FT Alphaville closes its Mastodon server and reflects on why running a social media site is a bad idea, including reputational, legal, and security risks
Extinction looms for FTAV's Mastodon presence — A few months ago, FT Alphaville thought it might be fun to host a Mastodon server. Tweets: @mshannahmurphy , @senatorshoshana , @scottlincicome , @shi...
Sources: Twitter engineers were told on Friday to print out their last 30 to 60 days of code for Elon Musk to review, before being told to shred those printouts
Twitter has a new CEO. And he'd like to see your code, please — Elon Musk took over Twitter on Thursday like a military general … Tweets: @caseynewton , @elonmusk , @leahculver , @broderick , @djbi...
Substack's decision to pay certain writers to write on the platform is an editorial one as leaders decide what kind of writing they want to support
They paid a secret group of writers to make newsletter authorship seem lucrative — I think of myself as having decent critical faculties … Tweets: @annaleen , @jason , @jefferson1simon , @digifiend ...
The unedited nature and serendipity of conversations makes Clubhouse a compelling platform for productive discussions on otherwise fraught topics
Elon Musk disrupts podcasting. PLUS: Robinhood's big mistake — I. Andreessen Horowitz and the backdoor pilot — Hey, did you hear Elon Musk went on Clubhouse? Tweets: @taylorlorenz , @jaycodon , @...
A look at the raging debate inside Wikipedia, where neutrality is prized above all, on what to call the attack on the Capitol
‘Storming’? ‘Insurrection’? ‘Riot’? ‘Attempted coup’? On Wikipedia, where neutrality is prized above all, volunteers are still searching for the words. Tweets: @bkeegan , @fuzheado , @harrymccrack...
Sources: Kevin Roose's tweets about Facebook stories with the highest engagement as per CrowdTangle worried the News Feed team, who considered them inaccurate
What news should people see when they come to Facebook? — In the old days, your answer might have been “whatever they want to see,” or even “who cares?” Tweets: @oliverdarcy , @johnwhegeman , @vivia...
Leaked docs: TikTok told moderators to suppress posts from those deemed “ugly”, poor, or disabled, and censor political speech in livestreams, to attract users
The makers of TikTok, the Chinese video-sharing app with hundreds of millions of users around the world … Tweets: @theintercept , @intothecrevasse , @cindygallop , @sarahemclaugh , @rose_catb , and @s...
In 2010s, Twitter enabled young and marginalized people to be heard, held news organizations accountable, and pushed largely ignored issues into the mainstream
It's impossible to avoid news about how harmful social media can be. The Cambridge Analytica scandal. The ubiquitous Russian bots. Tweets: @sjjphd , @sjjphd , @sjjphd , @sjjphd , @neil_chilson , @mi...
A look back at how Facebook and Twitter evolved over the 2010s, chasing size and influence at a cost to society that will take years to understand
The two companies had a bad run in the 2010s. It was their own fault. — It's been a rough decade for Facebook and Twitter. Tweets: @jason_kint , @buzzfeednewsuk , and @laurahelmuth See also Mediaga...
The dearth of TikTok videos on Hong Kong protests offers a glimpse of how China could shape the perception of real-world events by US and global audiences
Hong Kong unrest features prominently on most social media, but not on TikTok — A search for “#hongkong” on Twitter reveals … Tweets: @reedalbergotti , @mattdpearce , @craigsilverman , @tombschrader...