Minor boosts of partisan posts in X feeds quickly raise political polarisation
TL;DR A randomized field experiment on X found that subtly increasing the presence of antidemocratic and partisan posts in users'…
Happy New Year HN – Tenor GIF page with policy notice and download options
TL;DR A Tenor page for a GIF titled "Happy New Year HN" shows an updated Terms of Service and Privacy…
WhatsApp rolls out festive 2026 stickers and effects for New Year
TL;DR WhatsApp is introducing seasonal UI touches and new multimedia effects for users marking the transition to 2026. The company…
France to ban social media for under-15s, aims for September 2026 start
TL;DR France has a completed draft bill proposing a ban on social media use by under-15s and a separate ban…
Charlie Kirk’s Killing and the Social-Media Desecration of Mourning
TL;DR A recent piece examines the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and the way online communities immediately layered the…
Setting Up My First Meshtastic Mesh Network with Heltec V3 LoRa Radios
TL;DR A hobbyist built a small Meshtastic mesh using inexpensive Heltec V3 LoRa devices, learned firmware and antenna lessons, and…
Illinois driver charged after pedestrian killed during TikTok livestream
TL;DR Police in Zion, Illinois charged Tynesha McCarty-Wroten, a TikTok creator known as Tea Tyme, with two felonies after a…
Why I Quit LinkedIn: A Case for Deleting the Platform and Regaining Time
TL;DR Writer Joan Westenberg says she deleted her LinkedIn account after growing frustrated with impersonal connections, pitch-driven messages and low-quality…
I found YouTube’s hidden tap-and-hold shortcut — now I can’t watch without it
TL;DR A writer discovered a little-known YouTube gesture that plays videos at double speed while the screen is held. The…
How Communication Gave Way to Entertainment on Social Platforms
TL;DR A recent essay by Ploum argues that federated networks like the Fediverse are evolving into content-distribution systems rather than…