Ben Werdmuller helps leaders at newsrooms, non-profits, and mission-driven organizations to navigate their biggest technology challenges.
I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with my Twitter/X account. I don’t want to leave it dormant, because the current policy is to reclaim usernames from accounts that don’t post, which creates a risk that someone will come along and claim to be
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Police body cams have turned out to be a sort of trust whitewashing: a way to demonstrate openness without the accompanying requirement to be open at all. In practice, they're a sham. "Hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars have been spent on what was sold as a
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Big news for people who can get pregnant and the people who care about them (which should be everyone): "New research published by the journal Nature points to the discovery that a single hormone causes nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: GDF15. Researchers found that the amount of this hormone
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Threads is starting its initial real fediverse integration (as it launches into the EU). Exciting times. #Technology [Link]
I participated in this year’s NiemanLab Predictions for Journalism. My prediction is about AI flooding the web with spammy, bland content — and the techniques newsrooms will need to use to connect with their communities: Newsrooms that commit to AI-driven storytelling as a way to cut costs while increasing output
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I've been thinking a lot about leveling engineers lately, and I like this system that Sarah Milstein implemented at Daily very much indeed. Sarah's just started a coaching practice for engineering leaders, which sounds wonderful to me. #Technology [Link]
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This hits the nail on the head: "No one chasing money in media ever chased Twitter. But anyone chasing power found themselves irresistibly drawn to the platform. And eventually, the platform started to actually deliver that power in ways that continue to reverberate around the world." I do
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It's reassuring to see Benedict Evans have a lot of the same business questions as everybody else about AI - What actually is this? What will it look like? Will OpenAI be a gatekeeper? Albeit no mention of the ethical issues that are also a hugely important part
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Really good to hear about this meeting at Meta about joining the fediverse. It sounds like development is continuing apace; I really appreciate the transparency. I have to admit that I feel a pang of FOMO. This is such an important movement and moment in time for the web. #Technology
I was very taken by Robin Berjon’s description of technologists: Someone needs to navigate the digital world (for a business, a project, any institution) without blind deference to vertical experts, and without monkeying dumb Silicon Valley tropes or giving credence to breathless LinkedIn thoughtleadering. The full post is a
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An interesting breakdown not just for people interested in Mastodon - but for anyone who cares about safety on any community platform. These kinds of prompts turn out to be really useful, with measurable impacts, if they're done right. It's great that an open source project
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"The United States has long lagged when it comes to pregnancy-related health. There is a unique danger to pregnancy for Black Americans, who face higher mortality and morbidity rates because of entrenched, systemic racism." An important series of articles examining what pregnancy looks like in modern-day America -