There Are No Girls on the Internet

Bridget has a deeply fascinating and important conversation with the brilliant Vitus Spehar from Under The Desk News about “the news.” TikTok and social media have changed who gets to tell the news, for good and for bad. On the positive side, engaging creators are making important issues resonate with their communities more deeply than Walter Cronkite ever could have dreamed. On the negative side,...

Jonah Hill’s ex released some pretty controlling texts from the actor policing her Instagram posts. Keke Palmer’s boyfriend publicly shamed her concert outfit on Twitter. It’s clear we need to talk about the role social media plays in controlling relationships. We get into it all on Patreon and here’s a preview.    For the full ad free episode, check our our Patreon: Patreon.com/tangoti See omnyst...

So much happened with Twitter. It broke, or maybe they broke it. Then they broke it more, possibly trying to fix it. It's still broken and the vibes are off. Meta launched its new Threads app into the social hole abdicated by Twitter, and 30 million people said "ok" even though Meta is a demonstrably terrible brand that chooses profit over people over and over and over again. We'll probably check...

Fast fashion retailer Shein’s brand trip didn’t quite go as they planned. They sent a group of influencers to China to tour their facility after a bunch of bad press, but now those influencers are facing backlash themselves, and renouncing their partnership with Shein. The whole thing raises questions about the ethics and harm of fast fashion, as well as the influencers who shill for it.   Aja Bar...

SCOTUS’ affirmative action ruling leaves us mad as hell; Dylan Mulvaney, the trans influencer targeted for extremist hate in the wake of a Bud Light brand partnership, returns to social media;  Canva’s AI text to image tool labels Bantu knots “unsafe;” A new lawsuits says Open AI’s ChatGPT is taking all of our data; Google and Facebook threaten to go dark on Canadian news. Facebook’s bans news in...

There’s no denying that dating apps, social media, and smartphones have changed the way platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships play out in all of our lives. But it’s more than just that! Making meaningful friend relationships can be tough because of *everything* we’re all dealing with.   Comedian and author Lane Moore explores how we all make friendships now and her new book You Will Find Yo...

There’s a heavy musk of Elon in this episode. He tries to redefine the word ‘cis’ to be a slur and says it will be considered harassment on his janky platform that encourages deadnaming; he inspires the CEO of Reddit to follow his lead and alienate his own users by charging for API access; and he challenges Mark Zuckerburg to an ill-advised cage match that seems like it might actually happen. RFK...

On Amazon Prime's new docu series Shiny Happy People, we're given a look into the Duggars' harmful religious ideology. Eve Ettinger shares their story in the film. Eve joins to talk about their work with the Coalition for Responsible Home Education to help advocate for homeschooled kids. Listen to Eve's podcast Kitchen Table Cult: https://kitchentablecult.com/ and subscribe to their Patreon: https...

A besmirched radio host sues OpenAI over ChatGPT hallucinations of impropriety. Google rakes in ad cash from anti-choice "pregnancy crisis centers" designed to trick pregnant people. GLAAD releases its third annual Social Media Safety Index on platform safety for LGBTQ individuals (spoiler: Twitter is going backwards). More Teslas are crashing than previously realized. Majorities of GenXers and Mi...

A few weeks ago in our news roundup we talked about a weird social post from Essence magazine on Viola Davis's incredible outfit at the Cannes Film Festival. Not only was her name spelled wrong, but the language just felt off, and Bridget speculated that it seemed like it was written by AI. Fast forward a few weeks, and Essence reached out to Bridget about it on Instagram! But their response was c...

This week we learned Amazon employees spied on Ring customers, YouTube is rolling back its policy about election disinfo, and Instagram is even worse than we thought (which was already very bad). In less terrible news, Twitter has a new CEO, and some low stakes drama between two Birthday Moms in the park reminds us why the Internet is great. Good news! Biden names a point person to counter extremi...

