Taylor Lorenz

Technology and online culture journalist and content creator. I write User Magazine, a newsletter about how the internet is reshaping politics, culture, and business.

https://www.usermag.co

Public Key

npub1d9nndmy3lx6f00cysrmn2v9t6hz280uwycw0kgcfdhvg99azry8sududfv

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsxjeekajglndyhhuzgpae4xz4at39rh78zv88myvykmkyzj73pjrcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qr5z79g

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub1d9nndmy3lx6f00cysrmn2v9t6hz280uwycw0kgcfdhvg99azry8sududfv

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-07-16 05:12:07 UTC

“Social media is ‘one of the least influential factors’ in teen depression and anxiety; girls who are already depressed go on to use social media more, not the other way around.”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/16/psychologist-candice-odgers-kids-tech-mental-health-social-media-bans

2026-07-14 15:08:32 UTC

Meta used AI to target ⁠people with disabilities or who took ⁠medical leave for mass layoffs. https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-07-14/meta-used-ai-to-target-workers-with-medical-conditions-for-layoffs-former-employees-lawsuit-claims

2026-04-17 00:00:58 UTC

"Age verification is is inherently a right-wing effort. While these laws are being supported globally by those on the political right and left, they are very much a right wing effort to suppress disliked speech."
https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/16/the-right-wing-origins-age-verification-laws-dont-disappear-just-because-theyre-going-bipartisan/

2026-04-03 05:11:55 UTC

Surf combines Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, and other content into customizable open feeds on the web. I’ve been using it and love it. Let’s bring back the open web! https://www.theverge.com/tech/905929/flipboard-surf-fediverse-launch

2026-04-01 07:50:42 UTC

Very eager to hear people’s thoughts on this video. I think he explains the issues with the left’s current rhetoric surrounding AI very well https://youtu.be/Z75hlhgchQ4?si=7IeYT_-864BrrpaU

2026-03-30 23:16:43 UTC

I'm working on a YouTube mini series explaining the Fediverse!!
Who are the most knowledgeable people in this realm who I should definitely talk to?
What do you think is important to include in my series? I want to hear thoughts!!

2026-03-23 19:35:33 UTC

Having one of those days where I'm so tired and burned out I can't get anything done. Anyone have any suggestions?? I can't do coffee or any stimulants sadly

2026-03-18 19:05:19 UTC

The clout apocalypse, YouTube face, Meghan and Harry’s Netflix fallout, MOG World Order, CEO moats, sync music, the debate over influencers on the red carpet, secret billionaire typing patterns, and more!! Subscribe to my newsletter to support my work 👇🏻 https://www.usermag.co/p/burned-out-doesnt-begin-to-describe

2026-03-18 19:03:53 UTC

FBI is buying location data to track US citizens, director confirms https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/18/fbi-is-buying-location-data-to-track-us-citizens-kash-patel-wyden

2026-03-05 17:38:50 UTC

I wrote about the House hearing today, how Congress is trying to strip anonymity from the Internet, and the devastating effects that has for journalists, whistleblowers, LGBTQ ppl, immigrants, civil rights activists, abortion providers and anyone challenging power for @nprofile…9xdl https://theintercept.com/2026/03/05/kosa-online-age-verification-free-speech-privacy/

2026-03-02 21:20:34 UTC

Yapper ads, the Most Evil Gay Guy, pop culture OpenClaw, Gucci runway texts, Jim Carry conspiracies, #sendBaron, Zuck's $170M mansion, Opensource Palantir, how the AIs kill, and MORE in today's newsletter. https://www.usermag.co/p/situation-monitoring-products-are

2026-03-02 17:03:24 UTC

I have a piece out in The Guardian today on how the internet is becoming a fully surveilled digital panopticon and why we need to fight back
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/02/ban-children-social-media-biometic-data-surveilled

2026-02-20 19:12:51 UTC

They're having trouble getting jurors in one of the trials against Elon Musk because "so many people hate him so much" https://www.law360.com/articles/2443845/-hate-for-musk-quickly-narrows-jury-pool-in-twitter-deal-trial

