My first Fediverse account was on Pixelfed. I am nobody, but I immediately attracted a couple dozen followers. All blank profiles, all followed exactly five accounts, all suspiciously algorithmic names. They’ve all gone quiet.
Disingenuous social media participation is everywhere. I think we might call it “cyberturfing.”
And who else?
Everyone, actually:
Under current laws, many Americans need to present some form of identification to register to vote. The act would require Americans show additional documents that prove their citizenship, such as a passport or a birth certificate.
You just moved? This little errand, updating your voting registration, just got a little more complicated, a little more likely to be a problem. Or, a lot more likely to be a problem, if you lost your birth certificate in the move somehow. Or maybe even quite a big problem, if you don’t have the kind of settled life where you’ve got a file cabinet for these documents the government expects you to curate on their behalf.
What are the cultural imperatives and protocols when your roommate dies? Do you host a wake for him, in the apartment you’re about to be evicted from, since his name was on the lease?
Imagine suddenly being forced to move, at the tender age of 69, when you’re poor enough to require a roommate.
Married white women, perhaps? Surely not all married women?
So, how often is a person who’s calling an SSA support line expressing these thoughts, exactly? Maybe that’s a problem in and of itself, you know?
2026: Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters
2025: Substack’s “Nazi problem” won’t go away after push notification apology
2024: Substack founders make statement that Nazis will be tolerated on the platform
2023: Substack Has a Nazi Problem