When it comes to what’s next in technology and the internet, we’d all benefit from listening to sex workers. Dr. Olivia Snow, dominatrix and researcher at UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, explains why people who engage in sex work have been right about the internet all along.    ‘Magic Avatar’ App Lensa Generated Nudes From My Childhood Photos: https://www.wired.com/story/lensa-artific...

This week, Elon Musk interacted with a fake Twitter account impersonating AOC, which had been banned until he decided to unban it, presumably so he could flirt with it. In less cringy news, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a landmark report calling for urgent action to protect young people from the harms of social media. TikTok is awash in creepy AI-generated true crime content being narrated by fi...

Paris Marx, host of the hit podcast Tech Won’t Save Us says criticism about technology and the people and culture who build it, is imperative to securing a better tech future.     Listen to Tech Won’t Save Us: https://techwontsave.us/   SUPPORT THE SHOW BY SUBSCRIBING TO OUR PATREON! PATREON.COM/TANGOTI See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we learned that police officers helped the insurrectionists, and that Google never stopped collecting data on visits to abortion centers like they said they would. Target pulled Pride merch to protect its employees from violent exhibitionists, and Ron DeSantis congratulated himself on Twitter (in between server crashes).  For more content like this, check out our Patreon: Patreon.com/TAN...

When writer, cultural critic and OG Twitter icon Mikki Kendall created the viral hashtag #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, she changed the face of online feminism.   Ten years later she looks back on where the platform, and all of us, are headed.   Mikki’s MIT Tech Review Piece: I made it big on Twitter. Now I don’t think I can stay: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/10/28/1062414/elon-musk-leaving-...

We’re doing a new thing where we summarize tech, media, and internet news you may have missed this week. For more content like this, check out our Patreon: Patreon.com/TANGOTI Banning TikTok would hurt marginalized communities w/ Abbie Richards: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/banning-tiktok-would-hurt-marginalized-communities/id1520715907?i=1000606352152 See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...

In the first episode of our miniseries Present Future, Bridget talks with disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz. After being appointed to a position in the Biden administration to combat disinformation, she was targeted by a right wing smear campaign that upended her life and impacted her family. Now, she’s suing Fox News for defamation. Are defamation lawsuits a new blueprint for how to combat har...

There Are No Girls on the Internet is back! And this season we’re diving into the future and making sure everyone’s voice is included with our new series Present Future.   How has AI impacted women and people of color? What’s the next big social media platform if Twitter dies and how will we all show up there? What’s the future of our digital landscape?    On this brand new season, we’ll hear from...

VOTE FOR US TO WIN A SHORTY AWARD: TANGOTI.COM/VOTE You can vote every day until 4/26 and it only takes a moment! Bridget joined Main Accounts: A Myspace Podcast to reminisce about the role Myspace played in our digital lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TikTok disinformation researcher Abbie Richards breaks down the recent TikTok Congressional hearings and why she says a ban on TikTok in the US would hurt marginalized communities the most. Hands off My TikTok. Banning It Would Hurt the Most Marginalized: https://www.newsweek.com/hands-off-my-tiktok-banning-it-would-hurt-most-marginalized-opinion-1789597 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

There's a difference between posting a picture of your child on social media and making a business out of posting content about your child. New legislation aims to keep minors from being exploited online   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this bonus Twitter Spaces conversation, Bridget is joined by #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign and Dr. Jon Paul, screenwriter and co-host of BFF: Black, Fat, Femme podcast to discuss how marginalized creators are still celebrating our creativity even within industries that don’t always see it. How #OscarsSoWhite changed the Academy Awards: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64883399 LIST...

Do you need another water bottle? How about another pair of leggings? If you’ve been seeing de-influencing videos on your social media feed telling you not to buy new stuff, this is the episode for you.  Bridget joins Sam and Anney at Stuff Mom Never Told You to dig into why de-influencing is all over our social media feeds and what it says about where we’re all at. See omnystudio.com/listener for...

We're popping in from our hiatus to celebrate Black history, Black presence, and Black futures by revisiting our conversation with archivist Jocelyn Robinson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.