2026-02-09 14:11:55 UTC

THE FIRST EPISODE OF MY SECTION 230 MINI SERIES IS HERE!!!!! I dive into what the law does, what it actually says, how it works, and how it’s crucial for protecting platforms like Mastodon! https://youtu.be/_eqt8vrtP-U?si=qS5Xm4r2L-34j_ep

2026-02-06 19:50:33 UTC

I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective

2026-02-06 19:47:31 UTC

New video out on how the UK is exporting mass surveillance laws around the world and why the UK’s censorship and surveillance efforts are so dangerous! https://youtu.be/S7C9ezwH9Ok

2026-01-28 04:54:05 UTC

With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?

2026-01-09 00:40:37 UTC

“It should be crystal clear to everyone that the real threat to community safety is the ICE agents harassing, targeting, detaining — and in some tragic cases — killing our neighbors. This violence is unacceptable, it is criminal, and it is against the constitution of the United States.” https://www.portland.gov/council/districts/1/candace-avalos/news/2026/1/8/east-portland-councilors-avalos-dunphy-smith

2025-12-13 14:25:51 UTC

I wrote about the unprecedented mass censorship and surveillance laws that Congress is trying to ram through in the name of “protecting kids” and how none of this is about protecting kids. In fact, these laws cause great harm to all of us, for Zeteo https://zeteo.com/p/social-media-children-ban-australia-us

2025-09-08 17:54:23 UTC

AI slop is getting religious, The great lock in, OpenAI's first movie, automated sextortion, Jay Guapo x iShowspeed, Netflix's finsta, Threads blogging, xChat, the doomers who insist AI will kill us all, and MORE -- all in this week's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/ai-slop-is-getting-religious

2025-09-07 07:02:41 UTC

"Bari Weiss peddles pro-establishment bilge that flatters the need of our richest and most cosseted dimwits to pretend that they are actually besieged outsiders." https://www.thenation.com/article/society/bari-weiss-free-press-cbs-news-paramount/

2025-08-22 15:31:40 UTC

“What all of these stunts provide, then, is the chance for a member of the crowd to best an internet celebrity, to prove that he or she is just as good as the object of his or her obsession” https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/style/revenge-of-the-followers.html

2025-08-06 16:22:07 UTC

The Rizzler on Theo Von, Pinterest men, Catholic Woodstock, GCal hookups, return of OG Instagram, ICE's social media blitz, MAGA influencer civil war, robot wolves, Alpha spenders, Big Balls beaten, and MORE -- all in today's newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/ai-is-making-us-all-talk-the-same

2025-07-29 23:28:44 UTC

SCOOP: Substack sent a push alert promoting a Nazi blog. The alert contained a swastika and prompted users to subscribe to newsletter featuring opinions and news important to the "white nationalist community." Another Nazi blog is being promoted in Substack's "Rising in History" list https://www.usermag.co/p/substack-sent-a-push-alert-promoting-nazi-white-supremacist-blog

2025-07-28 22:10:03 UTC

Today I launched the first video in my multi part series about data brokers and surveillance capitalism!! I dug into the history of data brokers and how the industry emerged, decades before the Internet itself https://youtu.be/8VL16A7OWiw?si=4C59y8greX5ilrFe

2025-07-22 16:56:37 UTC

Dubai Porta Potty parties, dupe mania, 3-D printed Labubus, Norman culture, Burning Man chaos, AI body dysmorphia, Ring spy drones, MAGA’s fave military influencer, WaPo's TikTok guy goes solo, and MORE in today's newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/i-interviewed-the-jubilee-ceo-on

2025-07-13 23:57:57 UTC

In case people are wondering how things are going over on X, the everything app
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/848/633/009/022/408/original/d0d70e766b602bd8.png

2025-07-07 16:55:31 UTC

Tech's newest evil main character, Napster returns, Soham supremacy, far-right earworms, Epstein crashouts, a Love Island upset, SYFM, L.A. Taco, and is Wakuku the next Labubu? -- All in my latest newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/the-latest-evil-tech-main-character-who-is-sequoia-shaun-maguire-silicon-valley

