Modern Life
-
What Does Checking-in Actually Mean?
Checking-in on someone means contacting them directly when you notice they’re not themselves, usually with a phone call or a message that asks a real question. You don’t need training or the right words. Most of the time it takes five minutes and the patience to listen to the answer. We talk a lot about…
-
Why Nobody Uses Punctuation on Facebook Anymore
Apparently punctuation is optional now. I know this because I help run a local Facebook community group with around 12,000 members, which means I get a front row seat to watching the English language get quietly murdered, one status update at a time. Some posts are clear but some appear to have been typed during…
-
British Milk Down the Drain While Palm Oil Comes In
British dairy farmers are dumping surplus milk during peak production while UK food manufacturers import palm oil to replace dairy fat in their recipes. Palm oil wins out because it’s cheaper and more shelf-stable than butterfat, but the rainforest and peatland clearance behind it does far more damage than the swap suggests, sterilising entire ecosystems,…
-
I Deleted a Facebook Post About Statistics
Today I deleted a Facebook post about UK rape statistics after a straightforward share turned into an argument about grooming gangs, race and immigration within minutes – which was not my intention. The graphic itself didn’t mention ethnicity or immigration status, but a comment dragged the conversation there anyway, and once the source of a…
-
When Government Decides What We Should Hear
The UK government is currently consulting on plans, set out in the Watch This Space green paper, media literacy strategy and a linked evidence review, that would give “trusted” and public service sources greater prominence on platforms and search results. Backers call it protecting people from misinformation. Critics call it a quiet way to shape which voices…
-
Political Commentary Is Now a Subscription Business
Political commentary increasingly runs on the same mechanics as a content farm: a provocative social post drives clicks to a paid platform, and the strength of the argument matters less than whether it converts. Matt Goodwin’s Facebook post about the murders of Jo Cox and Ann Widdecombe raises a fair question about double standards on…
-
YouTube’s AI Slop Problem Nobody Wants to Admit
YouTube allows anonymous channels to build AI-generated political content around the names and faces of real public figures, with no clear label telling viewers what they’re watching. Google talks about fighting AI slop in search while YouTube rewards the same thing with reach and subscribers. A visible on-screen disclosure, stating when a video uses AI-written…
-
The AI Industry Has a Problem, and It’s Getting Worse
Years of job-loss warnings, billion-dollar announcements, and god-like claims about technology that often can’t reliably count to ten have quietly built up a head of public resentment. Tech critic Ed Zitron has been making this case for a while. In a recent episode of The Tech Report, he laid out exactly why the industry’s habit…
-
Why Those Powerful Words Live on My Homepage
Nine words from a 1998 Manic Street Preachers number one sit at the top of this blog for a reason. They come originally from a Spanish Civil War propaganda poster, carried forward by a Welsh band still shaped by the disappearance of their lyricist Richey Edwards, who struggled with depression and vanished in 1995. Update:…
-
The Web Is Turning Into One Big Toll Booth
I’ve noticed something lately. Not gradually either. It feels like it’s happened in the space of a year or two. The internet has started putting up gates. You click a link, you want to read something, and you’re met with a banner. Not the old irritating cookie notice – those were bad enough. This one’s…