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Thoughts and rants from another angry woman
After writing about the digital advertising grift yesterday, I got some really good followup questions regarding agencies using data during election campaigns and the Brexit referendum. Weren t Russia and Cambridge Analytica and all those bad-faith actors using microtargeted online content to shift elections in the direction of their guy? There was certainly manipulation going on. Continue reading…
Digital advertising is a scam from top to bottom. In fact, it s several scams stacked on top of each other, wearing a trenchcoat, and some of the foundations of fibs are so effective that otherwise reasonable people entirely buy into them. Data-driven ads are anything but I ll start with a few examples of the data Continue reading Scams upon scams: The data-driven advertising grift
If you don t think you need to read this post because you re always giving Good, Helpful Advice as a Good, Helpful Citizen, this one is for you. I m sure you probably mean well, but it is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that you ve likely annoyed the hell out of someone at Continue reading How to give advice on the internet without being an utter menace
A brief tl;dr before we dive into this project that I set for myself before immediately descending into madness: I used Twitter s new system of displaying views on every tweet to compare a sample of Twitter Blue users to a sample of users who didn t pay real money for a little badge. Those who aren t Continue reading Using Twitter s new view counters to see if Twitter Blue increases reach (it…
Earlier this week, several news outlets breathlessly reported on a new study which had found that (gasp) two thirds of 16-19 year olds in Europe are engaging in risky or criminal activity on the internet. One of the authors, doing the press rounds, explicitly spoke out in favour of the upcoming Online Safety Bill, as Continue reading Are two thirds of young people cyber-deviants ? A dive into a…
Twitter is going one of two ways. Either Elon Musk is going to burn the entire thing down swiftly in a fit of pique, or it will go the way of Tumblr: become a wholly unprofitable, entirely unmarketable, good, honest shitposting platform. At the same time, whatever direction Meta is going in doesn t have legs. Continue reading Predictions on the soon-to-be-called death of social media marketing
Last week, Lady Rona called my name. The lateral flow test lit up like a fucking Christmas tree in seconds. The confirmatory PCR came through positive the next morning. I m a high risk person. I ve spent the last two years being fairly terrified of catching the virus because I m aware it could be very bad Continue reading Things I learned from having a mild case of covid
Content warning: This post contains lots and lots and lots of Line of Duty spoilers, and mentions of CSA. Also, I couldn t always be fucked to look up the spellings of names or even what characters were called, so there s that. Let me start by saying this: you re wrong about the Line of Duty finale. Continue reading The identity of The Fourth Man
I listened to the clip everyone is talking about: Jesse Thorn s interview with Robert Webb, challenging him very mildly on transphobia. It s a fascinatingly instructive as to how the mind of The British Strain Of Transphobe works. When presented with an incredibly mild refutation of his stance, there was one thing he was incapable of Continue reading The lesson in the Robert Webb interview: Inside…
Content note: this post discusses sexual harassment, violence against women, and police Last night, women gathered to remember a sister who was killed. A police officer has been arrested for her murder. The police responded to a series of vigils across the country by trampling flowers, trapping and beating women, and snatching them. You may Continue reading This is the image from the mass violence…