2025-07-02 18:21:45 UTC

Jake the Rizzbot, Temu project 2025, IceBlock, Summerween, X's new Shitposter in Chief, 24 karat gold Labubu heist, princess treatment, Indonesian aura farming, how Glastonbury got political — and more!! All in today’s newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/the-weird-world-of-diaper-diplomacy

2025-06-26 16:29:43 UTC

Chatbot couples retreats, hot commie summer, RIP Big Balls, Liver King arrested, mosquito drones, the Steroid Olympics, Tiny Chef, sober tailgates, $1,200 podcaster tequila, & RFK Jr's wearable fiasco, and MORE -- all in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/zohran-did-not-win-because-of-tiktok-and-podcasts-social-media

2025-06-24 18:51:09 UTC

I explain Strawberry Milk Mob! Plus Mamdani mania, cutesy hackers, Bing Bong fandom, the "it" deer reducer, Palm Beach vs MAGA influencers, BeReal returns, Hinge chatbots, Hetero Awesome flop, YouTuber Ethan Klein's war on women, and MORE in today's newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/chatgpt-worship-and-strawberry-milk

2025-06-20 17:08:11 UTC

I.C.E. TV, alert fatigue, Hedi Boys, Cluely parties, bro shows, a real life adblocker, Booners, the private equity Matcha boom, AI gender gaps, and a tabloid for the social media age -- All in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/data-mania

2025-06-18 21:05:22 UTC

$25 covers the purchase and shipment of a pair of femme tucking garments to 1 trans youth.
$50 covers the purchase and shipment of brand-new chest binders to 3 trans youths.
$100 covers the processing and postage to mail garments to 35 trans youths.
When you donate to Point of Pride, your $ goes directly towards funding life saving gender care for trans people in need. Trans rights are under attack, and we need to do everything we can to respond
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/point-of-pride/taylor-lorenz-s-pride-2025-fundraiser-for-point-of-pride
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/706/397/018/543/739/original/c7e365048ac26784.png

2025-06-18 21:04:37 UTC

Point of Pride distributes life saving care directly to trans youth. Just $25 covers the purchase and shipment of a pair of femme tucking garments. Gender affirming care is being criminalized, Point of Pride is fighting back and no donation is too small
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/point-of-pride/taylor-lorenz-s-pride-2025-fundraiser-for-point-of-pride

2025-06-18 12:55:45 UTC

In light of Pride month I'm fundraising for Point of Pride, an incredible trans-led nonprofit that provides direct gender affirming care & things like HRT to trans ppl in need.
Please, please donate any small amount that you can. Every bit makes a major impact! https://secure.givelively.org/donate/point-of-pride/taylor-lorenz-s-pride-2025-fundraiser-for-point-of-pride
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/704/468/610/882/102/original/c27f2f864aaacf18.png

2025-06-16 17:14:48 UTC

I spoke to the teenager who organized this weekend's protest against ICE in Roblox about digital organizing and why a wave of kids are cosplaying as ICE agents (and protesting them!) in the game https://www.usermag.co/p/kids-are-protesting-ice-raids-in-roblox-brookhaven

2025-06-11 16:53:54 UTC

Kid rotting, Meta's superintelligence, hallucinationships, abandoned blogs, tragedy memes, internet roadtrips, Uber for quitting antidepressants, the new uniform for tech bros, and MORE -- all in today's newsletter
https://www.usermag.co/p/right-wing-creators-are-dominating

2025-06-11 16:53:09 UTC

I wrote about how right wing creators are dominating L.A. protest coverage while independent journalists and left-leaning creators and independent journalists are struggling to make ends meet
https://www.usermag.co/p/right-wing-creators-are-dominating

