#posting liking commenting sharing helps stuff go viral

[disco-cola]

I have no ties whatsoever to South Africa but watching the lawyers (also featuring an Irish woman bc the Irish understand too due to their history) makes me tear up and be so proud and the fact videos are being shared that went viral, also of soldiers exposing themselves while committing atrocities, this is in part the work of all of us (re)posting, sharing, spreading! Don’t tell me sharing posts does nothing! I know it seemed so defeating at times when the follower count and the story views dropped RAPIDLY but every single voice did matter in the end when they all came together ✊ South Africa’s legal team did amazing work

[mariacallous]

Neo-Nazis and white supremacists are sharing Hitler-related propaganda and trying to recruit new members on TikTok, according to a new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) shared exclusively with WIRED. The TikTok algorithm is also promoting this content to new users, researchers found, as extremist communities are leveraging the huge popularity of TikTok among younger audiences to spread their message.

The report from ISD details how hundreds of extremist TikTok accounts are openly posting videos promoting Holocaust denial and the glorification of Hitler and Nazi-era Germany, and suggesting that Nazi ideology is a solution to modern-day issues such as the alleged migrant invasion of Western countries. The accounts also show support for white supremacist mass shooters and livestream-related footage or recreations of these massacres. Many of the accounts use Nazi symbols in their profile pictures or include white supremacist codes in their usernames.

Nathan Doctor, an ISD researcher who authored the report, says he began his investigation earlier this year when he came across one neo-Nazi account on TikTok while conducting research for another project.

He was quickly able to unmask a much broader network of accounts that appeared to be actively helping each other through liking, sharing, and commenting on each other’s accounts in order to increase their viewership and reach.

The groups promoting neo-Nazi narratives are typically siloed in more fringe platforms, like Telegram, the encrypted messaging app. But Telegram has become a place to discuss recruitment techniques for TikTok specifically: White supremacist groups there share videos, images, and audio tracks that members can use, explicitly telling other members to cross-post the content on TikTok.

“We posted stuff on our brand new tiktok account with 0 followers but had more views than you could ever have on bitchute or twitter,” one account in a Neo-Nazi group posted on Telegram about their outreach on TikTok. “It just reaches much more people.”

Others have followed suit. One prominent neo-Nazi has often asked his thousands of Telegram followers to “juice,” or algorithmically boost, his TikTok videos to increase their viral potential.

An extremist Telegram channel with 12,000 followers urged members to promote the neo-Nazi documentary Europa: The Last Battle by blanketing TikTok with reaction videos in an effort to make the film go viral. Researchers from ISD found dozens of videos on TikTok featuring clips from the film, some with over 100,000 views. “One account posting such snippets has received nearly 900k views on their videos, which include claims that the Rothschild family control the media and handpick presidents, as well as other false or antisemitic claims,” the researchers wrote.

This is far from the first time the role that TikTok’s algorithm plays in promoting extremist content has been exposed. Earlier this month, the Global Network on Extremism and Technology reported that TikTok’s algorithm was promoting the “adoration of minor fascist ideologues.” The same researchers found last year that it was boosting Eurocentric supremacist narratives in Southeast Asia. Earlier this month, WIRED reported how TikTok’s search suggestions were pushing young voters in Germany towards the far-right Alternative for Germany party ahead of last month’s EU elections.

“Hateful behavior, organizations and their ideologies have no place on TikTok, and we remove more than 98 percent of this content before it is reported to us,” Jamie Favazza, a TikTok spokesperson tells WIRED. “We work with experts to keep ahead of evolving trends and continually strengthen our safeguards against hateful ideologies and groups.”

Part of the reason platforms like TikTok have in the past been unable to effectively clamp down on extremist content is due to the use of code language, emojis, acronyms, and numbers by these groups. For example, many of the neo-Nazi accounts used a juice box emoji to refer to Jewish people.

“At present, self-identified Nazis are discussing TikTok as an amenable platform to spread their ideology, especially when employing a series of countermeasures to evade moderation and amplify content as a network,” the researchers write in the report.

But Doctor points out that even when viewing non-English-language content, spotting these patterns should be possible. “Despite seeing content in other languages, you can still pretty quickly recognize what it means,” says Doctor. “The coded nature of it isn't an excuse, because if it's pretty easily recognizable to someone in another language, it should be recognizable to TikTok as well.”

TikTok says it has more than “40,000 trust and safety professionals” working on moderation around the globe, and the company says its Trust and Safety Team has specialists in violent extremism who constantly monitor developments in these communities, including the use of new coded language.

While many of the identified accounts are based in the US, Doctor found that the network was also international.

“It's definitely global, it's not even just the English language,” Doctor tells WIRED. “We found stuff in French, Hungarian, German. Some of these are in countries where Naziism is illegal. Russian is a big one. But we even found things that were a bit surprising, like groups of Mexican Nazis, or across Latin America. So, yeah, definitely a global phenomenon.”

Doctor did not find any evidence that the international groups were actively coordinating with each other, but they were certainly aware of each others’ presence on TikTok: “These accounts are definitely engaging with each others' content. You can see, based on comment sections, European English-speaking pro-Nazi accounts reacting with praise toward Russian-language pro-Nazi content.”

The researchers also found that beyond individual accounts and groups promoting extremist content, some real-world fascist or far-right organizations were openly recruiting on the platform.

Accounts from these groups posted links in their TikTok videos to a website featuring antisemitic flyers and instructions on how to print and distribute them. They also boosted Telegram channels featuring more violent and explicitly extremist discourse.

In one example cited by ISD, an account whose username contains an antisemitic slur and whose bio calls for an armed revolution and the complete annihilation of Jewish people, has shared incomplete instructions to build improvised explosive devices, 3D-printed guns, and “napalm on a budget.”

To receive the complete instructions, the account holder urged followers to join a “secure groupchat” on encrypted messaging platforms Element and Tox. Doctor says that comments under the account holder’s videos indicate that a number of his followers had joined these chat groups.

ISD reported this account, along with 49 other accounts, in June for breaching TikTok’s policies on hate speech, encouragement of violence against protected groups, promoting hateful ideologies, celebrating violent extremists, and Holocaust denial. In all cases, TikTok found no violations, and all accounts were initially allowed to remain active.

A month later, 23 of the accounts had been banned by TikTok, indicating that the platform is at least removing some violative content and channels over time. Prior to being taken down, the 23 banned accounts had racked up at least 2 million views.

The researchers also created new TikTok accounts to understand how Nazi content is promoted to new users by TikTok’s powerful algorithm.

Using an account created at the end of May, researchers watched 10 videos from the network of pro-Nazi users, occasionally clicking on comment sections but stopping short of any form of real engagement such as liking, commenting, or bookmarking. The researchers also viewed 10 pro-Nazi accounts. When the researchers then flipped to the For You feed within the app, it took just three videos for the algorithm to suggest a video featuring a World War II-era Nazi soldier overlayed with a chart of US murder rates, with perpetrators broken down by race. Later, a video appeared of an AI-translated speech from Hitler overlaid with a recruitment poster for a white nationalist group.

Another account created by ISD researchers saw even more extremist content promoted in its main feed, with 70 percent of videos coming from self-identified Nazis or featuring Nazi propaganda. After the account followed a number of pro-Nazi accounts in order to access content on channels set to private, the TikTok algorithm also promoted other Nazi accounts to follow. All 10 of the first accounts recommended by TikTok to this account used Nazi symbology or keywords in their usernames or profile photos, or featured Nazi propaganda in their videos.

“In no way is this particularly surprising,” says Abbie Richards, a disinformation researcher specializing in TikTok. "These are things that we found time and time again. I have certainly found them in my research."

Richards wrote about white supremacist and militant accelerationist content on the platform in 2022, including the case of neo-Nazi Paul Miller, who, while serving a 41-month sentence for firearm charges, featured in a TikTok video that racked up more than 5 million views and 700,000 likes during the three months it was on the platform before being removed.

Marcus Bösch, a researcher based in Hamburg University who monitors TikTok, tells WIRED that the report’s findings “do not come as a big surprise,” and he’s not hopeful there is anything TikTok can do to fix the problem.

