It’s 2026 and if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Over the past decade, the structure of social media has changed completely. In 2016, the introduction of Instagram’s algorithmic feed onRead More
With this essay, Assistant Professor Kevin Munger sharpens our understanding of what we mean by “new orality.” How do we research—or even think about—an era that no longer operates by the logic of the text? What we must unlearn to see it clearly, and where we stand once our old maps stop working.… Read More
Fragments of war—missile strikes, phone recordings, air-defense footage, reposted clips—appear momentarily between memes, lifestyle videos, and other entertainment content. In this essay, Alina Lupu focuses on the experience of seeing the war in Iran through the logic of the personalised feed. … Read More
Tara Kelton does a deep dive into Job Job Job Sahur, the AI-slop character born from TikTok comments telling Italian brainrot creators to “get a job”… Read More
Macarena Magaña Villar finds herself in a cinema watching TikToks with strangers and realises the internet can still be a portal, not just a private hole to fall down.… Read More
Marios Moros states that vagueposting—the deliberately unclear content people have started complaining about online—isn’t always about going viral. In this essay he reframes it as a pushback against overly polished content, meant to include some people and exclude others on purpose.… Read More
Every day, when Livia Giannotti opens her laptop, she gets interrupted. Before she can even reach for her phone while it loads, there it is: her daily Windows wallpaper… Read More
In this interactive essay, Livi Wilmore takes a satirical deep dive into our need for mindless soothing respite from information overload and the tensions we feel between wanting to be informed and wanting to rest. … Read More
This glossary exists because the language of now moves faster than institutions can track it. By the time academics write papers about clipfarming or ragebaiting, twelve new engagement tactics haveRead More