2025-06-06 18:35:37 UTC

Vibe hacking, ChickenDog, Temugeddon, Peak Millennial, aura farming, Labubu cults, sauna raves, bedtime phone calls, panopticon chic, Type-C supremacy, and why pride is going beige— all in today’s newsletter!!! https://www.usermag.co/p/democrats-are-already-kissing-up

2025-06-02 19:18:57 UTC

OnlyFans billboards are taking over, sigma lions, trad wifeonomics, ChatGPT glazing, Veo 3 Tokers, AI's incel problem, a Zohran lookalike contest, Jersey Shore nails, and the fight about the universe tearing the cosmologists apart -- All in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/onlyfans-billboards-are-taking-over

2025-05-23 16:16:59 UTC

“We would not be where we are today were it not for the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians by the western media and the suppression of pro-Palestinian speech.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/22/israel-gaza-genocide

2025-05-23 15:20:03 UTC

Watch my conversation with Becca Branum, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Project, talking about how bad and awful the 'Take it Down Act' is and how the media and Democrats are complicit in pushing censorship bills https://youtu.be/FVvea5CcsFc

2025-05-16 20:12:37 UTC

The Facebook scam economy, Robot worms, #BootsOnlySummer, X merch drop, James Comey IG drama, high fashion Rizzler, a Palestinian streaming service, immigration reality show, and the biggest dating app faux pas for Gen — all in today’s newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/the-facebook-scam-economy

2025-05-14 21:49:50 UTC

Elon Musk's Grok AI Won't Stop Talking About 'White Genocide'. Grok has posted about South African apartheid and 'white genocide' hundreds of times in replies to users about unrelated topics https://www.usermag.co/p/elon-musks-grok-ai-wont-stop-talking

2025-05-14 16:56:38 UTC

iPhone mind control, dropout graduation, a dating app for mutuals, aura scores, Cocomelon movie, alpha male sales bros, 'King of Davos' downfall, and @nprofile…fefu's great story on Jan. 6 rioters new lives as online influencers -- all in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/theyre-trying-to-ban-posting-about

2025-05-13 22:13:55 UTC

Texas is trying to making texting and posting about abortion online illegal. Please watch my video with @eff.org's Jennifer Pinsof about this terrifying bill and how free speech and bodily autonomy are intricately connected https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB-d3NLWxfg

2025-05-12 19:16:01 UTC

Hasan Piker detained at the border and questioned for hours over politics. He was asked whether or not he’d interviewed Hamas, Houthis, or Hezbollah members. He was questioned about his opinions on Trump and Israel https://www.usermag.co/p/hasan-piker-detained-at-the-border-and-questioned-for-hours-over-politics-trump-immigration

2025-05-12 19:01:38 UTC

Hasan Piker detained at the border and questioned for hours over politics, TikTok clout loop, Kai Cenat's next chapter, the "safest white boy", Minecraft marriages, group chat trauma, a MAHA-friendly food app, Altman's kitchen fails, and Silicon Valley's existential crisis-- all in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/hasan-piker-detained-at-the-border-and-questioned-for-hours-over-politics-trump-immigration

2025-05-09 18:28:21 UTC

Police are hiring PR teams to make them go viral, Normanticisation, Polymarket's flop era, dating app perma-bans, Gen Z super-subscribers, logos going bold, Grok fact checks, and the death of the screenplay industrial complex-- All in today's newsletter!!! https://www.usermag.co/p/police-are-hiring-pr-teams-to-make

2025-05-07 19:03:13 UTC

"We condemn India's increasingly fascist government for demanding that Meta shut down the popular social media page Muslim, and we call on Meta to reverse its decision to surrender to this bigoted attack on free speech,” said Ahmed Mitchell of the National Council on American-Islamic Relations https://www.usermag.co/p/meta-bans-largest-muslim-news-page-in-india-muslim-news-bjp

2025-05-07 18:43:45 UTC

SCOOP: Meta bans largest Muslim news page in India. The company is working hand in hand with the government to censor social media influencers and journalists in the region for 'anti-national content' following the terror attack in Kashmir. https://www.usermag.co/p/meta-bans-largest-muslim-news-page-in-india-muslim-news-bjp

