The One Where Love > Politics #3
# intro
Hey, 👋
Love and politics have been so interwoven this past week that avoiding them on social media was nearly impossible, even if I had wanted to. Plus, with today being Valentine's Day, I figured, why not dive into it?
The Super Bowl, the biggest game in the NFL in the U.S., took place on Sunday, February 11. Apparently, the love and admiration for Taylor Swift, both from teenagers and in the context of her relationship with Travis Kelce, was so strong that it attracted a new audience to the screens - Super Bowl LVIII was most-watched TV program ever, averaging 123.4m viewers. I’m happy for everyone involved, but everything I know about this love story, I learned against my will.
And politics? Well, there was the Carlson-Putin interview, but those goblins aren't my focus today.
Happy reading! 👓
# general
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram and Threads, announced that they will not be promoting political content on Threads.
I, for one, am pleased with this decision, but there is a vocal minority who insist that Meta is not in the right here. I can somewhat understand their perspective. Politics is a crucial aspect of life, and it has been discussed that Russia's slide into totalitarianism was partly due to a lack of political engagement among its people.
However, as a non-American, I find U.S. politics to be quite overwhelming, especially during election years, even for someone who is relatively knowledgeable about it. These vocal Americans often fail to recognize that platforms like Threads and Instagram cater to a global audience, not just to U.S. users. There are countless users from outside the U.S. who may not be interested in American politics, even though it may affect them in the long run, one way or another.
For instance, the sheer amount of political 'rage bait' under the latest post from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Threads is appalling. I love Jon Stewart, and I enjoyed this particular segment, but do I want to see this kind of comments and posts in my feed? Hell no.
But I also understand why this happens. The cultural influence of America, its technology, and its media on the rest of the world is profound. And don't get me wrong, I've devoted years to mastering the English language and immersing myself in American literature and culture. I love it, but that doesn't mean I want the algorithm to force-feed it to me.
There's a Russian saying that Moscow is the "default city," suggesting that Muscovites act as though Moscow is the only city that matters, disregarding other cities and time zones. Americans are like that, but with the U.S. instead of Moscow. It seems they can become so preoccupied with “American exceptionalism” that they overlook the fact that there's a whole world out there beyond the U.S.
The 'melting pot' isn't the only dish on the international table.
# privacy
I finished reading 'The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue'. This book is about a young woman who makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. The premise is great, but it falls apart in the middle and never really comes together by the end. But that's beside the point here.
What intrigued me is the parallel between the book's premise and the concept of online privacy. You visit a website, and as long as you're logged in and have it open, the website remembers what it needs about you. However, the moment you log out or close the tab, the website forgets you. The next time you visit, you're a new person to them.
But, of course, what's good for privacy is always horrible for ads and monetization. Our old-school internet was ad-supported, so it's hard to imagine it without tracking or cookies, or FloC, or whatever. Yet, it poses a fascinating thought experiment - the ultimate 'right to be forgotten.'
Modern tracking practices have evolved so much and are so invasive that we see the fruits of them here and there. Here is the latest installment: Woman Sues Sex Toy Retailer Adam and Eve, Claims It Shared Data About Her Dildos -
The plaintiff, who isn’t named in the complaint but goes by “Jane Doe,” claims that Adam and Eve uses Google Analytics, which has an anonymization feature that obscures IP addresses of users, but that the site didn’t have that feature enabled. She’s suing PHE, the owner of Adam and Eve, as well as Google, for allegedly disclosing her “sexual preferences, sexual orientation, sexual practices, sexual fetishes, sex toy preferences, lubricant preferences, and search terms” without her consent. The above information, combined with the consumer’s IP address, enables Google to identify the person who has interacted with PHE’s Website or has submitted information through the site,” the complaint claims.
That’s pretty embarrassing, and not for Jane Doe, but for the website owner. If you insist on having analytics on your website, please consider using more privacy-friendly systems, such as Fathom, Plausible, or Matomo. I'm not affiliated in any way, and I'm sure there are others out there as well.
# links-of-note
Notion has acquired another company, this time the privacy-focused productivity platform Skiff - https://skiff.com/. The acquisition has stirred controversy, and the service is set to shut down in six months, leaving users dissatisfied. The discontent is evident in the comments under their Twitter announcement here. Skiff had shown a lot of promise, and I had even set up a @skiff.com mailbox. But hey, principles don't feed your kids, so we have what we have (read here).
The EFF has published a positive and hopeful article combating the notion of "privacy nihilism." They claim that privacy is far from being dead, and it gives me hope.
Molly White has penned an insightful essay on the concept of data "ownership." Given the varied interpretations of "ownership," she suggests focusing on the specific rights involved (read here).
I've also shared thoughts on data ownership and the growing issue of "subscription fatigue" (read here).
# water-cooler
Last time we talked about music, and this week will be no different.
My parents were never dedicated music lovers, and they didn't instill a love for any particular bands or genres in me. My music taste is entirely of my own making.
In the late '90s or the very beginning of the 2000s, I remember lying in bed one winter morning after New Year's. I was already familiar with The Beatles' music but wasn't a fan. However, that early morning, they aired "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" on TV, and my view of The Beatles changed forever. By the way, did you know it was the first movie directed by Robert Zemeckis?
Paul McCartney ended up performing in Russia twice: once in Moscow's Red Square on May 24, 2003, and then in St. Petersburg on June 20, 2004. I thought how cool it would be to attend it, but it was impossible - in 2004, I was still in high school in my hometown, 6000 km away.
It breaks my heart to think how unthinkable such a concert is in today's Russia, 20 years later. However, I remain hopeful that times will change again soon, because love > politics.
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Until next week,🖖
Greg