“I’m not sure exactly where the problem is,” Bösch says. “TikTok says it has around 40,000 content moderators, and it should be easy to understand such obvious policy violations. Yet due to the sheer volume [of content], and the ability by bad actors to quickly adapt, I am convinced that the entire disinformation problem cannot be finally solved, neither with AI nor with more moderators.”

TikTok says it has completed a mentorship program with Tech Against Terrorism, a group that seeks to disrupt terrorists’ online activity and helps TikTok identify online threats.

“Despite proactive steps taken, TikTok remains a target for exploitation by extremist groups as its popularity grows,” Adam Hadley, executive director of Tech Against Terrorism, tells WIRED. “The ISD study shows that a small number of violent extremists can wreak havoc on large platforms due to adversarial asymmetry. This report therefore underscores the need for cross-platform threat intelligence supported by improved AI-powered content moderation. The report also reminds us that Telegram should also be held accountable for its role in the online extremist ecosystem.”

As Hadley outlines, the report’s findings show that there are significant loopholes in the company’s current policies.

“I've always described TikTok, when it comes to far-right usage, as a messaging platform,” Richards said. “More than anything, it's just about repetition. It's about being exposed to the same hateful narrative over and over and over again, because at a certain point you start to believe things after you just see them enough, and they start to really influence your worldview.”

[chunkzdeluluwife]

hiyaaa Mina I loveee your stories and I was wondering if you could right a story about Sharky and y/n who are best friends that flirt so ppl on social media ship them and suspect they are dating aswell as their friends.

xoxo "Anonymous"

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨

Sharky and YN post pictures of them seeming like a couple but they say they are just “really good friends” but are they? 

Warnings: kissing ‼️

YN posted a picture on Instagram as part of a best friend appreciation post, but the pictures she chose were of her and Sharky cuddling.

As soon as this photo was shared, the Beta Squad's group chat blew up as they all noticed the picture of you and Sharky cuddling on the couch.

Niko was the first to speak up.

"Since when were you two a thing?"

"We're not, Niko. She's my best friend,"

Sharky replied.

"Then why are you two cuddling in the picture? You only cuddle like that when you're dating someone," AJ chimed in.

"We just do," Sharky responded.

The group chat fell silent for a moment until Chunkz spoke up.

"No way. You two don't just cuddle like that. That's some boyfriend-girlfriend stuff."

"Whatever, this group chat is going on mute," Sharky said.

A couple of days later, Sharky posted a picture of him and YN at a restaurant, captioning it, "Out with this cute girl." YN commented, "You're even cuter." The post went viral, and fans went crazy.

Fans started making their own videos compiling "evidence" of Sharky and YN dating.

The thing is, they were just really flirty friends.

Once the Beta Squad saw all the fan videos, they were convinced you two were dating.

Sharky kept watching the videos of fans "proving" the two of you were a couple, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the accusations.

YN walked into Sharky's home, as she usually did. "Hey Sharks, what are you watching?"

He looked up at you with a smirk as he placed his phone down on the couch next to him.

"Just a bunch of videos of us being 'couple goals.'"

"Oh, really?" she said, sitting down next to him with a grin.

He hummed in response and scooted closer to you until you were pressed against his side.

"Yup, they think we're secretly dating or something like that."

"Imagine," she said, resting her hand on his leg.

He chuckled at your response. As your hand found its way to his leg, his hand instinctively moved to your waist, pulling you even closer.

"I don't understand why they think we're dating. We're just good friends!" he said with a smirk, knowing full well that neither of you acted like just friends.

"Yeah, just really good friends!" she exclaimed, chuckling as she turned her body to face him more, her hand moving higher up his leg.

He let out a low chuckle as your hand moved higher. Once you were fully facing him, he moved his hand from your waist to your thigh, gently squeezing your skin.

"Yeah, really good friends... and nothing more," he said, smirking as his eyes flicked down to your lips for a second before returning to your eyes.

He slowly leaned in, your faces now extremely close, your breaths mingling.

His hand on your thigh moved up to your hip, gripping it as he pulled you into his lap. His eyes locked with yours.

"Really good friends..."

"Sharky?! What are you doing?" she laughed.

He continued to smirk as you sat in his lap, his hand firmly on your hip, keeping you in place. He leaned in, his lips brushing your ear as he spoke.

"Oh, I'm just being a really good friend, that's all," he said, his smirk widening as his fingers dug a little deeper into your hip.

"Do you sometimes wish you were more than just really good friends?" she whispered.

He pulled back slightly to look into your eyes, his heart rate picking up as he stared at you. For a moment, he didn't say anything, just taking in your words.

"Sometimes... I do," he finally whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Just sometimes?"

His smirk reappeared as he scanned your face. Tightening his grip on your hip, he leaned in a bit more, your noses almost touching.

"No, not just sometimes... all the time," he admitted in a low whisper.

"So, what can we do to fix that?"

He scotted, a smirk forming on his face again. His grip tightened as he pulled you closer into his lap, glancing down at your lips.

"We could always just... cross the line between really good friends and a couple."

"Really?"

He chuckled at your response, leaning in until your noses touched and your lips were just inches apart.

"Really. We could do it... right now," he said, his voice low and deep, eyes fixed on your lips.

"But couples are about love, not lust," she teased, pulling her face away slightly.

He groaned in frustration, his soft expression turning into a pout.

"Oh, come on, don't do me like that," he whined, his grip tightening a bit more as he squeezed your waist through your clothes.

He leaned forward, burying his head in the crook of your neck. His warm breath sent chills down your spine as his arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you tightly against his chest.

"Stop being a tease," he mumbled against your neck.

"Then tell me how you feel about me," she whispered.

He buried his face deeper into your neck, letting out a huff. He paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

"I really, really like you. Like, really like you. I want more than just friendship... I want more from us," he finally admitted.

"There it is," she said, grabbing his face and kissing him

SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! 😭😭 I haven’t done a social media AU ever so I didn’t know if that was what you wanted so I just did my normal kind of fic. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT THOUGH!!

I’m so blessed to finally start getting requests in which means people like my fics🙏🙏thank you all. I really appreciate it 🤍🤍🤍🤍

[chaengluva]

Get Your Girl

Reneé Rapp x Fem!Reader: 1.4k: Masterlist

——————————————————————��—————

You have been a huge fan of Reneé for the longest time, you have seen her on Broadway and ever since then you have been in love. You were so happy when you got tickets to her concert, you have been counting down the days to go and it has finally come, getting ready with your friend was the best feeling ever, you were so nervous knowing that you got VIP tickets, I mean, you were excited to meet her, but you were also very nervous. 

The thought of it still hasn't hit yet, but you have planed what you will say to her because you really don't want to stuff it up. Your friend was currently putting putting you on your eye make up and she wasn't a big of a fan as you, so she wasn't feeling as nervous as you are right now. "You okay?" She asks it sweetly. You breath heavily "Yeah I'm okay.." she smiles, continuing  your make up. 

The time had finally came, you were driving to the concert, It was quite early since you wanted a good place, that was close to the front, you lined up and saw a few others (mostly lesbians) that had already started lining up. You kept practcing what you would say to Reneé, your friend helped calm you down because she could sense your nervousness. 

Time passes quickly you were holding the barricade with a huge smile on your face, you were so excited you couldn't contain your energy.  Time passes and Reneé finally comes on stage, you lose your shit, you can't believe see is right there. As you're singing along will all the words, you're friend taps you on the shoulder to show that Reneé is currently looking at you, you look into her eyes and you scream, making her laugh. 

The show goes on quickly, but Reneé interacted with the audience a lot making sure that everyone had a good time. Its a Reneé Rapp concert, everyone will have a good time no matter what was the only thought on your mind. You were now waiting for the meet and greet you were feeling very nervous as you walked dup to her, "Hi.." you say shyly. She giggles, giving you a big hug.

You're friend is on the side, taking photos and a video of the moment, you pull out of the hug and start to talk. "I love your work so much, you inspire me with your songs and I really wish i could be as talented as you." You didn't even realise it but you were crying, Reneé noticed before you did and wiped your tears with her sleeve. "Oh my god.. I'm so sorry." you apologise for crying but she assures you that it's okay. "You're so sweet..How old are you?" 