2025-05-07 07:37:52 UTC

“We’re not telling Jewish people that they need to leave. We’re not trying to create a religious supremacist ethnostate. We want democracy. We want democracy from the river to the sea. That’s the [Hamas] position.” https://www.youtube.com/live/B9T4bj81Dgs?si=jwGg_kVs5kCCSI2F

2025-05-06 01:59:32 UTC

"If a freshman in college did once what the New York Times does on a regular basis they may be expelled. This happens far more often than these outlets want you to think given how much these places have branded themselves as the sole purveyors of The Truth™." https://www.splinter.com/plagiarizing-independent-journalists-is-part-of-mainstream-medias-business

2025-05-05 19:22:41 UTC

Chicken alfredo boomerang music, ChatGPT dating probs, Barstool ‘journalisming’, Group Chat season 2, Millennial retirement panic, the most electrifying teen in sports, Meta AI's clown problem and MORE -- all in today's newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/the-fyre-fest-of-booktok-million-lives-book-festival-tiktok-drama-explained

2025-05-03 08:16:17 UTC

Please do not come in my mentions claiming that the public isn’t engaging in widespread pandemic denialism when you’re referring to Covid in the past tense. That sort of framing *is* denialism. https://www.salon.com/2024/01/04/leader-says-19-is-still-a-pandemic/

2025-04-30 00:46:33 UTC

Israeli forces have now dropped more explosives in Gaza than fell on London, Dresden, and Hamburg during the Second World War. The region’s hospitals have not been spared; most are no longer functional. Clayton Dalton writes about the devastation. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/28/hospitals-in-ruins

2025-04-29 18:58:52 UTC

John Pork vs Bombardiro Crocodilo, Caveman skincare, billionaire group chats, snoafers, AI wigs, Chat GPT's new personality, the Nara Smith of programming, Summer House Partifuls, & how Google Maps became the hottest tween social app— all in today’s newsletter! https://www.usermag.co/p/john-pork-bombardiro-crocodilo-tralalero-tralala-italian-brainrot-instagram-reels-ai-slop-storytelling-explained

2025-04-28 20:56:52 UTC

I wrote for Rolling Stone about WHCD weekend and how the dinner has become a relic of legacy media. “It was all NPCs" said one Hilton attendee https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/trump-era-white-house-correspondents-dinner-1235326699/

2025-04-24 16:32:43 UTC

SCOOP: A non profit seeking to be the middleman between liberal creators and the Democratic party has been using creators' images without their consent for fundraising. Read my full rundown of the chaos unfolding among Democrats as they try to court influencers
https://www.usermag.co/p/inside-the-democrats-struggle-to-win-over-content-creators-dnc-influencer-strategy-chorus

2025-04-20 20:55:59 UTC

Shein village, Jesus Swiftie fancams, a monastery for hackers, TikTok footnotes, Seatopians, the Ice Bucket Challenge returns, Coachella billboards, the rise of the 'infinite fringe', and a free speech activist on child influencer laws -- all in today's newsletter!!!!
https://www.usermag.co/p/a-free-speech-activist-on-child-influencer

2025-04-16 15:56:18 UTC

The entire world is phoneifying, a vegan lover AI cult, Musk's ‘harem drama’, 4chan hack, money dysmorphia, Content Cop returns, and what happened to the @KamalaHQ TikTok account https://www.usermag.co/p/the-entire-world-is-phoneifying

2025-04-15 22:47:36 UTC

New law 'protecting child influencers' is bad and dangerous. I investigated what the law actually says and spoke to top free speech and legal experts about how it could be used. What I found is not what the media is reporting https://www.usermag.co/p/utah-protect-child-influencers-law-bad-and-dangerous-free-speech-censorship-concerns-legal-experts

2025-04-10 15:11:06 UTC

The global influencer era is upon us, 'TheoBros', time-stamp trauma, TV TikTok-ification, nepo Bravolebrities, the first Kenbassador, dumb homes, influencers meet w/ Netanyahu, and ICE's plans for 'Amazon Prime, but with human beings' https://www.usermag.co/p/were-entering-the-era-of-the-global

