The US and China might finally have a TikTok deal
The US and China might finally have a TikTok deal The US and China have reached a “framework” deal to divest TikTok from its Chinese parent company, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters during trade talks in Madrid on Monday. As noted by Reuters, Bessent confirmed that “the framework is for a switch to a […]
How brands and creators are fighting for your attention — and your money
How brands and creators are fighting for your attention — and your money Hello, and welcome to Decoder! This is Hank Green, the cofounder of Complexly, where we make SciShow, Crash Course, and a bunch of other educational YouTube channels. I’m back in the Decoder guest host chair for another couple of episodes while Nilay […]
The influencer in this Vodafone ad isn’t real
The influencer in this Vodafone ad isn't real Anyone familiar with the AI slop on Pinterest should recognize how unnatural that hair is. I opened TikTok while visiting Germany last week and stumbled across a Vodafone ad being presented by a woman who probably doesn’t exist. The ad includes several “tells” that suggest the presenter […]
Instagram is coming to iPad, 15 years later
Instagram is coming to iPad, 15 years later After years of requests from users, Instagram will finally have a dedicated app for iPad. Beginning Wednesday, September 3rd, users will be able to download the new app built specifically for Apple’s tablet. But it will be slightly different than the mobile app users are accustomed to. […]
How the Democrats keep copying the MAGA influencer playbook (and failing)
How the Democrats keep copying the MAGA influencer playbook (and failing) Hello and welcome to Regulator. Today, I will attempt to regulate my own apoplexy. Recently, Wired published an article revealing the existence of a secret Democrat influencer incubator that trained liberal and progressive content creators to push coordinated messaging across their shared social media […]
TikTok is now letting everyone DM each other with voice memos and pictures
TikTok is now letting everyone DM each other with voice memos and pictures Every platform wants to be the place you hang with friends — even Spotify as of this week — so it’s apparently time for TikTok to shore up its direct messaging feature! It told TechCrunch that over the next few weeks, all […]
The winners and losers of Taylor Swift’s engagement announcement
The winners and losers of Taylor Swift's engagement announcement The winners and losers of Taylor Swift’s engagement announcement The world’s most famous celebrity couple got engaged, and the first place the news broke was on Instagram. By now, it’s not much of a surprise that pop star Taylor Swift and football player Travis Kelce opted […]
Hank Green’s Focus Friend swapped my screen time for bean time
Hank Green's Focus Friend swapped my screen time for bean time Hank Green’s Focus Friend swapped my screen time for bean time Earlier this week, a bean moved into my phone. Their name is Billie Bean King, and when I’m working, they work too, knitting socks and scarves. Billie’s knitted wares are more than just […]
Palestine was the problem with TikTok
Palestine was the problem with TikTok In the last month, the war in Gaza has become an inescapable facet of the public consciousness as a new surge of images of Palestinian children – their faces impossibly sunken, their limbs reduced to skin and bone – flooded the internet. As the pictures became ubiquitous, the outcry […]
What’s a smut peddler to do these days?
What's a smut peddler to do these days? What’s a smut peddler to do these days? In the aftermath of itch.io pulling the sale of over 20,000 pages of adult content, the creators of that work are left feeling betrayed, exhausted, and fearful. The number of platforms that permit the sale of adult material is […]