Here’s How ASCII ‘Barbie’ Came to a Screen Near You
The Warner Bros. logo, in pink, opens on the screen. It wasn’t quite the same special edition of the iconic image seen in theaters during Barbie, but instead, random sequences …
digital culture
Your Favorite Songs on TikTok Could Soon Disappear
Starting today, the sounds on TikTok might be getting a little quieter. That’s because Universal Music Group is planning to remove its catalog from the video-sharing app after the massive …
Black Twitter Remains Unbothered | WIRED
Social media is having a crisis of identity. In the 15 months since a change of ownership rocked the foundation of Twitter—now confusingly rebranded X—competitors have scrambled to rekindle the …
‘Palworld’: How ‘Pokémon With Guns’ Became an Overnight Hit
In the grass ahead lurks a cotton-ball puff of a creature with stubby appendages, round, yellow eyes, and a macaroni-noodle smile. Appropriately named Lamball, it is one of many island …
The Stark Realities of Posting Your Layoff on TikTok
The tech layoffs keep coming. Workers are anxious and frustrated, as more than 400,000 people are estimated to have lost jobs over the past two years. Younger workers, particularly Gen …
The Internet Couldn’t Save Vivek Ramaswamy
At a ritzy boutique hotel on Monday night in Des Moines, Iowa, dozens of young voters braved subzero temperatures to see Vivek Ramaswamy deliver what they would soon learn to …
What SoundCloud Created Can Never Die
Kaytranada and Kehlani. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba.” The commonalities these artists and songs share is neither region nor genre but platform. SoundCloud was their …
The Year the Millennial Internet Died
The millennial internet first died in 2015. I remember the day exactly because I was one of seven staffers, in addition to many more permalancers, at Gawker Media who were …
The Internet Isn’t Dead. It’s ‘Saturday Night Live’
The internet sucks now. Once a playground fueled by experimentation and freedom and connection, it’s a flimsy husk of what it was, all merriment and serendipity leached from our screens …
Tierra Whack Doesn’t Want Her Creativity Boxed In
The visual curiosity of television called to Tierra Whack at a young age. “I was glued to the TV. If it wasn’t cartoons, it was music videos from Missy Elliott …