"I'm 23." (But tomorrow I turn 23-) She smiles, nodding, the photographer takes the photo and you bid your goodbyes, this moment felt so surreal and you knew you would be sad once it is all over so you cherish every single second of it, and your friend is filming it, so every time you want to watch over it you can. As you left, you were walked away with a smile on your face. 

You spent the car ride back, looking over your videos and smiling at the run night you had, you posted the videos to social media, you don't have a huge platform, but you keep in public because you like to share your life with others, as soon as you posted it, you put your phone down and talked to your friend, who was happy for you. As soon as you got home, you went straight to bed.

You wake up with many notifications from Instagram, you look at it very confused, you check to see that not only did your post go viral but Reneé Rapp had commented, your hands were shaking as you read her comment. 

"Such as sweet girl."

 You were a happy she said girl rather then fan, it made you feel better. You liked the comment and got ready to think of a reply but that was when you got an even more shocking notification. Reneé Rapp had messaged you, at that point in time your friend was still asleep, you were to focussed on this to wake her up, you open the message and you can feel your jaw get wider as you read it. 

"Never in my life have I met a fan that was sweet and as caring as you, (or as pretty) the way you talked to me makes me want to get to know you more, we could start through texts or I could take you out, I don't really mind." - Reneé.

Was Reneé asking you out? Did Reneé just call you pretty? You had so much questions running through your head, the whole thing was to hard to think straight, so you texted back without thinking. 

"I'd prefer to go out :)"

Shit. What if she thinks you desperate? I mean she did ask you but what if this isn't her? your train of thoughts got cut off from the notification sound of her texting back. She said to meet at a certain location at 6pm. It was already 11am, you only had 7 hours to get ready. You hoped out of bed at the speed of light, hoping in the shower, making sure to wash your hair and shave your legs. 

An hour had already passed and you were out of the shower, drying your hair, once you finish you go back into the room and see that you friend is finally staring to wake up. "What are you rushing for?" You're friend askes you, her eyes adjusting to the light. "Oh.. I have a date.." You mumble. Her eyes went wide. "Really, with who?"

You look down, knowing she wouldn't believe you, looking back into her eyes you say, "Reneé..." She laughs, rolling her eyes, waiting for you to say who you are going on a date with, but it never came, she looks into your eyes, "You're serious," you nod, throwing your phone to her, she catches it and reads the chat and her eyes went wide and a big smile appaired on her face.

You got ready for the date, you didn't wear anything way to fancy because you weren't exactly sure if it was a date or not. You just wore a black mini dress with nude coloured heels, Your friend dropped you off and you waited for Reneé, you smiled when you saw her, she was wearing black pants and a cream coloured blouse. "Hi," She smiled. 

"Hi," You blushed, she smiled at you, giving you a small hug, looking at you up and down, "You look really pretty.." She smiles, "you do too." She smiles and you walk in to the place, she opens the door for you, and pulls out your chair. 

You get to know each other more, Reneé is a really good listener, you love the way she looks at you when you tell her about something. You also listen to her, you found out some things  that you would have never guessed about her. 

"My friend was so shocked when she found out we were going on a date with you.." You tell her, she gives you a confused look before saying, "Date?"  

You face goes read out of embarrassment, you try to think of some words to say, you just feel so embarrassed, "Y/n, it's okay, I was just kidding," She giggles, grabbing your hand, you take a deep breath and calm down, "Of course it's a date," You blush, she's so handsome. 

The date came to an end and Reneé told you that she would drive you home, so you told your friend that. As she pulled up into your drive way, as you were about to leave the car, she held your hand, "I had a good time tonight, I really want to go out again," 

You nod, you look into her eyes and see that see is staring at your lips, you look at hers, she puts her hand on your cheek and pulls you in for a kiss, the kiss is nothing big just a light kiss against the lips, perfect for the first kiss. 

You pulled away, she looked into your eyes and smiled. You said goodbye, and finally left, Reneé made sure that you were in the house before driving off. As soon as you got inside your friend was on the couch. "Tell me everything!" 

————————————————————————————

[girltalkcollectives]

What Girl Blogging Means in 2024

So we've been getting a lot of messages asking us about blogging in 2024, particularly about being "girl bloggers" in a world of TikTok and Instagram reels. So let's talk about it.

First of all, everyone told us blogging was dead. That nobody reads anymore. That we needed to make 15-second videos or nobody would care about what we had to say. But the truth is, some stories can't be told in 15 seconds. Some feelings can't be expressed in a trendy sound bite.

When we started this blog, we had no idea what we were doing. We just knew we were tired of seeing perfectly curated feeds and "that girl" morning routines. We were tired of everything being aesthetic and filtered and perfect. We wanted to create a space where girls could just be. Where they could share their messy thoughts and real feelings without trying to make them pretty.

People keep asking us why we chose blogging over other platforms. The answer is simple: blogging gives us room to breathe. To process. To really dig into the stuff that matters. Try explaining a toxic relationship in a TikTok. Try unpacking your anxiety in an Instagram caption. Try sharing your deepest insecurities in YouTube shorts.

You can't.

The truth about girl blogging in 2024 is that it feels almost rebellious. Like we're saying "no" to the pressure of constant video content, perfect lighting, trending sounds, and viral dances. We're choosing to sit with our thoughts, to write them out, to share them in their raw, unfiltered form.

Some days we spend hours crafting a single post. Other days we write straight from our hearts at 2AM and hit publish before we can overthink it. Both kinds of posts matter. Both kinds of stories deserve to be told.

We've learned that there's something powerful about putting your thoughts into words. About taking the time to process your feelings instead of just reacting to them. About creating content that isn't designed to go viral but to make someone feel less alone.

The comments we get mean everything to us. Not the generic "slay queen" type comments, but the long ones. The ones where girls pour out their hearts because something we wrote resonated with them. The ones that start with "I thought I was the only one who felt this way." The ones that turn into late-night conversations in our DMs.

Girl blogging in 2024 isn't about aesthetics or algorithms or affiliate links. It's about creating spaces where we can be real. Where we can talk about the stuff that social media usually glosses over. Where we can process our feelings without trying to make them marketable.

Yes, our engagement might be lower than if we were making viral TikToks. Yes, some brands might pass us by for more "modern" content creators. Yes, sometimes it feels like we're swimming against the current.

But then we get those messages. The ones from girls who read our posts in their darkest moments. The ones who say our words helped them feel less broken. The ones who tell us they started their own blogs because they were inspired to share their stories too.

That's what girl blogging means in 2024. It's not about being an influencer or building a brand or going viral. It's about creating safe spaces. It's about telling stories that matter. It's about being real in a world that's increasingly artificial.

So to all the girl bloggers out there:

The ones writing at 2AM

The ones sharing their unfiltered thoughts

The ones choosing depth over trends

The ones creating spaces for real conversations

The ones being called "old school" for writing

The ones refusing to compress their feelings into reels

Keep writing. Keep sharing. Keep being real.

Because somewhere out there, someone needs to read exactly what you're writing.

