Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that Facebook would continue to de-prioritise shared public content like news, videos, and links and would favour “family and friend” content like personal photos and thoughts. He made out that “meaningful interactions” were at the core of the decision. But that’s just thinly-disguised spin. Facebook isn’t a social media company. It … Continue reading
In these times where we are bombarded with bullshit, where news is advertising and advertising is entertainment and our minds have been made into sloth juice by meme-life and quick-fix social media, we have a duty to be unfashionable writers. In these times where what we read – the food our brain is fed – … Continue reading
“It wouldn’t bother me if I was complimented,” men often say when told that their street harassment or their comments on our appearance are a problem. Here’s one bad-ass way you can respond. Start with a hypothetical about a friend who was in a traumatic car crash. Hanging out with that friend, we’re sensitive to … Continue reading
Political literacy is more important than technological literacy – without it, democracy and freedom are a sham. It can be easier to stand up to police harassment, bureaucratic abuses or corruption or workplace abuse, when you know your rights and the law. Likewise, political literacy is vital as a tool of defence, conversation, and organisation … Continue reading
The publishing industry’s focus on profits amounts to a censoring of a diversity of viewpoints and experience. Books are lives compressed, humanity summarized into screaming or striking stories. One would think the book world would be a safe haven from inequality, but instead the traditional publishing industry – the big corporate publishers – is perpetuating … Continue reading
Many people would put creative writers (novelists, poets, investigative journalists, satire writers etc) in the hobby basket, alongside people who like camping, stamp collectors, and amateur basketball players. And for many creative writers, that might well be the case. But for others, writing is not a side gig, a Sunday morning past time, or a … Continue reading
OneLook: This is a beautiful, multi-functional thesaurus, and reverse dictionary. Look up the description of that word you can’t think of, and the site makes at least 100 suggestions. You can also look up single words, and the site suggests synonyms that can be sorted by the letter they start with, rhymes with…, primary vowel, … Continue reading
Ages ago in 1991, Sinead O’Conner refused to participate in the Grammies, because the music industry, “(has) created a great respect among artists for material gain – by honouring us and exalting us when we achieve it, ignoring for the most part those of us who have not.” That is, in an industry oriented towards … Continue reading
I admit I have a longstanding fear of being boring. Or I’m convinced that my writing (and my conversation) is artless and unoriginal. The reality though, is far from that, and in life and in writing, I seem to break most of the rules. I guess in this sense, I’m most sensitive about something that … Continue reading
Since the lying, incompetent orange man became the Republican candidate in the US, then president, fact checking websites and other content have been trending. Fact checking has become a buzzword. Part of that comes down to US-centrism: after all, lying rich people are running most countries, as well as most of the transnationals that are … Continue reading
Many believe that academics are the neutral gods above us, who look down at the world and see things clearly. Academics are the “experts” of society that are quoted and interviewed in the media, despite having minimal participation in that society. They hog the intellectual limelight, while others on the ground do the hard yakka … Continue reading
What speed does history travel at? What is the rhythm of humanity? What sort of chapters best capture the pace of life? What types of stories are most suited to a world where a quarter of the world seems to live on the Internet, and three-quarters are struggling with food and shelter? We’re told it’s … Continue reading
