Welcome to the ‘Borax Challenge’
Among the fistfuls of reporting threads I’ve kept gripping over the years are two topics that recently converged in a TikTok story: health misinformation online and viral challenges. Welcome to the “borax challenge,” where people are drinking borax in water
Welcome to the ‘Borax Challenge’
Among the fistfuls of reporting threads I’ve kept gripping over the years are two topics that recently converged in a TikTok story: health misinformation online and viral challenges. Welcome to the “borax challenge,” where people are drinking borax in water
How AI reinforces systemic bias
Vox asked me to explain the many, many ways in which AI systems can reinforce biases, a topic that has become even more urgent with the introduction of popular generative AI tools. A lot of people who pay attention to
How AI reinforces systemic bias
Vox asked me to explain the many, many ways in which AI systems can reinforce biases, a topic that has become even more urgent with the introduction of popular generative AI tools. A lot of people who pay attention to
Book review: “Distrust”
For the Washington Post, I reviewed Gary Smith’s take on disinformation and the replication crisis in scientific research. Here’s what I wrote: People are often tempted to trust statistics and algorithms as neutral arbiters. But algorithms are incapable of independently
Book review: “Distrust”
For the Washington Post, I reviewed Gary Smith’s take on disinformation and the replication crisis in scientific research. Here’s what I wrote: People are often tempted to trust statistics and algorithms as neutral arbiters. But algorithms are incapable of independently
The children’s show ‘Bluey’ is a balm for stressed, child-free adults
At the end of 2022, during a very stressful time in my life, I started getting an avalanche of videos from a wholesome children’s show on my TikTok For You Page. This is how I accidentally became a fan of
The children’s show ‘Bluey’ is a balm for stressed, child-free adults
At the end of 2022, during a very stressful time in my life, I started getting an avalanche of videos from a wholesome children’s show on my TikTok For You Page. This is how I accidentally became a fan of
The porcelain challenge didn’t need to be real to get views
I’ve written about a million stories over the years about the way in which moral panics about teen challenges get attention online and in mainstream media. In this iteration, I interviewed a TikTok creator who completely made up the “porcelain
The porcelain challenge didn’t need to be real to get views
I’ve written about a million stories over the years about the way in which moral panics about teen challenges get attention online and in mainstream media. In this iteration, I interviewed a TikTok creator who completely made up the “porcelain
Dementia content gets billions of views on TikTok. Whose story does it tell?
This story of mine is the one I’m proudest of among everything I wrote in 2022. It’s about going viral, consent, and cognitive decline. There’s a lot written about the huge consent issues raised by “sharenting” culture and parents who
Dementia content gets billions of views on TikTok. Whose story does it tell?
This story of mine is the one I’m proudest of among everything I wrote in 2022. It’s about going viral, consent, and cognitive decline. There’s a lot written about the huge consent issues raised by “sharenting” culture and parents who
Facebook bombarded cancer patients with ads for unproven treatments
There’s one misinformation sphere I’ve returned to a few times as a reporter: promises of miracle cancer “cures” targeting patients at their most vulnerable, via social media ads, online support groups, and recommendation algorithms. A couple of years before Covid-19,
Facebook bombarded cancer patients with ads for unproven treatments
There’s one misinformation sphere I’ve returned to a few times as a reporter: promises of miracle cancer “cures” targeting patients at their most vulnerable, via social media ads, online support groups, and recommendation algorithms. A couple of years before Covid-19,