[elysianymph]

The Jegulily Band Au? 👀

hehehe the jegulily band au started on this post made by archie ( @aithusarosekiller ) and it hasn't left my mind since. go look through the reblogs bc it's a wild ride. pretty sure both of us have most of the posts related to it tagged as jegulily band au on our accounts so go look through it to see us losing our minds

it's shared project so nothing is set in stone but here are my current ideas for it :D

lily and regulus are high school sweethearts, they met bc they were both in the school band and hit it off from there. lots of teenage shenanigans ensue and lily and regulus end up forming a band with barty, peter and remus. it's nothing serious they just kinda get together once in a while to have some fun playing random songs. they continue this after high school as they're all going to college and everything is normal UNTIL sirius brings along his friends (james and marlene) to one of their band get togethers.

james (who is an amazing producer btw) immediately falls for regulus and lily despite them being already in a relationship and he's like so smitten it's adorable honestly. he starts talking to them and once he finds out they would love to make an album and try taking this band thing seriously he immediately offers himself up to help them make music. and he brings marlene (who is a social media manager) into it like "yeah she'll help you manage all of it" (she has no idea he's doing any of this)

idk how they would actually get together but it doesn't matter rn what does matter is that their silly little band debuts and they go viral bc their music is amazing ofc. they make more albums, their music videos get millions of views, they sell out stadiums, life is great.

everyone knows that regulily are dating bc they're so public about it, but no one knows that james even exists (apart from him being credited as their producer) let alone that he's dating both of them. james, being the rockstar gf he is, constantly posts pictures from their concerts, always with romantic captions or wtvr bc he's a lover like that. the comments on his posts are always split between "this guy is delusional" and "how tf does he manage to get the tickets for EVERY DAMN CONCERT??"

after lots of back and forth, regulus and lily finally get james to star in one of the music videos for a song that lily wrote specifically about their relationship. they tease the song for months, posting snippets and strange photos with captions that don't make sense unless you're following james and you can see that the captions are all connected. everyone just thinks james is delulu

a week before the music video drops, the band's official account posts like a 10 second teaser and it's of lily and regulus doing couple shit BUT there's another guy there with curly hair and round glasses and everyone is going insane bc WHY DOES THAT GUY LOOK LIKE JAMES POTTER THE CRAZY STALKER. jegulily are having the time of their lives watching the fans go crazy, meanwhile poor marlene has to deal with the aftermath

this au is just a bunch of crazy stuff honestly i had so many ideas for it but i didn't write any of them down so i'm stuck with what i can remember off the top of my head </3

oh and also peter/remus/sirius are all dating and sirius is a famous model and he just randomly appears in the band's music videos and all the comments scream "WHAT IS SIRIUS BLACK DOING HERE" like sirius doesn't regularly post selfies with both of his boyfriends 🙄

[benetnvsch]

ADDRESSING TWITTER'S TOS/POLICY IN REGARDS TO ARTISTS AND AI

Hi !! if you're an artist and have been on twitter, you've most likely seen these screen shots of twitters terms of service and privacy policy regarding AI and how twitter can use your content

I want to break down the information that's been going around as I noticed a lot of it is unintentionally misinformation/fearmongering that may be causing artists more harm than good by causing them to panic and leave the platform early

As someone who is an artist and makes a good amount of my income off of art, I understand the threat of AI art and know how scary it is and I hope to dispel some of this fear regarding twitter's TOS/Privacy policy at least. At a surface level yes, what's going on seems scary but there's far more to it and I'd like to explain it in more detail so people can properly make decisions!

This is a long post just as a warning and all screenshots should have an alt - ID with the text and general summary of the image

Terms of Service

Firstly, lets look at the viral post regarding twitter's terms of service and are shown below

I have seen these spread a lot and have seen so many people leave twitter/delete all their art/deactivate there when this is just industry standard to include in TOS

Below are other sites TOS I found real quick with the same/similar clauses! From instagram, tiktok, and even Tumblr itself respectively, with the bit worded similar highlighted

Even Bluesky, a sight viewed as a safe haven from AI content has this section

As you can see, all of them say essentially the same thing, as it is industry standard and it's necessary for sites that allow you to publish and others to interact with your content to prevent companies from getting into legal trouble.

Let me break down some of the most common terms and how these app do these things with your art/content:

storing data - > allowing you to keep content uploaded/stored on their servers (Ex. comments, info about user like pfp)

publishing -> allowing you to post content

redistributing -> allowing others to share content, sharing on other sites (Ex. a Tumblr post on twitter)

modifying -> automatic cropping, in app editing, dropping quality in order to post, etc.

creating derivative works -> reblogs with comments, quote retweets where people add stuff to your work, tiktok stitches/duets

While these terms may seems intimidating, they are basically just tech jargon for the specific terms we know used for legal purposes, once more, simply industry standard :)

Saying that Twitter "published stored modified and then created a derivative work of my data without compensating me" sounds way more horrible than saying "I posted my art to twitter which killed the quality and cropped it funny and my friend quote-tweeted it with 'haha L' " and yet they're the same !

Privacy Policy

This part is more messy than the first and may be more of a cause for concern for artists. It is in regards to this screenshot I've seen going around

Firstly, I want to say that that is the only section in twitter's privacy policy where AI /machine learning is mentioned and the section it is is regarding how twitter uses user information.

Secondly, I do want to want to acknowledge that Elon Musk does have an AI development company, xAI. This company works in the development of AI, however, they want to make a good AGI which stands for artificial general intelligence (chatgpt, for example, is another AGI) in order to "understand the universe" with a scientific focus. Elon has mentioned wanting it to be able to solve complex mathematics and technical problems. He also, ofc, wants it to be marketable. You can read more about that here: xAI's website

Elon Musk has claimed that xAI will use tweets to help train it/improve it. As far as I'm aware, this isn't happening yet. xAI also, despite the name, does NOT belong/isn't a service of Xcorp (aka twitter). Therefore, xAI is not an official X product or service like the privacy policy is covering. I believe that the TOS/the privacy policies would need to expand to disclaim that your information will be shared specifically with affiliates in the context of training artificial intelligence models for xAI to be able to use it but I'm no lawyer. (also,,,Elon Musk has said cis/cisgender is a slur and said he was going to remove the block feature which he legally couldn't do. I'd be weary about anything he says)

Anyway, back to the screenshot provided, I know at a glance the red underlined text where it says it uses information collected to train AI but let's look at that in context. Firstly, it starts by saying it uses data it collects to provide and operate X products and services and also uses this data to help improve products to improve user's experiences on X and that AI may be used for "the purposes outlined in this policy". This means essentially just that is uses data it collects on you not only as a basis for X products and services (ex. targeting ads) but also as a way for them to improve (ex. AI algorithms to improve targeting ads). Other services it lists are recommending topics, recommending people to follow, offering third-party services, allowing affiliates etc. I believe this is all the policy allows AI to be used for atm.

An example of this is if I were to post an image of a dog, an AI may see and recognize the dog in my image and then suggest me more dog content! It may also use this picture of a dog to add to its database of dogs, specific breeds, animals with fur, etc. to improve this recommendation feature.

This type of AI image, once more, is common in a lot of media sites such as Tumblr, insta, and tiktok, and is often used for content moderation as shown below once more

Again, as far as I'm aware, this type of machine learning is to improve/streamline twitter's recommendation algorithm and not to produce generative content as that would need to be disclaimed!!

Claiming that twitter is now using your art to train AI models therefore is somewhat misleading as yes, it is technically doing that, as it does scan the images you post including art. However, it is NOT doing it to learn how to draw/generate new content but to scan and recognize objects/settings/etc better so it can do what social media does best, push more products to you and earn more money.

(also as a small tangent/personal opinion, AI art cannot be copywritten and therefore selling it would be a very messy area, so I do not think a company driven by profit and greed would invest so much in such a legally grey area)

Machine learning is a vast field , encompassing WAY More than just art. Please don't jump to assume just because AI is mentioned in a privacy policy that that means twitter is training a generative AI when everything else points to it being used for content moderation and profit like every other site uses it

Given how untrustworthy and just plain horrible Elon Musk is, it is VERY likely that one day twitter and xAI will use user's content to develop/train a generative AI that may have an art aspect aside from the science focus but for now it is just scanning your images- all of them- art or not- for recognizable content to sell for you and to improve that algorithm to better recognize stuff, the same way Tumblr does that but to detect if there's any nsfw elements in images.

WHAT TO DO AS AN ARTIST?

Everyone has a right to their own opinion of course ! Even just knowing websites collect and store this type of data on you is a valid reason to leave and everyone has their own right to leave any website should they get uncomfortable !

However, when people lie about what the TOS/privacy policy actually says and means and actively spread fear and discourage artists from using twitter, they're unintentionally only making things worse for artists with no where to go.

Yes twitter sucks but the sad reality is that it's the only option a lot of artists have and forcing them away from that for something that isn't even happening yet can be incredibly harmful, especially since there's not really a good replacement site for it yet that isn't also using AI / has that same TOS clause (despite it being harmless)

I do believe that one day xAI will being using your data and while I don't think it'll ever focus solely on art generation as it's largely science based, it is still something to be weary of and it's very valid if artists leave twitter because of that! Yet it should be up to artists to decide when they want to leave/deactivate and I think they should know as much information as possibly before making that decision.

