Technology

You’re Gonna Miss Zoom When It’s Gone

For people like me, who have social anxiety, videoconferencing can be easier than in-person interactions.

The Alt-Right Has Lost Control of Redpill

A classic meme about being radicalized is now so absurd that it means almost nothing at all.

Zoom Court Is Changing How Justice Is Served

For better, for worse, and possibly forever

An Unexpected Boon to America’s Vaccine Towns

Out-of-towners looking for shots are unintentionally lifting local economies after a tough year.

What on Earth Is Amazon Doing?

The company’s social-media aggression is shocking. It shouldn’t be.

There’s a Better Way to Date Online—If You Like Trains

Inside NUMTinder, a Facebook dating group exclusively for people who are really into public transit.

The Big, Stuck Boat Is Glorious

The Ever Given is very big and very stuck.

You Probably Don’t Remember the Internet

How do we memorialize life online when it’s constantly disappearing?

End Meeting for All

When we remember this time, we’ll do so through a bunch of little boxes on a laptop screen. The photographer Thomas Dworzak captured our strange, sad year on Zoom.

The Truth Seekers Are Coming

Conspiracy theorists keep finding new ways to rebrand themselves.

High School Wasn’t Supposed to Be Like This

Freshman year was going to mean sleepovers, new friends, and independence. The coronavirus changed all that.

Who Would Volunteer to Fact-Check Twitter?

The site is hoping that its users will help stem the spread of lies—but first it has to inspire them.

Texas Failed Because It Did Not Plan

What went wrong? The Lone Star State made three fundamental errors.

The Librarian War Against QAnon

As “Do the research” becomes a rallying cry for conspiracy theorists, classical information literacy is not enough.

America’s Health Will Soon Be in the Hands of Very Minor Internet Celebrities

Local health departments are counting on lifestyle bloggers and fitness experts to get their message out.

It’s All Rigged

What Robinhood and Facebook have in common

A Super Bowl Ad That the Biden Presidency Made Possible

GM has cast its electric vehicles as normal American cars, in a normal Super Bowl ad. Here are seven ways to think about that.

The Absurd Logic of Internet Recipe Hacks

Spaghetti-Os pie has warped my understanding of reality.

Cottagecore Was Just the Beginning

Aesthetics Wiki is the internet’s one-stop shop for figuring out whether your vibe is more “cactuscore” or “synthwave” or “pastel goth.”

How the Pandemic Stoked a Backlash to Multilevel Marketing

YouTube vigilantes are taking consumer advocacy into their own hands.