2025-04-07 17:52:48 UTC

The hottest show on TikTok right now, new kids content house, atomic slang, soft eugenics, poverty livestreams, Altman and Ive screenless dreams, aspirational shitposting, and a Gen Z Influencer for Kamala Harris is running for congress https://www.usermag.co/p/the-hottest-show-on-tiktok-right-now-the-group-chat-show

2025-04-06 23:15:19 UTC

Does anyone who follows me have any connections with anyone in the government in Ireland? 🇮🇪 Or any business leaders in/from Ireland? Please reach out ASAP! 🇮🇪☘️

2025-04-03 16:24:05 UTC

SCOOP: YouTube removes 'gender identity' from hate speech policy. "YouTube quietly removing ‘gender identity and expression’ from its list of protected groups is a major radical shift away from best practices in the field of trust and safety." https://www.usermag.co/p/youtube-removes-gender-identity-from

2025-04-01 23:44:58 UTC

Kids with smartphones have better mental health, study finds. Inside the Bop House, Tariffluencers, Gen Z's safe space, the latest meme stock, Grok dunking, India's Netflix, Ashton Hall and the rise of isolationist masculinity, and MORE -- all in today's newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/kids-with-smartphones-have-better

2025-04-01 16:58:39 UTC

I wrote about how Palantir CEO Alex Karp is profiting from Israel’s genocide abroad, and wants to make money off of Trump’s immigration crackdown at home for @nprofile…3yxn https://zeteo.com/p/meet-the-tech-billionaire-just-as

2025-03-30 18:57:05 UTC

"We tend to assume the reason to use social media is to try to be an influencer, either you're Joe Rogan or you're a failure. But that's the wrong way to think about it," said Ethan Zuckerman, director of the University of Massachusetts' Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure https://www.usermag.co/p/the-secret-side-of-youtube

2025-03-27 16:21:33 UTC

Viralflation comes to YouTube, Dora the Explorer feet mukbang, IShowSpeed takes China, Big Balls cybercrime ring, 'influencer accent', IvyTok, AI-fueled fan fiction, Ghiblification, and a great new podcast on Section 230 -- All in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/viralflation-comes-to-youtube

2025-03-24 20:50:42 UTC

Vox's Kelsey Piper Is Indefensibly Ignorant About COVID-19. Liberal pundits abandon science to push conspiracies, once again https://www.panaccindex.info/p/voxs-kelsey-piper-is-indefensibly

2025-03-24 18:33:16 UTC

The Great 2024 Meme Depression, Ashton Hall lore, the new tween status symbol, White House Easter sponcon,
#recessionindicators, a lavender marriage app, and how to launder money and get away with it -- All in today's newsletter!!! https://www.usermag.co/p/the-great-2024-meme-depression-meme-drought

2025-03-18 20:23:19 UTC

Remember “the #Resistance”?! I did a deep dive into 2017-2020 internet, the rise of the movement, its major figures, the resistance’s ultimate downfall, and why it crumbled.
https://youtu.be/mz3Rf820ozE

2025-03-15 01:35:26 UTC

I need to log off for a while and sleep and stop getting upset over the internet.

2025-03-15 01:05:34 UTC

Idk how to QT this person but a big fuck you to everyone who treats independent creators like this. Every single social app is a Nazi bar & I cannot afford to operate on ghost, which also doesn’t offer many of the features I need. Subscribing to me directly so Substack doesn’t receive a cut has ALWASY been an option, but to punish an independent creator for the platforms they’re forced to rely on by refusing to share their reporting that holds power to account is DEEPLY fucked up and disgusting
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/163/757/931/526/176/original/17cdd9de8cec945f.png

2025-03-15 01:01:21 UTC

“Using AI to surveil and silence speech has long been raised as a boogeyman by privacy advocates—something that could happen, in theory. Now, it is actually happening, and anyone can be a target for anything they might say online.” https://www.usermag.co/p/ai-generated-smear-campaigns-yale-university-suspended-helyeh-doutaghi-law-school-scholar-ai-generated-news-website-false-claims