There's also many ways you can protect your art from AI such as glazing it, heavily watermarking it, posting links to external sites, etc. Elon has also stated he'll only be using public tweets which means privating your account/anything sent in DMS should be fine!!

Overall, I just think if we as artists want any chance of fighting back against AI we have to stay vocal and actively fight against those who are pushing it and abandon and scatter at the first sign of ANY machine learning on websites we use, whether it's producing generative art content or not.

Finally, want to end this by saying that this is all just what I've researched by myself and in some cases conclusions I've made based on what makes the most sense to me. In other words, A Lot Could Be Wrong ! so please take this with a grain of salt, especially that second part ! Im not at all any AI/twitter expert but I know that a lot of what people were saying wasn't entirely correct either and wanted to speak up ! If you have anything to add or correct please feel free !!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hey BPP!

I came across this post about the ‘slave room’ that I think you might know already. Here’s the post https://old.reddit.com/r/kpop/comments/m4cdy9/a_slave_room_was_created_to_monitor_users_spread

I remember you talking about how you and your friends consistently reported a lot (hundreds???? of antis and their misinformation a few years ago and now this. The post talks about this room mainly targeting girl groups like Twice and a couple of comments down there was even a mention of STAND, the anti fans of SNSD who really wanted to bring them down. Reading this blew my mind because with the amount and reach of their organization feels like miles ahead than an organized group of trolls and antis that I thought most idol groups dealt with.

Does BTS have something like this? Because when I read your post on antis I was under the impression that it was a small group of head antis with a few minions to do the legwork. This slave room actually spent tons of money on this smear campaign. It comes off to me that they might have backing from a company but maybe I just can’t believe that people would waste their cash on something so petty lmao. Time maybe but not money. It sounds like a real campaign almost like QAnon or MAGA, which is scary to think about!!!! The users say that their k-fandom worked against it but weren’t successful as much until it was uncovered by the media. They didn’t even contact the gg’s agency for help. Are K-Army aggressive when it comes to squashinh down stuff like this?? Antis are scary and unhinged 😭😭😭😭😭

***

Hi Anon,

Your link.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the anti 'slave rooms' are well known. Antis in k-pop are a very special breed and yes sometimes there is corporate backing for that hate. I mean, the most recent example of that is Kakao's Idol Lab expose that newspapers in Korea reported in November 2022. For anyone who doesn't know, Kakao (the same Kakao that SM stans would rather have their idols be managed by, rather than HYBE), funded a group known for 'reverse viral marketing' that specialized in creating and spreading hate and malicious rumors against Aespa, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, Itzy, Garam, and a few other rival groups, while simultaneously creating and boosting positive posts for IVE, Monsta X, Wonyoung i.e. groups under their Starship music label. The company claimed that group of haters were third-party contractors and that Kakao wasn't aware of what they were doing, but given this is same Kakao that rigged a music talent show so extremely and blatantly that some of their staff went to prison, many people clearly don't buy it.

Now, here's a quick quiz. It's more of a temp/sense check to see if from all I've been writing about the k-pop industry and HYBE / BTS / ARMYs' relationship with it so far, you've learned something and can answer the following questions correctly.

Did that very damning revelation impact Kakao at all?

Did fans of SM groups who learned their favourite idols/groups were explicitly targeted by Kakao, care in any meaningful way?

Did those fans care when Kakao was revealed to want to acquire management rights of their idols/groups? And what about after Kakao was revealed to have pursued illegal means of acquiring SM shares?

Does the wider k-pop fandom view Kakao as worse or similar to HYBE?

Has this revelation impacted any of Kakao's groups in any meaningful way since then?

Do you think the reaction of k-pop stans to Kakao's manipulation would be the same if HYBE was found to have done the same?

*

I'm kind of curious to know what your answers are.

Anyway, by this point I hope that when I say the behaviours you see in k-pop fandoms are structurally supported, and that ARMY (for most of the fandom's existence so far) has borne the brunt of acting counter-cultural to the dominant behaviours you see here, as has BigHit and BTS going against many industry norms, and that many people in k-pop fandoms aren't here for the right reasons, I hope that by this point y'all can see I'm not talking outta my ass.

Many people here get into k-pop for the shiny veneer of perfection, of bright MVs, crisp choreos, and hot Asian celebrities who engage in the sort of fan service only rockstars of old got away with, but they stay for the fanwars, for the long-running feuds between fandoms, for the constant picking apart of idols and groups they dislike, for the hope that one day the groups/fandoms they hate will experience a reckoning... - people stay for the hate. Many of them do absorb all sorts of conspiracy theories about BTS and groups/idols they hate and yes, it can take on a Q-Anon quality.

There's a lot that's fucked up in this industry and not even HYBE is completely spotless, but what matters for a lot of the people in this space is making an example of the one group that was the anomaly, and the company and fandom that helped them rise above it all. I'm not even trying to be alarmist or sycophantic, this is literally just the reality I've observed for years.

This is one reason I suggest you simply report and block when you see hate, don't engage with the hate or give people/spaces with a taste for it any oxygen. It's why when I see people engage in 'discourse' where they simply fan up theories or unilaterally negative critiques about groups (and especially BTS), I just check out.

Now that k-pop has gotten even more international exposure courtesy of BTS, it is potentially even more lucrative than before, and so the stakes have only gotten higher. But the players are still used to relying on their unsavory playbook and see no reason to change because the wider k-pop industry and fandom is more than okay with it. I mean, just look at the Kakao-SM deal and k-pop fandom's reaction to it even after the police have just raided their offices...

The quality of music BTS makes is more than enough reason to focus only on them and that. Their personalities and group chemistry are a wonderful bonus. And their history and relationship in this industry for anyone who understands the dynamics here, is only the cherry on top. This is one reason it sometimes annoys me when ARMYs let it get to them or act just as unhinged, disgusting, and stupid as many of the folks who only 3-4 years before they couldn't stand.

Sigh, oh gosh I've rambled again. Lol writing abridged versions is hard. But I hope you got your answer Anon.

[reimenaashelyee]

how did you get your comics seen? it's one thing to make them and a whole other thing to get people to lay eyes on them and read them and I have no idea how to do the second part

I think you'll have to at least make friends with some of your peer group (artists who are at the same stage in their career as you) so you can both share your audiences and if nothing else, have each other as readers. If you're really new, it's kinda a fact that your work will be tiny for a few years: there's a lot of stuff online.

I am not a spring chicken anymore so all my current advice for promotion wouldn't apply as the majority of it required years of presence and establishment with the comics industry... now that my peer group has matured and become successful creators (I know that my peers are casually aware of what I put out, they may or may not read it or even comment). Additionally, my way of promoting is as avoidant of playing the algorithm and virality and tailoring to the most amount of possible audience. If you want the opposite of that, you can ask @secondlina - who has done a lot of experimentation with social media and gaming the internet attention economy.

I'm not all that interest in gaming anything: I only want to serve the audience I have and always had - thoughtful, chill readers who are ok with slow reading, in the sense they don't ask me for constant content since they get what my vibe is. They are here for my lush visuals, original material and approach to topics/characters. It's this audience, and the academics + people who tend to be older and are equivalent/less levels of "online" to me. I personally find that gaming for views on purpose steals time and energy away, since a lot of the tactics tend to ask you to behave or post or draw a certain way that might feel unnatural with no guarantee whether the effort is worth it. For example, making memes of your characters, doing funny reels with music. If you are cool with doing all that though, again, @secondlina is your expert. I can see why those tactics are popular: that's how Big Tech dictates you get access to their "discovery" algorithm.

For me, in the early days what got new eyes onto my narrative work was making one-off illustrations (not necessarily of the comic - just some original character concepts) that somehow got popular. This was during the peak eras of Twitter and Tumblr though. The other thing was mostly talking about my comics: I document so much of my process. People love this apparently. It's the only guaranteed way for myself that gets people hype and aware of the comic's existence - though this might partly be caused by the aforementioned audience I always had. It's very low effort cos I mostly post screenshots of WIPs or developmental sketches and include a comment.

