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Internet Culture

The Verge’s Internet Culture section is the home for daily coverage of how our online lives influence and are influenced by pop culture and the world around us. The ways in which we communicate, create, and live with each other have been radically altered by the internet’s powerful connective tissues, from the platforms we inhabit, like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram; to the policies, laws and guidelines that govern them (or don’t); to the subcultures, communities, and memes that bring us together there — for better or worse. Here you’ll find our coverage of life on the web, with an eye on what’s next.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Ripping off AIM away messages is the best feature Instagram has added in a long, long time.

If you’re old enough to remember the words “via Hiptop,” then you’ll recognize that instead of being tweet-like, the new Instagram Notes feature takes inspiration from Twitter’s predecessor — AOL Instant Messenger away messages.

The pop-up statuses are hidden away (for now) in the Instagram messages window, but for the Elder Millennial / Young Gen X generation, it’s a return to the days of flirting via vague but also specifically targeted song lyrics.

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
That kid who crashed The Game Awards? It’s not his first rodeo.

Motherboard writes that the kid — who says his name is Matan Even — also famously flashed a pro-Hong Kong T-shirt at a Clippers game, crashed a Blizzcon World of Warcraft panel, and appeared on InfoWars when he was younger.

Oh, and the LAPD apparently didn’t actually arrest him for this latest stunt — a person was detained, not arrested, for “theatrical exhibition,” LAPD told Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter. Polygon has an interview with him too.

James Vincent
James Vincent
Dril predicts the end of Twitter will be a “cleansing fire.”

Twitter’s greatest poster has shared his thoughts on the platform’s new owner in an interview with The Washington Post. Here’s Dril on Musk:

“Everything he does is a comedic bit. He’s always trying to get a laugh, that’s why he makes all his cars suicidal. Just watching everything burn, it’s entertaining, that’s for sure.”

Wise words.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Twitter lost Captain Sully, aka, that man knows when to ditch.

In this 2013 CNBC video, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey calls the 2009 US Airways Flight 1549 water landing in the Hudson River a moment that “changed everything.”

Suddenly the world turned its attention, because we were the source of news. And, it wasn’t us; it was this person in the boat using the service, which was even more amazing.

On Wednesday, the pilot of that plane, Capt. Sully Sullenberger announced, “To my friends on Twitter, I will be taking a step back from the platform for now.” He invited fans to follow him on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook instead.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Web3 is going great.

Current FTX implosion notwithstanding, how seriously should you take crypto, NFTs, and everything else blockchain? Molly White, who runs Web3 is Going Just Great, gave a 15-minute presentation at Web Summit 2022 on exactly that topic — you should watch it (or read the transcript).
Here’s a small snippet:

There will be a web3. The web has been evolving ever since its inception, and there is no doubt in my mind that we are overdue for a fundamental shift. Will it be blockchains and crypto? Venture capitalists and blockchain startup founders really hope that you think so.

I hope that the rest of us will continue working towards utopian goals like the ones I mentioned earlier—the ones that many people who are working in web3 and on web3 projects share—without necessarily being shackled to a technology that holds little promise for the web.

Fanfiction was the guilty pleasure that helped me unlock the internet

My taboo teenage pastime introduced me to the wide world of internet subcultures.

Victoria Song
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
The MCU continues to mine the liminal space between memes and canon.

The character Wonder Man in Marvel’s comics was the source of the brain patterns used to build the android Vision.

Separately, the TV show Wandavision provided the source material for endless Vishawn memes, and these two things are apparently nearing a crossover point.

Elon Musk might resurrect VineElon Musk might resurrect Vine
Mitchell Clark and Alex Heath
Jordan Peele and Keke Palmer open up about evolving in the public eye and the trap of ‘elevated films’

Nope director Jordan Peele and star Keke Palmer understand why nobody wants to be spoiled before a movie, even though some people definitely do

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Dan Seifert
Dan Seifert
The internet is for complaining about corporations doing shenanigans.

Perhaps you’ve seen that Dunkin’ (née Dunkin’ Donuts) has changed its loyalty program for the worse. It’s been hard to miss for the past couple of weeks since it launched, thanks to many people complaining about it on social media.

Wired rounds up a few of those complaints today and asks what might be the outcome? The cynic in me says nothing, “my free” coffee is going to cost me twice as much going forward.

A column about Dunkin’ AND complaining on the internet? Be still my beating heart.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
There’s no mention of beads in this chess cheating report.

After an investigation, Chess.com has put together a 72-page report (PDF) backing world chess champion Magnus Carlsen’s explosive allegation of cheating by 19-year-old grandmaster Hans Niemann.

Niemann publicly admitted to cheating on a couple of occasions years ago, but the report claims he’s cheated over 100 times, more recently than he admitted, and in tournaments with money on the line.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Street shark... or lake fish.

When we started our reporting this morning, I said we’d update you on that viral video of a shark in a flooded street, and here’s the explanation.

Unlike the usual “shark in a highway” pic that goes around every time there are flooded streets — this video was real and taken yesterday morning in Florida as Hurricane Ian approached.

However, as Storyful’s Rob McDonagh explains, it wasn’t in a street, and it’s hard to tell if it truly shows a shark.

Two GameStop documentaries miss the forest for the memes

The whole thing smacks of ‘content’

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
Spain’s Transports Urbans de Sabadell has La Bussí.

Once again, the US has fallen behind in transportation — call it the Bussí gap. A hole in our infrastructure, if you will.

Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
The 2010s were about lifestyle brands. What’s next?

Loved this meaty essay about trends in consumerism, what we mean by “culture,” and how DTC brands led to a new understanding of community and identity. “In the 2010s, supply chain innovation opened up lifestyle brands. In the 2020s, financial mechanism innovation is opening up the space for incentivized ideologies, networked publics, and co-owned faiths,” writes Toby Shorin. “The authenticity-driven culture of ironic detachment, so present in the early 2000s, has given way to a moment where people are genuinely open to being influenced, open to sincerely participating, even if it’s cringe.”

Life After Lifestyle

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How to add Instagram close friendsHow to add Instagram close friends
Monica Chin
How fandom built the internet as we know it, with Kaitlyn Tiffany

Her new book on the long history of fangirls, from the Beatles to One Direction

Nilay Patel
NFTs, explainedNFTs, explained
Mitchell Clark