2025-03-15 00:43:45 UTC

I wrote about Helyeh Doutaghi, a scholar who was suspended by Yale Law School after an Israeli AI-generated news website known for spreading disinfo, claimed that she was a member of a terrorist organization. https://www.usermag.co/p/ai-generated-smear-campaigns-yale-university-suspended-helyeh-doutaghi-law-school-scholar-ai-generated-news-website-false-claims

2025-03-14 14:31:43 UTC

Full bush fashion, blind box cults, Airbnb for clothing, Alex Cooper's new dating show, VR solitary confinement, non-boring NYC influencers, baby tech, Gruber vs Apple, and more in today’s newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/ai-generated-smear-campaigns-yale-university-suspended-helyeh-doutaghi-law-school-scholar-ai-generated-news-website-false-claims

2025-03-12 17:15:19 UTC

Meta rep flagged "critiques of tech industry figures" as "sensitive or controversial content." I spoke to @nprofile…dks9 about concerns over how free Meta's new "free speech" policies really are https://www.usermag.co/p/meta-rep-flagged-critiques-of-tech-industry-figures-as-sensitive-or-controversial-content

2025-03-11 00:52:41 UTC

From 2021 to 2024 we witnessed things like RICO charges being levied at protesters fighting against "cop city" in Atlanta, mask bans that lock disabled people out of public life, and young college students facing federal charges for peaceful protests, again, all under Democratic leadership. https://www.usermag.co/p/the-attacks-on-free-speech-should

2025-03-11 00:52:20 UTC

There are plenty of mind boggling clips circulating from Sam Seder’s Jubilee debate, but the Trump supporters did so poorly that the online right has now convinced themselves that the conservatives in the video were actually the leftists and that Sam was the conservative, debasing the woke left with facts and logic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js15xgK4LIE

2025-03-10 20:06:59 UTC

The attacks on free speech should terrify us all, plus Pipe Rock Theory, Beta babies, the toy collectible boom, re-buttonification, a Portnoy memoir, and Ye Squad vs the Bruzz House -- all in today's newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/the-attacks-on-free-speech-should

2025-03-07 14:23:50 UTC

I wrote about how right wing creators are dominating the coverage of Lively vs Baldoni and how it has become a massive growth engine for the right wing media pipeline.
Liberal creators are either ignoring the biggest story in pop culture or regurgitating Candace Owens’ coverage to their audiences. https://www.usermag.co/p/right-wing-creators-are-dominating-lively-baldoni-coverage-tiktok-youtube-metoo

2025-03-06 08:05:53 UTC

Bonafidemasks.com, which is where I get all my KN95s from is having a 25% off sale + free shipping! They have tons of colors and styles (and full N95s too).
STOCK UP NOW!! 😷 Covid is raging and disabling millions, not to mention all the other airborne disease, pollution, etc. Masking is solidarity https://bonafidemasks.com/

2025-03-05 18:56:08 UTC

I went deep on the Peterverse(!) and wrote about what the rise of thousands of Peter Griffin-themed AI generated niche educational accounts run by children tells us about the future of the internet and online community https://www.usermag.co/p/a-deep-dive-into-the-peterverse

2025-03-04 04:42:58 UTC

Viral claims about family influencers fleeing the state of California are completely false. TikToks and YouTube videos have amassed millions of views pushing this conspiracy.
My article debunking it only has.... 2 shares. Journalism feels so fruitless sometimes. https://www.usermag.co/p/no-family-vloggers-are-not-fleeing-california-over-a-child-labor-law-viral-tiktok-false

2025-03-04 03:21:35 UTC

I just need 300 more subscribers to get to 40k on YouTube, which is 40% of the way to my ultimate goal of 100k!
I spend hours every week making videos about tech and online culture. YouTube is the platform I'm most focused on this year, so SUBSCRIBE TODAY!! https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz

2025-03-03 18:08:00 UTC

TikTokers’ outrage at parenting influencers isn’t actually about protecting children or ethics in content creation, it’s about pushing a moral panic for clicks and views— ironically the exact thing that they criticize influencers for. https://www.usermag.co/p/no-family-vloggers-are-not-fleeing-california-over-a-child-labor-law-viral-tiktok-false

2025-03-03 17:52:30 UTC

No, family vloggers are not fleeing California over a child labor law.
A viral TikTok conspiracy theory claims that family influencers are moving out of California because of a new law that mandates certain payments to child influencers. That is not true.
https://www.usermag.co/p/no-family-vloggers-are-not-fleeing-california-over-a-child-labor-law-viral-tiktok-false

2025-03-01 18:52:24 UTC

Ken Klippenstein joined me to break down why TikTok was REALLY banned, according to the very lawmakers who banned it. It was never about China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sht8_uHPSWo

2025-02-28 14:31:53 UTC

I wrote about the Epstein files influencer 'clusterfuck' https://www.usermag.co/p/the-epstein-files-influencer-disaster-chaya-raichik-fail

2025-02-27 20:57:41 UTC

I love Fox News' complete inability to ever recognize my sarcasm https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/7-craziest-stories-from-our-shortest-month
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/077/849/932/545/351/original/d1e8db3098b6ffbd.png

2025-02-26 15:12:15 UTC

I interviewed the middle school podcast stars MD Foodie Boyz about their Dave Portnoy dream collab, growing up on Theo Von and Rogan, and their hopes to squash the Drake vs Kendrick beef on the pod. https://www.usermag.co/p/meet-the-md-foodie-boyz

2025-02-23 19:12:32 UTC

Ed Yong is such a real one <3 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/magazine/ed-yong-interview.html?unlocked_article_code=1.y04.Wrq7.R5L0fwPg8N5l&smid=url-share
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/054/787/062/811/179/original/a90e2581dee9a2a4.png

2025-02-22 05:56:09 UTC

SCOOP: Ashley St Clair sues Elon Musk for custody of new son. Musk is pictured with his latest baby in a lawsuit filed by St Clair, seeking sole custody and paternity.
I obtained the filings and the first photo of Musk with his new son, who he has only met three times and who he has never once asked St Clair about. https://www.usermag.co/p/scoop-ashley-st-clair-sues-elon-musk

2025-02-20 13:13:06 UTC

I interviewed Julia Black about the rise of pronatalism in Silicon Valley, plus a new "boring reality" AI, Boomer panic, doom spending, war robot turned DJ, and why there’s no “alt-left pipeline" -- all in today's newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/the-billionaire-baby-boom

2025-02-17 18:44:12 UTC

A fascinating peek inside YouTube’s ecosystem,
Apple Watch ankle monitors,
Power Rangers fanfic,
A Shopify for filmmakers,
Kai Cenat's 'streamer university,'
How Club Shay Shay took over the airwaves+ more
All in today’s newsletter!! https://www.usermag.co/p/whats-really-happening-on-youtube

2025-02-14 20:17:01 UTC

The female creator safety tax, puppygirl hacker polycule, Alix-on-Alex crime, Uber for bodyguards, Trump slopaganda, and the truth behind Spotify's "ghost artists" — all in today’s newsletter https://www.usermag.co/p/elon-musk-the-dadfluencer-the-female-creator-safety-tax

2025-02-13 16:46:51 UTC

My first piece for Zeteo is out! I wrote about Elon Musk’s attempt to rebrand himself from a ruthless, calculating billionaire to a down-home family man by using his toddler son. https://zeteo.com/p/elon-musk-the-dadfluencer-the-billionaire

2025-02-07 19:53:10 UTC

"Silicon Valley billionaires like Marc Andreessen talk about 'high agency' people as if they’re some superior class and the traits they carry are innate, which reads a bit weird to me considering how fond those people are of eugenics." https://www.usermag.co/p/high-agency-silicon-valleys-new-hot-buzzword