But like, with webcomics, I always operated on the assumption that people don't read my work. I am just here vibing. If there are readers (and I know who you are because of comments made across social media / my websites over the years) I appreciate them, but I don't want to ask much of them either. I put out the work I like, and whoever comes across it and likes it can stay, maybe comment, maybe get the print edition.

Yeah, this is not such a satisfactory answer for marketing if you're not subscribed to my brand of being an online artist: which is slow-growth, sustained working. My established methods now are: talking about my work, documenting it, connecting with peer group + older generations of professionals (established critics, journalists, editors), running a newsletter, going on interviews/podcasts, submitting my art to whatever I think would help promote it - pitch to Shortbox Fair, apply to Knife Beetle or the Cartoonist Cooperative, join a Discord.

And advanced methods, like applying for artist residencies.

In the end I cannot emphasise enough to get to know your peers who are at the same level of career as you are. Find creators who started at the same time you did and read their work (your choice); talk to them directly if the style/vibe matches. This is long-term mutual commitment - you won't see the effects until years later when you each find success in the paths you chose. And just to give you an idea of who my original peer group is - choo, Ariel Ries, Kay O'Neill, Bree Paulsen, Toril/Eden Orlensky, Kaeti V, Kevin Jay Stanton, Victoria Grace Elliot, Britt Sabo - we were all obscure mutuals/friends at more or less the same time. Then we each found our own way. Over time the circle grew to include other peer groups - ones that started slightly earlier or later, and new contacts of the same level. And that's how one gets established. As this is happening you will get eyes to your work naturally.

[fantasylandblues]

about me

andy, uni student, always looking for moots to share my passions and obsessions with. this blog has been mostly dedicated to house of the dragon since it's been created, but i reblog some aesthetic things as well.

i have a sideblog for formula 1 things, since ferrari red doesn't really go with the earthy tones of academia and asoiaf- @trackterror3000.

my true passion is to write and create things for the fandoms i'm in, although i'm not as prolific as i'd like to be. i also love being sent unhinged asks so i can comment on stuff, so go ahead!

writing masterlist

here's a poor attempt at a masterlist, since i'm on my phone most of the time. enjoy, and read 'em at your own risk! my askbox is open for discussing aus and ideas.

House of the Dragon shenanigans

the tumblr posts series

to be updated in the future! maybe!

navigating this blog

below are some tags that may help you navigate this blog- you can also check the searchbar.

[prismaticpichu]

Numbers and Algorithm

We’re back at it again with the Ted Talk! I found the last one very cathartic as it touched upon things I’ve felt a whole lot in the past, so I’m gonna pluck another struggle out and try and talk it through, with the hope of maybe opening a heart or changing a toxic mindset or two.

Something I’ve found is that social media, in terms of algorithm, is a giant, sometimes stressful, fast train that never ever stops. You gotta cling onto it for dear life if you wanna stay on, and you gotta catch it at the right times to be successful. And that success? It’s reflected in numbers. Likes. Subscribers. Followers. Kudos. Bookmarks. You name it. The system is engraved into almost every interactive platform—and especially the ones where people share their creativity/work.

With a heavy, stubborn heart, I’m gonna say f*ck the numbers. I can’t think of another aspect of social media that messes with your brain and heart and self-esteem more. They can both cause an absolute heyday, jumping for joy, reaching the clouds, and crush your soul at the same exact time. And the thing is that it’s not something you can turn off either; when you’re on social media, I think we naturally want that attention, and that validation, and want to see our work balloon with high numbers. It’s toxic, it’s a little dangerous to the heart, but it’s a part of the contract when you sign up for the posting stuff online game. Needless to say, the most dangerous part of this system is what happens when those numbers don’t even reach the double digits. And what happens when we see others reach the thousands.

Imagine spending weeks on a drawing; you pour so much time and effort and love into it, and along the way, you can’t help but think how well it’s going to do online. It’s fanart of a beloved character! It’s funny! It’s great! All that excitement and anticipation pushes you forward, until the day that it’s done. Then you post it. The post accumulates 5 likes; zero retweets, zero comments, zero anything after the first day. That is… not a fun time. It crushes you. It makes you think what did you do wrong? Why is is not good enough to be viral? Then, to make matters worse, you go and see a meme of stick figures that reaches 900 likes—from a person who doesn’t have a huge following to begin with. Maybe even one that’s smaller than yours.

Whooh boy… jealously is such a big part of this. It’s such a big part of me, and I can try to deny it till the day I die. And I got that speeding train to blame for that (or a least a big chunk of it; I got my own problems). But… what do you do about this then? Well, something that’s helped me, something I’ve forced myself to nail into my head, is to accept two things: One, is that sometimes people just hit the algorithm right, catch that train at the right time, and you don’t. Something explodes in popularity because it was timed right with a trailer that just dropped, or an anniversary, or whatever. It’s how the game goes. Two, is that it’s important to remember that these people who snowball those big numbers, well, there’s a reason they did. I find that I can become blind to this because of envy—and that’s no good. People put time, and effort, and love into projects, and people will recognize that. Maybe the artist of that stick figure meme has an amazing sense of humor my brain refused to recognize. Sometimes you just have to plaster on a smile and support someone else who performed better than you, because ignoring/even trying to look for flaws in their work out of spite is incredibly unkind. Something else I’ve found is that when you praise someone, even if it doesn’t originally come from a sincere place, you might find yourself appreciating others’ work for real. And when that happens, that envy will begin to ebb <3

Finally, and similarly to praise, a huge factor of all of this is expectation. Expecting that fanart to do amazingly well, expecting that story to be gushed about, expecting people to care. The problem lies in what happens when those things aren’t met. Setting expectations is a subliminal thing, and not really something we control. But at the same time, it’s important to not get carried away with them—because that’s where the heartache starts. More than anything, you have to know your work is special, and meaningful, and worth it, without numbers reflecting that. Numbers will not always reflect the time and effort put into something, but that does not mean you did not spend a month writing a single chapter for a story.

We can’t mediate ourselves into telling ourselves we don’t care about numbers—it’s too big of a player in the game. And it’s absolutely okay to accept the hurt that comes with it; stifling it and pretending it means nothing may make you feel worse inside. Truthfully, as long as you know how hard you worked on something, and that worth is not defined by a thumbs up or hearts, then you will be just fine <3 You are hardworking, and strong, and worth a million likes on any platform. And you are incredibly, incredibly brave for putting your work out there!

[iammadelinepod]

While I have been on Tumblr for at least a decade as a nerd girl/nerdfighter I haven't been sharing what's been going on with me in a larger sense. I'm not sure if I'll connect up my personal Tumblr with this(so it won't look like I have followed you back but I probably have), I'll have to have a think about that as my personal Tumblr has been an oasis as I've been fighting to stay alive against ridiculous and seeming unsurmountable odds. I sum it up here in a article I wrote for the disability Alliance of British Columbia last fall

https://disabilityalliancebc.org/article-im-fighting-to-live-but/

Full story in the I am Madeline podcast

https://anchor.fm/i-am-madeline

As I did in the Twitter account in their pinned tweet I will include all of the media articles that have been done so far as well as the Reddit thread that included much kindness and a lot of stuff that made me want to bang my head against a wall. Also some articles about post viral syndrome and me particularly long covid as those are the new additions to the post viral syndrome community. I don't have a lot of energy probably because of my disease but because of the dyslexia textual communication can be quite difficult for me so I'm not going to try to edit the file that I kept the media links and the general medical articles and. So I hope you can make sense of it and that all of the links still work.

