Ev Williams admits that the internet is broken and suggests course corrections, apologizing for Twitter’s role in putting Trump in the White House.
Technology
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘The Internet Is Broken’: @ev Is Trying to Salvage It
As Twitter, Facebook, and Google try to deal with their unexpected toxicity, the internet continues to reward extremism at the expense of quality, depth, and thoughtfulness. In The New York Times, David Streitfeld reflects on what social media has wrought on society by profiling Twitter co-founder Evan Williams’ attempts to course-correct with Medium.
Posted inEditor's Pick
End Notes
How is a death mourned after it’s gone viral? China, WeChat, and the public consumption of private tragedy.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Pilgrim at Tinder Creek
Life as an audition: the job market, the dating market, and the way we construct ourselves to impress.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria
“Somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Big Bother Is Watching
“Slack tracks and catalogs everything that passes through it, and that is supposed to be a perk. But if the little guy can find anything in the archive, so can his risk-mitigating boss.”
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Where Are You Really From
Many people aren’t from one place and are in constant motion. So why must we choose one nationality from a drop-down menu?
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
How Tiny, Yet Über-Efficient Spider Brains Can Improve Computer Technology
Big brains offer no advantage in the animal kingdom.
Posted inBusiness & Tech, Nonfiction, Reading List
We’re Living in the Golden Age of the Corporate Takedown
Why do we love reading about CEOs behaving badly? Perhaps it’s because we identify with their exhausted workers.
Posted inEditor's Pick
What Happens If a Nuclear Bomb Goes Off in Manhattan?
Researcher William Kennedy, who along with Andrew Cooks, is mining data from past tragedies such as the 1917 Halifax Explosion, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina to run computer simulations studying how humans would respond after a nuclear attack on Manhattan, New York.