WesternInfidels

The steady exodus from Elon Musk’s X has benefited smaller, independent alternatives such as … German-developed Mastodon

So somebody took a look at the modern web and thought “Hey, this is pretty good, but you know what would make it even better? Even more shit you didn’t ask for popping up in your face with every click!”

There was a time when Amazon was not full of scummy rip-off products, when it was not playing games with prices, when it was not a cloud-computing powerhouse, and you know what happened?

That’s right, they crushed their adversaries (retail shopping) and earned billions in profits. They won.

But somehow that’s not enough winning, there isn’t enough winning until all the value has been vacuumed up from the world.

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

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.”

At the movies with my GF. And, for the first time, her family.

The lights come down. The film is underway. There’s a commotion at the other end of our row. GF’s sister has retrieved something from her bag. There are whispers. Something crinkly is passed down the row, one person at a time, to the left. Eventually, GF hands me a bundle the size of a football. It’s aluminum foil on the outside. Wax paper inside, loosely wrapping up … something. “What is this?” I ask, panicking.

“Pumpkin roll?” she says. Indignant eye-roll tone. As if she meant to say “Uh, helLO, it’s a PUMPkin roll, OBVIOUSLY.” She’s suddenly realized that I’m some kind of bumpkin what ain’t never been to no big-suburb movie theater like this before. Where entire family-size bake-sale pastries are always surreptitiously circulating in the dark.

We’ve been married 20 years now. When she’s mixed-up by some momentary contextual confusion, I am still likely to tease her by ‘explaining:’ “PUMPkin roll?”

I don’t remember if I ate any of it.