I think / hope that I should be able to pin this to the top of this tumblr

In no particular order here is the link dump

Gfm

https://gofund.me/cff39173

https://www.gofundme.com/f/MadelinesMiracle?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet

Citr ep April 6 2023

https://www.citr.ca/radio/all-access-pass/episode/20230406/

Petition

https://www.meaction.net/2022/03/01/you-can-still-help-madeline/

https://dir.gov.bc.ca/gtds.cgi?show=Branch&organizationCode=HLTH&organizationalUnitCode=MH

Dabc Nov 2022

Blog

https://disabilityalliancebc.org/article-im-fighting-to-live-but/

Pdf mag

https://disabilityalliancebc.org/transitionfallwinter22/

Tyee November 14 2022

https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/11/14/Chronically-Ill-Dying-Poverty/

Chatelaine

https://www.chatelaine.com/health/maid-assisted-death-poverty/

Podcast

https://anchor.fm/i-am-madeline/episodes/Ep--1---How-do-you-solve-a-problem-e110jks

https://anchor.fm/i-am-madeline

(https://www.iammadeline.com/)

City tv news Hana Mae change of by-line

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2020/07/27/vancouver-woman-disabilities-medically-assisted-dying/

Media

News 11:30

https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/07/27/vancouver-woman-disabilities-medically-assisted-dying/

https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/11/24/vancouver-woman-me-covid-19/

Tyee article

https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/07/05/I-Should-Not-Have-To-Beg-For-My-Life/

Canada land podcast

https://www.canadaland.com/madeline-medical-assistance-in-dying-priced-out-of-life/

https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/723-the-high-cost-of-living/

Update

https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/741-updates-on-pretendians-porn-and-being-priced-out-of-life/

Millions missing simulcast

https://twitter.com/millionspod/status/1450838974864445440?t=tiE3pZtRLB9LiRVXIg4u8g&s=19

My Op-ed

https://quoimedia.com/canadians-with-disabilities-like-me-are-choosing-to-die-because-we-dont-have-the-financial-resources-to-live/

https://ipolitics.ca/2021/11/15/the-disabled-are-choosing-to-die-because-they-cant-afford-to-live/

Reddit post about op-ed

https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/qul8c3/the_disabled_are_choosing_to_die_because_they/

are live on QUOI Media’s website.

https://quoimedia.com/canadians-with-disabilities-like-me-are-choosing-to-die-because-we-dont-have-the-financial-resources-to-live/

https://quoimedia.com/des-canadiennes-et-canadiens-en-situation-de-handicap-comme-moi-choisissent-de-mourir-parce-quils-nont-pas-les-moyens-de-vivre/

INFO

Gender bias in research

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33232627/

Costs two to three times more to be disabled

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31026771/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31026771/

Mayo

https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(21)00513-9/fulltext

Bateman Horne PDF

https://twitter.com/BatemanHorne/status/1462907081686540290?t=MzYkyjZ_-QYAH4_td5zUFA&s=19

NICE COMM

https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/nice-me-cfs-guideline-outlines-steps-for-better-diagnosis-and-management

Twitter link to various ME studies

https://twitter.com/CPrudhommeAQEM/status/1500854349442002951?t=U-DZG-DLNUqYVkz-Ygoewg&s=19

Pdf of studies

https://www.me-international.org/published-me-icc-studies.html

CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/me-cfs/healthcare-providers/presentation-clinical-course/etiology-pathophysiology.html

Disprove cbt

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2055102919838907

Blog reply to above

https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2021/03/23/the-concept-of-illness-without-disease-impedes-understanding-of-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-a-response-to-sharpe-and-greco/

Physio

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Myalgic_Encephalomyelitis_or_Chronic_Fatigue_Syndrome

Me from covid

https://meassociation.org.uk/2020/05/me-awareness-columbia-university-will-there-be-a-post-covid-19-form-of-me-cfs-26-may-2020/

Australia me study small town

https://www.bmj.com/content/333/7568/575

Percentage of doctors you understand me

https://doctorswith.me/poor-knowledge-of-me-cfs-among-doctors-puts-patients-at-risk-of-harm/

https://doctorswith.me/poor-knowledge-of-me-cfs-among-doctors-puts-patients-at-risk-of-harm/

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/epstein-barr-virus-may-be-leading-cause-of-multiple-sclerosis/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33232627/ gender disparity in research money and allocation by NIH

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.13139

Wiley Online Library

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

Volume 45, Issue 5 p. 424-426

Commentary

Open Access

Sex and gender gaps in medicine and the androcentric history of medical research

Lea Merone, Komla Tsey, Darren Russell, Cate Nagle

First published: 28 June 2021

Interrelationship between myalgic encephalomyelitis and long covid

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo1261?utm_campaign=SciMag&utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Twitter

Brain fog https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/long-covid-brain-fog-symptom-executive-function/671393/

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/mecfs-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-doctors-long-covid/671518/

Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/07/15/long-covid-has-over-200-symptoms-and-leaves-1-in-5-unable-to-work-study-finds/?sh=1f11766e5eb2

herpes simplex including Epstein-Barr latency and damage to genome tissue study sample including autopsies

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2022.1044964/abstract

https://twitter.com/loscharlos/status/1612196453258256384?t=C1UGoqR72JjmBeVRreJ41A&s=09

What #LongCovid continues to experience is a social medical phenomena know as the **Semmelweis Reflex** —

“the metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs, or paradigms.” 🧵

I was introduced to this term while reading @meghanor excellent, essential book “Invisible Kingdom”

As she shared, it was named after the doctor who said physicians assisting with childbirth should wash their hands to reduce maternal mortality & was exiled from the profession

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-tsunami-of-disability-is-coming-as-a-result-of-lsquo-long-covid-rsquo/

https://fortune.com/well/2023/05/23/covid-deaths-one-person-every-four-minutes-vaccination-rates/

Protect BC

https://protectbc.ca/public-healt-scandal-failure-to-warn/

[sirensplayhouse]

Hey siren, i hope all is well with you 🩵, okay so I need a little help. I manifested sp back in may our relationship has been great every since we used to be toxic and argue like 3 times a month but we haven’t argued once yet and everything is different in a good way. so about 4 days ago idky but I lurked on his page and he posted something that rubbed me the wrong way, mind you I don’t use social all my pages to all my social medias have been disabled for a year, I go on facebook from time to time to lurk but not specifically for sp just in general .. so that really made me feel some type of way & I low key got depressed then a day after that I was scroll on my backup tiktok account and saw he posted a tiktok of him self over the weekend and it went viral and the comments set me off again honestly so I was even more depressed until I decided I wasn’t going to be and i’m not going to take that. he’s also been distant lately normally he’s busy so he doesn’t text back for a few hours but he texts me in between or right after he’s done with what he’s doing and he always tells me what he’s doing and where he’s going or where he was at and shows me pictures and stuff so he doesn’t lie. but recently he got a new job he goes in at like 2 - 4 pm and doesn’t get off until like 10 - 10:30 pm and he goes to practice at 7:30 am til 10:30 pm so I try to give him the benefit of the doubt but we barely talked and he hasn’t texted back since like 6 pm yesterday and it’s 4 pm today and he was active on facebook at 12:00 am yesterday, Ik all I have to do is decide that he’s the version of himself that I want him to be but it’s still a little hard because i’ve been spiraling every since sunday with doubts and negative thoughts and thoughts of a 3p im over it now but i’m still a little sad idk what to do about my emotions ik they don’t manifest but I hate feeling like this do you have any suggestions ? thank you in advance 😭🥰

take your focus off of it, whenever I’m in a bind or feeling a certain way I immediately do something to take my mind off of whatever and go to my happy place. if you don’t have a happy place MAKE ONE do something that bring a you joy and peace. also don’t keep all those negative thoughts and emotions inside you let them out (hence why I mentioned finding a happy place).

another thing you can do is talk to your sp communication and understanding is key to any relationship clearly there’s something bothering you so why not share it with him ? whenever my sps do something to piss me off I bring it up and it takes pressure off of me because it’s like “ok I bring it up now it’s not eating at me anymore” regardless of the response that they give because if they say something I don’t like I can always just ignore them LMFAOOOOO ignore this😭

but I hope I could help you love 🫶🏾come back and update me I’ll be waiting ❣️oh ! and I hope all is well with you too🥰

[crosspollytaupe]

Hmmm so this entirely completely accurate but my addition is that it reminds me of a point I often make in conversation about the flip point of view, citing this post

I cite this to explain "when I ask you for recommendations on knitting tutorials, I'm asking you for help to find the second kind. I know how to find the first kind." It kind of frustrates me that I even have to cite this, but it feels like most people just don't seem to understand "no I'm not looking for the most viral, slickest-marketed tutorial, I'm looking for the good one."

