When it comes to defending Donald Trump from the worst accusations, the MAGA influencer-industrial complex, whether out of loyalty or self-preservation, often defaults to whataboutism, arguing that the Democrats are just as guilty as Trump, or (ideally) worse. This principle has held true with the current Jeffrey Epstein saga, and as their audience’s anger against […]
The indie-focused open gaming marketplace Itch.io has abruptly deindexed adult content from its browse and search pages, warning that some games will be permanently removed from the platform. In a blog post on Thursday, Itch.io creator Leaf Corcoran said that the update was due to concerns that the website’s payment processors had “about the nature […]
Cassey Ho was getting her roots dyed when she started receiving hundreds of ecstatic messages. In a video clip promoting her song “Fortnight,” Taylor Swift was shown wearing the Pirouette Skort, a flouncy, tutu-style skirt with built-in shorts underneath, that Ho had designed for her athleisure brand Popflex. She knew immediately this exposure — one […]
The ultimate source for The New York Times’ story about Zohran Mamdani’s college application is an open secret. It’s an anime-loving neo-Nazi whose hobbies include furry drawings, posting fan art of a video game character, and hacking universities. On X, the alleged hacker is followed by New York Times freelancer Benjamin Ryan, who was the […]
On Thursday night, I toggled endlessly between a TikTok Live stream and a shopping app in anticipation of 9:30PM. For 30 minutes, I hunted for an available listing; many expletives were uttered. I exhibited bot behavior and got iced out of the app multiple times. I tapped so many times my thumbs got sore. This […]
This excerpt from Adam Aleksic’s Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language has been abridged for online publication. The book is out on July 15th. The modern-day incel is entirely an invention of the twenty-first century. Before the internet, lonely men simply didn’t have a way to gather and share ideas. That […]
Here at this website, my colleagues and I follow our beats closely, from wearable tech and laptops to influencer culture and federal policy. Last year, I asked a bunch of staff at The Verge to pretend to be trend forecasters for a lighthearted collection of what’s hot and what’s not. Some of the predictions really […]
On Monday, the long-running indie rock band Deerhoof made an announcement: it was pulling its music from Spotify. The impetus was Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s newest investment in Helsing, the German defense group that makes AI and drones. Helsing raised 600 million euros in its most recent funding round, which was led by Ek’s venture […]
When Mission to Zyxx debuted in 2017, the podcasting space was very different. There were fewer shows, and more money was being spent as companies rushed to figure out how to capitalize on the growing medium. At a time when many big podcasts were focused on news and investigative reporting, Zyxx – an improvised comedy […]
The legal battle between two Amazon influencers with unsettlingly similar styles and vibes is nearing resolution. On Wednesday the two influencers asked a judge to dismiss the copyright case, more than a year after it was initially filed and six months after I wrote about it in The Verge. The lawsuit was simultaneously disconcerting and […]