Commentary on links that caught my attention around the web.
Notable links
[Zoë Schiffer at WIRED] The Social Security Administration is changing its communications strategy in a surprising way: ““We are no longer planning to issue press releases or those dear colleague letters to inform the media and public about programmatic and service changes,” said SSA regional commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis in a
Media
[Alexander Lee at Digiday] Substack isn't the best deal in town for independent journalists: "A year after leaving Substack in early 2024, newsletter writers are making more money peddling their words on other platforms. [...] Since leaving Substack, some writers’ subscriber counts have plateaued over the past year,
AI
[Jeremy Keith] Jeremy Keith highlights the hammering that the public service internet is getting from LLM vendors: "When we talk about the unfair practices and harm done by training large language models, we usually talk about it in the past tense: how they were trained on other people’s
Media
[Zach Seward] I first met Zach Seward when he was running Quartz, the news startup with the quippy haiku notifications that had, at the time, captured a lot of the media world's attention. It was really good. This piece, by Zach, is written on the heels of the
Notable links
[Lisa Rein, Hannah Natanson and Elizabeth Dwoskin at The Washington Post] More "efficiency" from DOGE: "Retirees and disabled people are facing chronic website outages and other access problems as they attempt to log in to their online Social Security accounts, even as they are being directed to
Technology
[Eve Upton-Clark at Fast Company] I love this. Tumblr is so back: "Thanks to Gen Z, the site has found new life. As of 2025, Gen Z makes up 50% of Tumblr’s active monthly users and accounts for 60% of new sign-ups, according to data shared with Business
Notable links
[Kate Conger in The New York Times] Here's one way Elon Musk is gaining from his involvement in the current administration: "The positioning of X as a powerful government mouthpiece has helped bolster the platform, even as the company continues to struggle." It's worth
Notable links
[Ernie Smith at Tedium] Ernie Smith points out the creator-economy platform Gumroad open sourced its platform at a surprising time: "But if that’s all Gumroad was doing, I wouldn’t feel compelled to say anything. The reason I’m speaking up is because of this Wired story, released
Climate
[Damian Carrington in The Guardian] Quite a headline! "The world is fast approaching temperature levels where insurers will no longer be able to offer cover for many climate risks, said Günther Thallinger, on the board of Allianz SE, one of the world’s biggest insurance companies. He said that
Fediverse
[John Markoff in The New York Times] A lovely piece about Mike McCue, who, through Flipboard, Surf, and his general activities through the community, has become one of the open social web's most important figures. "Three decades ago, as vice president of technology at the groundbreaking tech
Notable links
[Laura Hazard Owen at Nieman Journalism Lab] A good introduction to leaking to a journalist: "I spoke with eight journalists about how to leak in a safe, smart way. Disclaimer you probably knew was coming: No method of leaking is 100% secure, and the tips here reduce risk but
Culture
[Mandy Brown] A good reminder here from Mandy Brown. "Among the people I’ve witnessed working through crises in their work and lives, the one pattern that comes up over and over again is making art. Art brings us back to ourselves, helps us root in our own agency