social media

An online producer talks to an older man selling shoes on the street in Kabul

June 2024 / Media

Why the Taliban Love Social Media

April 24, 2024April 24, 2024 - by Soraya Amiri

The extremist group’s strategy to normalize its rule in Afghanistan

A woman wrinkles her brow and holds up a phone with a photo of her mouth over where her real mouth would be

Technology

Me, My Selfies, and I

February 29, 2024February 29, 2024 - by Erika Thorkelson

Those of us on the line between Gen X and millennial are watching our identities shift and age in a way no previous generation has

A digital collage featuring a hand holding up a smartphone to photograph an Arctic. Dark blue rays and red hearts are shining out of the phone.

Technology

The North Runs on Facebook

February 28, 2024March 21, 2024 - by Eva Holland

At twenty, the social media giant might seem old school. For many of us up here, it’s still the place to be

A photo illustration of two versions of a bust of Greek historian Herodotus. On the left, the bust is in its original state fading into a dark background. On the right, the bust has gone through the process of yassification as if using a beauty filter, surrounded by heart-shaped like buttons against a blue and pink gradient background.

Technology

Social Media Is Warping History

February 1, 2024February 1, 2024 - by Colin Horgan

#History is huge on TikTok, where counterintuitive takes flatter users into thinking they know the “real” story

An illustration of the phrase “UNAVAILABLE IN CANADA” written in a large font in a forest. Beside it is a person looking at a red general prohibition sign on their phone screen while walking their dog.

December 2023

Editor’s Letter: Why We Can’t Unfriend Big Tech

December 7, 2023December 7, 2023 - by Carmine Starnino

The Online News Act has us re-evaluating our relationships with major platforms

Media

The Rise and Fall of MuchMusic

November 17, 2023January 15, 2024 - by Sara Black McCulloch

Former staffers reveal what made the channel so special—and why MuchMusic has failed to reclaim its former glory despite a relaunch

A pro-Palestine demonstration in Rome on Oct. 13, 2023.

World

As the Israel–Hamas War Escalates, Misinformation Surges

October 25, 2023November 23, 2023 - by Nathaniel Basen

The spread of false claims on social media makes it hard to sort fact from fiction

An illustration of an eye wearing an under eye patch. Inside its pupil is a play button.

September/October 2023 / Society

My Guilty Pleasure: The All-Consuming, Shimmering World of Skinfluencers

September 14, 2023December 21, 2023 - by Mona Awad

I felt giddy whenever I burned my face with a cultish acid

A photo illustration of a book with a squiggly line and five stars above to look like it’s dizzy. The stars are coloured in to look like a 4.5 star review.

Arts & Culture

Goodreads Is Terrible for Books. Why Can’t We All Quit It?

August 29, 2023January 8, 2024 - by Tajja Isen

It’s not entirely clear who it’s for and what its function should be in a rapidly changing literary ecosystem

A photo illustration of crystals, candles and a singing bowl spilling out of a pill bottle.

Health

Faith Healers Are Back, and They’re Getting Rich

August 17, 2023August 17, 2023 - by Matthew Remski

Spiritual pseudoscience is everywhere on social media with promises to cure diseases. It may also be costing lives

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