It reminds me of a conversation my cousin and I had after playing a social deduction game at the family reunion, and he noted that our uncle who was just reading everyone perfectly and giving accurate descriptions of the implications...thinks climate change is a hoax. (And the shared context we had is that this uncle is legitimately smart; it's not a case of him just happening to run this one thing.) That's how I feel on even having to explain the difference in the screenshotted post. That Why are there so many smart people who don't get this? feeling.

As a person wanting to learn to knit, to read books, to listen to music, rather than the person wanting to teach, to write, to sing; I hate being on the receiving end of this article as well. The frustration it cites from Bethany Consentino's TikTok

She’s hopeful that there’s a better way to set up the system. “A lot of stuff is broken,” she says, “And nothing’s going to fix itself. Everybody needs to be proactive and figure out a way forward. Of course, that’s challenging, but I don’t think the answer is to throw your arms up and go, ‘Well, it just is what it is.’ I’m not an ‘it is what it is’ person, I want to figure out how to make it better, or how to make it at least more fulfilling for me as a human being in my one God-given life.”

is the same frustration I feel looking for good art. (Insert the usual "whatever that phrase means to you" caveat to the phrase "good art.") I don't think the answer is 'It is what it is, just accept high-marketability, low-quality results like the rest of us do.' I want to figure out how to make it better.

And then on final notes: —I assume 'how to make it work' involves some sort of collaboration between people with my frustration and people with Bethany's frustration. (And tbh, everyone is both people to some degree, especially given the article's asides about LinkedIn.) —This is a rant that I've gone on before; I haven't pondered this thought in terms of classism, but given OP's comment in the context of the rant I made, I certainly will be. —It's quite possible there's some Vox-y explanation of the learner/reader/listener side too, but if there is, I haven't seen it. (And would appreciate being pointed to it.)

More than that, you’ve got to actually spend your time doing this stuff on the off chance that the algorithm picks it up and people care about what you have to say. You’ve got to spend your time doing this even though it’s corny and cringe and your friends from high school or college will probably laugh as you “try to become an influencer.” You’ve got to do it even when you feel like you have absolutely nothing to say, because the algorithm demands you post anyway. You have to do it even if you’re from a culture where doing any self-promotion is looked upon as inherently negative, or if you’re a woman for whom bragging carries an even greater social stigma than it already does. You’ve got to do it even though the coolest thing you can do is not have to. You’ve got to offer your content to the hellish, overstuffed, harassment-laden, uber-competitive attention economy because otherwise no one will know who you are. In a recent interview with the Guardian, the author Naomi Klein said the biggest change in the world since No Logo, her 1999 book on consumerism and inescapable branding, came out was that “neoliberalism has created so much precarity that the commodification of the self is now seen as the only route to any kind of economic security. Plus social media has given us the tools to market ourselves nonstop.”

Oh hell yes. An article that supports my half-joke that a corporate app's demand for constant self-promo is technically classist.

[aleixis]

pro soccer player!rin x #1 rin fan!reader is such a fun concept !!

like on tiktok ur known as the itoshi rin girl. people tag u in rin edits & make edits dedicated to u ! 30 minutes after a pxg game ends ur seen on tiktok analyzing the entire match, people even ask u to analyze other teams or players ! u’ve posted countless tiktoks of you at actual pxg matches, cheering the loudest for rin.

but what no one knows is that rin’s biggest fan is also his girlfriend of 4 years !! rin can’t help but crack a smile when he sees ur newest tiktok fawning over him or ur reactions to edits of him ! people comment “petition to get this girl a meet and greet with rin 😭😭” not knowing that he sleeps in your arms every night <3

it gets even cuter when u film a tiktok finally “meeting” rin for the first time after a game ! tho he’s sure ur reaction is a little bit exaggerated for the views, he still thinks its so adorable <3 you shake his hand excitedly, asking for a picture with him, recording the entire interaction. 

he remains his usual calm self and agrees, putting on a small smile as the shutter goes off. u wave goodbye to him, yelling out a, “i love you!!” as u walk away. rin’s face gets hotter, though he doesn’t know if its because of u or the stuffy almost-autumn air. 

the clip of rin blushing profusely after ur profession of love goes viral almost immediately ! u find urself smiling at ur phone as edit after edit with the same intro plays, rin’s red face probably burnt into the pixels of ur phone. 

but after a couple days, the switch-up comes. some people start commenting on your tiktoks and edits with you in them that your “parasocial relationship” with rin is getting a little strange, and that maybe you should tone the obsession down. for every person defending u, the hate train only grows.

you complain about this to rin during breakfast, stating “how’s it a parasocial relationship if i’ve been dating you for years?” with sighs. rin says the obvious.

“just tell them that.”

you look at him with a mischevious glint in your eye. “should i actually?”

“go for it. i can take care of the PR stuff.” rin takes a bite out of his breakfast before continuing.  “been wanting to call you mine for a while, too.”

you giggle. “aye aye, as you say captain!”

rin is called into your shared bedroom minutes later, a ringlight set up with your phone in the middle. “c’mere rinnie, wanna make a tiktok with you!” rin sits down beside you. you scroll through a couple of examples of the trend, showing them to rin. it’s mostly of couples; one person applying lipstick or lipgloss before smudging it and the other person with kisses on their face wiping it off. 

it looks simple enough, so rin agrees. 

you press kisses onto rin’s face, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “you always like when i kiss you, rinnie,” you remark.

rin hums in response, melting into your touch. you kiss him one last time on his cheek before finishing. “i’m gonna record now, ‘kay?”

k. by cigarettes after sex plays as you film yourself applying lipgloss before smudging it. rin reaches towards you and wipes it off as you pan the camera towards his lovesick gaze. you lean into him and kiss him a last time before you stop the recording. 

you hand your phone to rin, showing him the end results. he approves of them, and you caption it with “🩷🩷🩷” before posting. 

safe to say the 1.5 million likes proved your parasocial relationship wrong.

this was supposed to be a little blurb why is it 621 words long oml. and ik the k. trend is old as hell but it’s so cute i luv it ! the pacing is so terrible i’m crying um probably ooc i’m sorry guys i love soft rin !!!! reblog comment and follow for more bangers guys ily all <3

[devleader]

I gave up.

I shouldn't have done it, and I can't go back in time...

But when I started Dev Leader originally, I gave up within months.

I wasn't clear what my goals were when I started, but it felt like it was too much work and not enough reward: - Why was I spending my time writing articles? - Is anyone even reading what I'm saying? - Are their people deriving value from my curated lists of articles? - Is this going anywhere? - Are people even interested in this stuff?

It was just easier to give up. But many years later I see some of my content-creating role models doing such an awesome job sharing knowledge and experience with their audiences that it seems so obvious to me now.

Just. Keep. Doing. It.

Keep posting. Keep sharing experiences. Keep making videos. Keep writing articles.

The goal was never to go viral. The goal was to help others.

It can take many years of consistency to build that audience but being consistent with it has been one of the most rewarding things.

Check out the full video: https://www.youtu.be/bKcjgq2amhI

📨 Sign up for my FREE email newsletter

🗣️ Share with your network!

I gave up.

I shouldn't have done it, and I can't go back in time...

But when I started Dev Leader originally, I gave up within months.

I wasn't clear what my goals were when I started, but it felt like it was too much work and not enough reward: - Why was I spending my time writing articles? - Is anyone even reading what I'm saying? - Are their people deriving value from my curated lists of articles? - Is this going anywhere? - Are people even interested in this stuff?

It was just easier to give up. But many years later I see some of my content-creating role models doing such an awesome job sharing knowledge and experience with their audiences that it seems so obvious to me now.

Just. Keep. Doing. It.

Keep posting. Keep sharing experiences. Keep making videos. Keep writing articles.

The goal was never to go viral. The goal was to help others.

It can take many years of consistency to build that audience but being consistent with it has been one of the most rewarding things.

👇Want the full video? Comment below! 👇

📨 Sign up for my FREE email newsletter

🗣️ Share with your network!