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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Technology

Facebook Boosts Viral Content as It Drops Fact-Checking

[Craig Silverman at ProPublica] Let the attention dollars flow: "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said in January that the company was removing or dialing back automated systems that reduce the spread of false information. At the same time, Meta is revamping a program that has paid bonuses to creators

24 Feb 2025

Notable Links

What Felt Impossible Became Possible

[Dan Sinker] This story doesn't feel like it's going to end up inspiring, but bear with it: "George Dale printed their names in his newspaper, part of his unrelenting, unceasing, and unflinching attack on the Muncie Klan. [...] When he wrote an editorial accusing circuit court

23 Feb 2025

Technology

It is no longer safe to move our governments and societies to US clouds

[Bert Hubert] A European point of view: "We now have the bizarre situation that anyone with any sense can see that America is no longer a reliable partner, and that the entire US business world bows to Trump’s dictatorial will, but we STILL are doing everything we can

23 Feb 2025

AfD

Hint: if a party is heavily supported by people who throw Nazi salutes, it might not be up to much good. Some voters for new right-wing parties are economically worried, but blame their issues on the influx of immigrants rather than the increasing divides between rich and poor that we&

23 Feb 2025

Empires

For the avoidance of doubt: All empires are bad. All empires have always been bad. All empires always will be bad. The concept of empire is bad. The prerequisites for empire are bad. And the people who like empires — any of them — are bad. Do not have fondness for empires.

22 Feb 2025

People and Blogs

I was privileged to be interviewed for this week’s People and Blogs: Hi! I’m Ben Werdmuller. I was born in the Netherlands, grew up and spent my twenties in the UK, and spent twelve years in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now I live in Greater Philadelphia in

21 Feb 2025

Notable Links

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared.

[Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha Surana at ProPublica] My colleagues at ProPublica conducted a first-of-its-kind data analysis on health outcomes after Texas banned abortion in 2021. Here's what it found: "The rate of sepsis shot up more than 50% for women hospitalized when they

21 Feb 2025

Indieweb

Reflections on 25 years of Interconnected

[Matt Webb] I love this: "Slowly, slowly, the web was taken over by platforms. Your feeling of success is based on your platform’s algorithm, which may not have your interests at heart. Feeding your words to a platform is a vote for its values, whether you like it

19 Feb 2025

Media

America Needs a Working-Class Media

[Alissa Quart in Columbia Journalism Review] This article cuts right to the core of why media is failing to connect with mass audiences in America. It doesn't report from a perspective that they can identify with - largely because it doesn't hire people like them. What

19 Feb 2025

Technology

Are We Self-Segregating on Social Media?

[Allison Hantschel in DAME] Hand-wringing over people leaving overtly unsafe spaces like X to find communities that are actually enjoyable to hang out in (like Mastodon and BlueSky) is absolute nonsense. "With that user growth, mostly from liberals disgusted with Musk’s nonstop promotion of conservative disinformation, came criticism

18 Feb 2025

Indieweb

Own what’s yours

[PJ Onori] I can't disagree with anything here: "Web 2.0 seemed like such a great idea in a more innocent time. We’re at a point where it’s only prudent to view third-parties as guilty until proven innocent. Not as some abstract, principled stance, but

18 Feb 2025

askacto

Ask a CTO: security vs. productivity; when to adopt technology trends

Ask a CTO is an irregular column where I answer anonymous questions from a technical leadership perspective. You can ask questions using this form. I have two answers to two questions this time around: Security vs. productivity Where do you draw the line between security and productivity? What are the

17 Feb 2025
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Werd I/O explores the intersection of technology, democracy, and society. It's independently published by Ben Werdmuller, reader-supported, and always free to read.