonfiction
A Crying Public Shame
Dialogue, Twitter-style: you get called out on social media. People pile on to you. Other people pile on to the pile-oners. Soon everyone’s anxious or angry or both, no one’s really talking (or listening), and a few tech CEOs are buying new houses in Jackson Hole.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
The People We Love to Hate on Social Media
What the people we envy online can tell us about ourselves.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
The Art of Losing Friends and Alienating People
Laura Lippman, admittedly a rotten friend, is bummed by the ways in which friendships end as one gets older.