An angry mob in front of a computer screen

Cancel Culture Is Chaotic Good

Cancel culture may prove to be the most memorable linguistic trend of the past decade.
A woman wearing a non-existent dress

How Much Would You Pay for a Nonexistent Dress?

Not too long ago, digital-only clothing might have been decried as a scam. But our "extended selves" are increasingly invested in virtual goods.
A RSS symbol

What Happened to Tagging?

Tags decentralized and democratized the organization of information. What became of "social tagging?"
Marvel Alliance members facing off enemies in a multiple player game

Video Game Streams Are Creating New Forms of Community

Khasino, a Marvel Strike Force streamer on Twitch, makes his living playing video games for an audience.
A network server

How Much Carbon Will It Cost to Read This Story?

Just how significant is the internet’s carbon footprint?
A woman reading a newspaper

To Predict the Role of Fake News in 2020, Look to Canada

Canada has taken steps to address the potential for online misinformation ("fake news") in its upcoming election, but the internet changes rapidly.
the front panel of the very first Internet Message Processor (IMP), which went to UCLA's Boelter 3420 lab and became the very first node on the ARPANET, which would become the Internet

Happy Birthday to Cyberspace!

The first message sent through the ARPANET was “LO.” It was supposed to be “LOGIN,” but the network crashed after the first two letters.
View of torn poster on wall

The Internet Is Rotting⁠—Let’s Embrace It

Forgetting is beneficial for the human brain. But the internet has made it harder to let go of painful or problematic memories.
A man on a laptop

Making Men Online

How the internet has both reinforced and tweaked traditional gender pathologies, especially for boys and men.
office email anthropology

The Anthropology of the Office Email

Researchers learn a lot from studying office workers' email. But the question remains: do they learn more about the people, or about the medium itself?