Social Media
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Your Brain Is Being Hijacked for Profit. Here’s the Proof.
In Brief: That viral post about Australian swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan threatening to boycott the 2028 Olympics over Lia Thomas? Completely fabricated. O’Callaghan never said it, Swimming Australia officially intervened to get it removed, and Thomas can’t compete in 2028 anyway because World Aquatics already banned her in 2022 after she lost her legal challenge. The…
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Criticising the Machine Algorithm Game While Feeding It
There’s a pattern I can’t unsee anymore. It’s so flipping common. Plenty of tech commentators on YouTube and podcasts love to rant about algorithms. About AI. About attention. About how recommendation engines are rewiring us, shortening our focus, spoon-feeding us ideas instead of forcing us to think. They’ll ask the big questions. All valid questions.…
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Facebook’s Hostile Interface Harms Neurodivergent Users
Try typing a bloody comment on Facebook these days. Your cursor hovers near a word, and boom: a pop-up suggesting pages you don’t care about. You’re mid-sentence, and Facebook’s autocomplete hijacks your keyboard to shove names and suggestions down your throat. You can’t move, type, or think without being interrupted by something trying to “help”…
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ADHD Time Struggles Are Real but The Advice You’re Getting Isn’t.
You’ve seen the posts. Green thoughtful creature pondering past, present, and future. Relatable meme, thousands of likes, comments full of “this is so me.” Then comes the advice: Feels helpful for about five seconds. Then you’re late again. Then you’re replaying yesterday’s cock-up whilst simultaneously catastrophising about tomorrow’s 2pm meeting, and you realise you’ve just…
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What Facebook’s Notifications Are Really Telling You
I don’t use Facebook much. If you know me, you probably know that already. I manage a few local business pages. I run a community group with over 12,000 members. I post when something’s worth sharing – something genuinely useful to local people, local businesses, the community. That’s it. I don’t scroll much. I don’t…
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Memes Won’t Save Men from Suicide. Real Connection Might.
We’re drowning in mental health content while men are quietly dying. Something isn’t adding up. Every day, millions of people scroll past a graphic that says “check on your friend.” They might tap it, feel a brief warm glow, and keep scrolling. Meanwhile, in the UK, multiple men die by suicide every single day. We’ve…
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Why Social Media Feels Draining and Addictive
There’s a quiet shift that’s happened over the last couple of decades. Most people feel it, but struggle to explain it without sounding like they’re just “moaning about Facebook”. What Roy Baumeister has done, whether people agree with every word or not, is give it a bit of backbone. Not opinions. Not vibes. Actual psychological framing. And…
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The Great British Snow Panic and Media Fear Industry
In 1991, some friends and I drove across Canada in winter. We parked for lunch, came back to several inches of snow covering every vehicle in the now completely white parking area. We couldn’t see the roads. That’s snow. Real snow. And we carried on because that’s what you do when actual weather happens. It…
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When “Support” Costs Nothing, It’s Worth Nothing
There’s a type of support that sounds reassuring when people talk about it, looks respectable on the surface, and yet somehow never quite shows up when it actually matters. You’ll recognise it instantly if you’ve ever tried to build something publicly. The Like, The Share, and The Disappearing Act People will like your post. They’ll…
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The Ego Machines Driving Your Social Media Feed
Open Facebook for five minutes and you’ll see it. A pastel background. A sunset. A soft-focus image of a woman staring at the horizon. A quote about protecting your energy, choosing peace, healing your inner child. Thousands of likes. The Ego Trip Hiding in Your Social Media Feed Hundreds of comments. “Beautiful.” “Needed this.” “Thank…