August 15, 2021 — Angry nonsense in denial of factual reality seems to be a growing presence. A school board facing difficult decisions to keep children safe in the new school year faces angry threats from people who want to get their way. “We will find you,” say people who are in a frenzy, thinking that wearing a mask […]
March 28, 2021 — Are we entering a new golden age for obscurantism? Truth seems elusive at times in public discourse. But the pursuit of it is receiving a great deal of attention. So we have social media enterprises exploring ways they can slow the spread of misinformation. In response, folks who persist in spreading it are becoming more […]
September 28, 2020 — Preliminary results from a fascinating study has us wondering. How often is it that Twitter makes research noteworthy? Ricardo Ladeiras-Lopes and colleagues randomized 534 research papers in journals of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to receive promotion on Twitter or not. In this analysis, Twitter produced a 43 percent bump in citations for articles […]
February 22, 2020 — Food and health fashion never ceases to amaze. Remember Slim Jims? Those processed meat sticks, shelf-stable forever, that people used to buy out of desperation at a convenience store? Well, suddenly they’re trendy and you can even buy upscale, grass-fed versions. We never would have guessed that processed meat sticks could become health food. A […]
December 4, 2019 — We feel vindicated. Presently, the price for watching video streams is exposure to a troubling Peloton fitness ad. Over and over again. Sure, it’s an ad. But if you turn off the sound, it looks more like a hostage video than a sales pitch. To our sensibilities, it’s creepy. The Cultural Conversation It turns […]
November 30, 2019 — Human history is full of bloody conflicts to claim moral high ground. The Thirty Years’ War pitted the Holy Roman Empire against Protestant states. But we can find nothing holy in the carnage that resulted. Now we wage our wars on twitter. And true believers go at it to claim the moral high ground of […]
November 17, 2019 — Outrage is consuming more of our minds and more of our culture. In part, we can blame the issues we face. Immigration, racism, disparities, fractious politics – the list is long. Plus, we are wired so that calling people out feels good. Social media taps into this primitive impulse and hands us a tool for […]
August 17, 2019 — Kids these days. Social media seems to consume them. Gen Z, also known as the iGen, has grown up with smartphones and these apps. So it often defines the generation. Cranky codgers might decry it, but thoughtful researchers look at the potential benefits and harms. An association with psychological distress crops up as a worry […]
March 25, 2019 — Whatever you do, don’t make the vegans mad at you. Yovana Mendoza Ayres is finding this out the hard way. She’s a social media star, known as Rawvana, who built her brand around a raw vegan lifestyle. She sells meal plans like the Raw Vegan Detox and Yoga Challenge, which goes for $49 on her […]
September 9, 2018 — Five years ago, fat shaming was no problem for the shamers. Fat shaming in just about any context was unremarkable. It hardly caused a ripple. But no longer. Cross the line into fat shaming territory and the internet will not be happy with you. Just ask the creators of Insatiable. It could have been a funny and […]
