A few months ago, I found myself doomscrolling through X (first mistake) when I found a thread about how “everything is getting worse.” The author had assembled an impressive collection of graphs showing declining trust in institutions, rising polarization, increasing mental health issues among teens, and various other metrics of
Social media runs on conflict. This isn’t exactly breaking news — but what’s worth thinking about is how this has spawned an entire class of what we might call “professional conflict entrepreneurs” and their cousins, the “trauma grifters.” These are the folks who have figured out how to monetize
“Once the bear’s hug has got you, it is apt to be for keeps.” — Harold MacMillan A pattern, common to the internet in 2024. Someone has a conflict with a member of Group X. Let’s say they get called out, publicly shamed or — yes — cyberbullied, by right wing
There's been a lot of hand-wringing about social media moderation of late. "Platform X isn't doing enough to stop harmful content!" "Platform Y is censoring too much speech!" "Platform Z needs better content moderation!" But there's something deeply
In the 1990s, we were promised a digital utopia. The internet would be a uniting, democratizing force, they said, bringing diverse voices and perspectives from every corner of the world into dialogue. Local cultures would flourish as they found their global audiences. Niche interests would thrive in their newfound ability
Last week, I tried to find some photos from my college graduation. Despite being only fifteen years ago, they proved surprisingly elusive - trapped on a defunct Photobucket account, lost to a crashed hard drive, and scattered across social media platforms that no longer exist. This got me thinking about
The Matthew Effect was first coined by sociologists Robert K. Merton and Harriet Zuckerman in 1968, who noticed that eminent scientists tended to get disproportionate credit for collaborative research compared to their less-well-known colleagues. The same paper would get more attention if a famous name was on it, even if
In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, fracturing the unified Catholic hierarchy that had dominated European spiritual and social life for centuries. In 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion, and we’re still dealing with the aftermath. These
The world isn’t falling apart—it’s being pried apart, one stolen moment at a time. Attention has become the most coveted commodity, and we’re little more than unwitting marks in a global grift. The apps, platforms, and systems sucking up our time aren’t tools anymore. They’
Last week I recorded a podcast with a friend who works in private equity. More on that later. He mentioned that his firm looks at education the same way they looked at housing in 2007 - a market propped up by cheap debt, artificial scarcity, and mass delusion about underlying
In 1973, sociologist Mark Granovetter published one of the most influential papers in social network theory. "The Strength of Weak Ties" demonstrated something counterintuitive: when it comes to finding jobs and opportunities, your casual acquaintances are often more valuable than your close friends. This makes perfect sense when
I’ve been thinking lately about the “anti-identity trap.” It works like this: Someone starts out reasonably disliking something — let’s say corporate greenwashing. Fair enough. They join online communities dedicated to mocking greenwashing campaigns. Their social media becomes a steady stream of eye-rolling screenshots. They develop an eagle eye