Social Media Is Reshaping Sex Work—But Also Threatening It
One morning last May, Melody Kush discovered that someone was using her Twitter photos to catfish people into paying for a Snapchat premium account that didn’t even exist. Kush is a sex worker—an erotic model, to be precise—and for someone who does much of her work via social media, that kind of scam isn’t just…
The Overwatch League Finals Aren't the Only Thing Happening in Games
This week was a quiet one in the world of videogames, but there's always something to talk about. In this week's roundup we dig into the Overwatch League Grand Finals, Steam's newest update, and the odd specter of orphaned games that still get updates. Here we go! The Overwatch League Grand Finals are Heading to…
While You Were Offline: Roy Moore's Horse Has a Twitter Account Now
What a week! The FCC voted to repeal net neutrality, which would make it harder to discover chapters of Harry Potter written by bots, watch conspiracy theories get torn apart in real time, and uncover awkward text conversations in the future. Meanwhile, media giants kept on growing, the slow wheels of justice turned slowly and,…
Time's Person of the Year Proves the Power of Networked Voices
This morning, when I woke up, opened Twitter, and saw the #MeToo hashtag, my stomach didn't sink. I didn't immediately wonder which friend/relative/colleague had found the courage to add their name to the growing online list of people who have experienced sexual assault or harassment. Seeing the hashtag never feels good—being reminded of the prevalence…
Altered Carbon May Not Be the Cyberpunk Show You're Looking For
In the world of Altered Carbon, death is cheap. The human mind is digitized in a transferrable chip called a "stack," capable of being moved from body to body as necessary—or, if you've got the cash for it, as desired. Bodies have become increasingly uncoupled from the consciousnesses that occupy them. Slang now just calls…
Why Your Next Workplace Harassment Training Might Be in VR
Prepping for a big presentation is stressful, and your boss isn’t making it any better. He’s leering at your coworker Rachel in the middle of a meeting (!), asking if she’s bringing a date to the company dinner (!!). I mean, what do you do? Say something? Take it to HR? Talk to Rachel? Every…
Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Everything Is Love Marks a New Step in the Album's Evolution
On Saturday night under the shield of London Stadium, just as Beyoncé and Jay-Z brought their most recent "On The Run II" tour date to a close, a large sign announced itself with a playful wink: "ALBUM OUT NOW." It was the latest message from two artists whose careers have been marked by public dramas…
The Selfie As We Know It Is Dead
The duck face, the fish gape, the smize—these are just a few of the time-honored poses that celebrities, influencers, and the Instagram-happy masses have relied upon to create perfect selfies. But a lot has changed since the early aughts, when people first started training their smartphone lenses on themselves. Today, selfie-takers can achieve poreless, doll-like…
Book Excerpt: How Music Fans Built the Internet
There weren’t a lot of people online in the early 1990s. Mark Kelly, keyboard player for the English band Marillion, early internet adopter and self-titled "co-inventor of crowdfunding," was an exception. One night after a concert someone handed him a stack of papers—printouts from an email list of Marillion fans. Kelly went home, cranked up…
Avengers: Infinity War Trailer: The Whole Gang's Here
If you’re merely a casual fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the arrival of the first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War might not seem like a huge deal: After all, pretty much every Marvel movie now feels like an Avengers movie, with the team’s various heroes playing crucial supporting roles in such recent hits as…