“Whether the platform is dying or not, it’s time to reckon with how exactly it broke our brains.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition highlights stories by Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, David Gauvey Herbert, Kit Chellel, Ashley Stimpson, and Nate Rogers.
Dril Is Everyone. More Specifically, He’s a Guy Named Paul
“Paul Dochney posted his way into the halls of internet lore. After 15 years of anonymity, can he emerge without compromising his act?”
‘How Many Women Were Abused to Make That Tesla?’
“Seven women are suing the Elon Musk-led company, alleging sexual harassment.”
Very Online
CJR fellow Karen Maniraho talks with five very online journalists — Ryan Broderick, Jason Parham, Taylor Lorenz, Rebecca Jennings, and Rusty Foster — about what it’s like to cover tech and internet culture today, how they navigate through viral moments and algorithms, and how they look for meaning in a constantly noise-polluted, chaotic space. Because […]
Becoming Human Again: A Reading List for the Extremely Offline
Think it’s time to get off social media? Then this is the reading list for you.
A People’s History of Black Twitter, Part I
“We make spaces out of spaces where we were not intended to be. That’s what we do.” This is the first installment in a three-part oral history series on Black Twitter.
How Twitter Can Ruin a Life
Isabel Fall’s story has been held up as an example of “cancel culture run amok.”
“The Internet Is Inside Us”: Patricia Lockwood on the Portal, Twitter, and Her New Novel
In an interview at GQ, Patricia Lockwood talks about the perils of being extremely online.
Patricia Lockwood Is a Good Reason to Never Log Off
“I mean, the internet is inside us. It’s no longer an externality. We can’t get away from that. You can do some Alias thing where you rip the chip out and you throw it in the river, but it’s too late, man. We’re not getting offline.” Gabriella Paiella interviews Patricia Lockwood.