This week’s internet hero and villains

Checking In

For folks who don’t work in tech or live in a community with a lot of tech jobs, I want to just call out that the mood has been pretty dark here the past few weeks. We’re all feeling the ripple effects of the high-profile layoffs at Amazon, Meta, and other tech companies. Investor groups are pressuring more companies, like Google, to make staffing and salary cuts. Elon’s new management style at Twitter is best summarized in one word: cruel. I know multiple people directly impacted by these layoffs and many more indirectly affected. Some of you reading this may be in one of those camps. 

So before we get into anything else, I just want to slow down for a moment and acknowledge that the mood isn’t great. 

*deep breath* 

Okay, on to the updates. 

Platform Updates

Instagram 

• Instagram Provides the Capacity to Add Music to Still Image Posts

The Rest of Meta 

• Meta Ends its Portal Smart Speaker Device Project

• Facebook fact-checkers will stop checking Trump after presidential bid announcement 🙃

TikTok

• TikTok Launches First In-App Shops in the US as Part of Expanded eCommerce Push

• TikTok Launches New Audience Insights Tools to Dig Into Your Audience Data

Twitter 2.0

• The app feels increasingly unstable, with some high-profile issues popping up after Elon just started unplugging things. 

• Elon seems to be trying to win the record for Most Labor Laws Violated in a Single Month while reducing the staff to nothing but loyal Elon fans.

• Last night, we learned that many of the remaining Twitter employees opted out of hardcore mode. Then it came out that the Twitter offices are closed today, and badge access has been suspended. (I’m writing & scheduling this email on Thursday night, so really excited to wake up and see how this story has evolved along with you)

YouTube

• Beauty deals are coming “From YouTube To You” this holiday season

• YouTube Shorts can now include 60 seconds of music or sounds, up from 15 seconds before

• YouTube’s new ‘Live Q&A’ feature makes it easier to manage questions during livestreams

LinkedIn 

• LinkedIn Launches New ‘Brand Safety Hub’ to Manage Audience Network Placements

Pinterest (Disclosure: I work at Pinterest) 

• Pinterest Announces Wider Launch of its ‘Shuffles’ Visual Collage App

• Pinterest Announces Expanded Pinterest TV Shopping Showcase Heading into the Holidays

Linktree

• What will be monetized with Linktree’s new feature? Almost everything.

DeviantArt 

• DeviantArt breaks silence over fierce backlash for its new AI art tool

Culture Movers 

Film & TV

• Chris Rock To Be First Comedian To Perform Live On Netflix

Music 

• Taylor Swift ticket snafu caused by Ticketmaster abusing its market power, Senate antitrust chair says (honestly, I think the Swifties could usher in a new era of antitrust policy if they wanted) 

Gaming 

• Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Review: Too Much for the Switch to Handle (I’m still gonna play it even if it’s glitchy tbh) 

FTX

I am not a crypto fan. Working closely with visual artists and illustrators at Patreon when NFTs hit the scene gave me a front-row seat to just how nasty and unethical many of the crypto-enthusiasts were. Learning more about the environmental impact of crypto mining further soured my perspective on this community. Blockchain technology, like any technology, is a tool that can be used to accomplish a variety of different goals. Despite all of the hype from crypto enthusiasts, I’ve only seen two real use cases (or maybe just one depending on how you look at it): creating speculative financial assets and running scams. 

Now FTX, a large crypto exchange company, is falling apart in a glorious fireworks display of “I told you so” headlines. Sam Bankman-Fried (aka SBF), FTX’s founder, somehow became known as the “adult in the room” of the crypto world, calling for the space to be regulated and talking about his “effective altruism” work. He was also running a massive grift. I’m not the best person to explain the details of this, to be honest. But I do have a great TikTok that does a good job of summarizing how we got here. 

Anyway, I hope none of you sunk any serious money into crypto. 

Wonder Woman

Lynda Carter, star of the 70s live-action Wonder Woman tv show, was great on Twitter. She used her account to be funny and engaging while also speaking out on important issues. Unlike other celebs we’ve seen get sucked into Twitter’s bizarro version of political engagement, Carter’s tweets always felt grounded in genuine care and respect for other people.  

Wonder Woman also doesn’t seem to be a fan of Twitter’s new owner. 

So now she’s on Tumblr, where she’s a surprisingly natural fit for the site’s weird fandom culture. Tumblr users aren’t exactly fond of brands and celebs hanging out with them on the site. I saw plenty of posts flying around compelling other users to ignore any brand or celeb content they see at the risk of Twitter’s worst dynamics making inroads there. But Lynda has been welcomed by the site's collection of loveable weirdos. She even gets the crabs (Tumblr in-joke, don’t ask) and asked people to send her fanart of her with Mothman. 

As Twitter collapses and Instagram TikTok-clones itself out of relevance, I’m kinda looking forward to a social web that’s spread out across more spaces. Not every fandom, celebrity, and interest is a perfect fit for the same content formats or platforms. One of the worst parts of Twitter is how all of these different communities, with different unspoken rules for communication, constantly brushed up against each other. Celebs who vibe with Tumblr’s quirky sense of humor should go make that site their home base instead of awkwardly pumping out uncomfortable TikToks because some manager has clearly told them that’s the app that currently matters. 

Programming Note

I’m gonna take next week off for Thanksgiving and a little weekend road trip. Even us terminally online people enjoy (and likely need) some time in nature. Happy Thanksgiving to folks in the US, and I’ll see you all in December!