Deep-diving into propaganda, misinformation, and algorithms over the last three weeks tuckered me out. So . . . today’s offering is an honest-to-god simple post. I want to share some readings of interest, news about the demise of my favorite social media platform, and the joy of spring.
Newspapers and Magazines
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post column (April 14, 2024), “Abortion bans can doom autocrats. Look at Poland.”
The United States is not alone in confronting a right-wing authoritarian movement that, in addition to undermining democratic institutions and lashing out at the news media (“enemy of the people”), makes curtailing women’s reproductive freedom central to its agenda. The experience of Poland, in which a right-wing government virtually eliminated access to abortion and later paid for it at the ballot box, is instructive as Republicans try to flee from the harsh implications of their antiabortion ideology.
David Remnick, interview with psychologist Jonathan Haidt in The New Yorker (April 20, 2024), Jonathan Haidt Wants You to Take Away Your Kid’s Phone.
David Remnick:
Jonathan Haidt is a sixty-year-old social psychologist who believes that your child’s smartphone is a threat to mental well-being. His new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” has struck a chord with parents who have watched their kids sit slack-jawed and stock still for hours, lost in a welter of TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, Facebook, and more. Haidt blames the spike in teen-age depression and anxiety on the rise of smartphones and social media, and he offers a set of prescriptions: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age sixteen. . . .
Jonathan Haidt:
For those listeners who remember the original iPhone in 2007. . . the original iPhone was an amazing Swiss Army knife. It was one of the greatest inventions of humankind. It was just marvelous. . . .
But then a couple of things changed in rapid succession, and the smartphone changed from being our servant to being our master . . . . In 2008, the App Store . . . In 2009, push notifications . . . In 2010, the front-facing camera . . . . in 2010, Instagram . . . the first social-media app designed to be exclusively used on the smartphone.
So the environment that we were in suddenly changes. Now the iPhone isn’t just a tool; it is actually a tool of mass distraction. And we’re adults—we can deal with it. . . . [A]dult mental health did not tank. The story for teens is completely different.
(The New Yorker doesn’t offer a gift link to the magazine. You can access the audio interview for free here.)
Ari Berman’s essay in The Atlantic (April 22, 2024), The Conservative Who Turned White Anxiety Into a Movement.
In May 1995, Pat Buchanan appeared at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to announce an immigration policy that would become the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. “We have an illegal invasion of this country,” Buchanan warned. To resist it, he called for a “Buchanan Fence” patrolled by the military along the southern border, a five-year moratorium on legal immigration, and a constitutional amendment that would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents.
The platform was designed to stave off something Buchanan had long dreaded: “If present trends hold,” he noted a few years earlier, “white Americans will be a minority by 2050.” Buchanan was the first major politician to transform white anxiety about that prospect . . . into an organizing principle for the conservative movement. (Keep in mind that the idea of a racial tipping point is contested by social scientists, who argue that ever-changing norms about racial/ethnic self-identification are blurring the numbers*.)
*Lightly edited for context—m.o.
Bye-bye Post.News
Post.News is the only social media site that isn't a soul-destroying waste of time. Their business model focused on high-quality content, conscientious moderation, and a system of “points” whereby users could buy individual articles instead of expensive subscriptions from high-end news outlets. They’re not going to make it past May.
Post.News’ CEO Noam Bardin:
It is with a heavy heart that I share this sad news with you. Despite how much we’ve accomplished together, we will be shutting down Post News within the next few weeks.
We have done many great things together. We built a toxicity-free community, a platform where Publishers engage, and an app that validated many theories around micropayments and consumers’ willingness to purchase individual articles. We even managed to cultivate a phenomenal tipping ecosystem for creators and commenters.
But, at the end of the day, our service is not growing fast enough to become a real business or a significant platform. . .
In other words, Post—a responsible social media platform—can’t compete with Threads (Mark Zuckerberg), TikTok (Chinese Communist Party), X (Elon Musk), and Bluesky (Jack Dorsey).
K C Make a Difference wrote:
I tried a few platforms before settling on @Post where I found a lot of good people with good intentions who wanted to share real, vetted, factual news, and positive messages.
I'm sorry to hear this community isn't sustainable. It speaks volumes when a community such as this, full of good people and positivity can't survive while MSM thrives on chaos, drama, and endless, breathless coverage of Benedict trump and his treason caucus.
When did "social media" morph from being a social platform where good people could engage in positive, meaningful ways to global platforms used for spreading lies, hate, and propaganda?
I wish all the best for the entire Post family . . . .
<Sigh>
Writers on Substack
A few of my favorites . . .
Historian Timothy Snyder writes the Thinking About Substack. On April 17, Professor Snyder spoke before the House Oversight Committee about Russian and Chinese misinformation campaigns to exacerbate divisions in American society.
Timothy Snyder:
In the contest between authoritarian and democratic regimes, it will ultimately be not just self-defense but creative initiative that defines and saves the democracies. The era of hostile disinformation is also the era of the decline of reporting, and the two phenomena are linked. An American who has access to reporting will be less vulnerable to disinformation, and better able to make navigate the demands of democratic citizenship. A victory over disinformation will be won in a climate in which Americans have access to reliable information and reasons to trust it.
Former teacher and current Democratic activist, Jess Piper, weighs in from Red Red Missouri:
Katelyn Jetelina, (MPH/PhD) consultant to the CDC, and Texas mom, is Your Local Epidemiologist. I started reading her Substack during Covid and kept it up.
And now, your moment of . . . birdsong.
In many cities, forests, and ecosystems, the sounds of nature are falling silent. But in New Zealand’s capital, people are experiencing a crescendo in birdsong, thanks to decades of conservation efforts.
Positive developments take time. Don’t give up.
All sources in this post are hyperlinked. (No Notes today.) Grounded returns next week with new research and a new essay.
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Post shutting down is a big loss. Many of the others-one in particular-could shut down and create great improvement in society.
Does your kitty enjoy the birdsong too?