we live in internet hell

[alyaza]

Alyaza Birze (October 12)

bold claim, i know. really hard to sustain in today's internet. anyways: did you know that Substack wants to become a payment processor and it probably has a good chance of doing that? god we fucked up the internet so bad:

To avoid fizzling the way competitors like Medium have, Substack is trying to become less a journalism platform and more a payment system for creators. In recent months, the company has been reaching out to influencers, video creators and podcasters to convince them to join the platform. It doesn’t need beauty influencers, say, to all of a sudden become bloggers. But it does want to be the primary vehicle for paying creators regardless of medium.

truly a nauseating set of words. my favorite part of this is "less a journalism platform and more a payment system for creators" which is wrong on like three different, distinct, infuriating levels. Substack is a "journalism platform" in the same sense that Fox News should be called a news station―why are we letting load bearing infrastructure be run by the worst people in the world again? and the less said about content creation the better.

what i'm reading

on a lighter note, i've picked up Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin and i'm anticipating that will be the source of a few fun posts next week; however, in the mean time here are some interesting articles i've read. these cover all sorts of topics:

• To Tackle Housing Crisis, These Organizers Want to First Change How City Hall Works: Advocates in Bozeman, Montana are using a once-in-a-decade chance to reshape local government structure to create more equitable representation and, eventually, more affordable housing policy.
• The $20B US ‘green bank’ program just funded its first project: An Inflation Reduction Act program meant to expand climate investment in underserved markets has its first target — a $31 million commercial solar effort in Arkansas.
• We need the first-hand experience of disabled researchers: [...]it makes sense to encourage more active patient voices in clinical research. As co-investigators, patients could offer unique insights into their health conditions and ask penetrating questions about treatments and policies. They could help focus practical attention on the development of more inclusive and effective health and social interventions.
• Rare-Disease Patients Know: We All Deserve Better Care: In the United States, rare-disease patients often go into significant medical debt to pursue treatment, even traveling to different states to see specialists with months-long waiting lists. In addition to the monetary burden, those seeking treatment for rare diseases also face a mental, emotional, and spiritual toll. [...] In the face of these obstacles, rare-disease patients like Durán must relentlessly call insurance companies and medical offices, create and share resources, and form care networks to lift some of the burden—and help keep them alive.
• Who Gets Shipped And Why?: It's human nature to pair Human A and Human B (and possibly Human C, D, etc.) together and hope for the best. But how do we collectively decide WHO gets shipped? We set out to try to answer that question by looking at 11 years of Archive of Our Own (AO3) data compiled by centreoftheselights.
• Roll for insight: Using Dungeons & Dragons as a group therapy tool: While the research is ongoing, many academics and therapists say they have already seen positive results implementing D&D as a therapeutic tool. Most recently, a group of researchers at the University College Cork published findings in the International Journal of Role-Playing showing that D&D can positively support a player’s mental health state.

Comments

[andr0meda]

"why are we letting load bearing infrastructure be run by the worst people in the world again?" is such a vibe after watching Matt Mullenweg do... uh... more Matt Mullenweg things. The sheer amount of art and writing and documentation that could disappear overnight just because some guy felt like Making Some Changes (or throwing a tantrum) does weigh on me sometimes ngl.