According to a new paper from Morten Bay at the University of Southern California’s Center for the Digital Future, a large majority of the social media comments about the film were “deliberate, organized political influence measures disguised as fan arguments.” By analyzing tweets about the movie, Bay found a coordinated effort, similar to the one used in the lead-up to the 2016 election, to weaponize the debate about the movie to further the notion of chaos in American society. “Persuading voters of this narrative remains a strategic goal for the US alt-right movement, as well as the Russian Federation,” Bay writes.
Author: Douglas McLennan
A Revolution In Much-Derided Hotel Art
When we decided to do an episode about hotel art, we thought we would be doing an episode about, well, hotel art—exactly the sort of ugly, shoddy, cheap paintings that used to hang in Super 8s. But it turns out that’s an outdated understanding. Sure, you still regularly come across ugly work in hotels, but Super 8’s move away from kitsch is part of a decadeslong trend on the part of hotels—hotels of all price points—to reclaim hotel art. In recent years, hotel art has been transformed from something unconsidered and embarrassing into a selling point—a sign of sophistication and authenticity, an Instagram photo-op.
After Years Of Decline, Video Piracy Is On The Rise Again. Here’s Why
Sandvine’s new Global Internet Phenomena report offers some interesting insight into user video habits and the internet, such as the fact that more than 50 percent of internet traffic is now encrypted, video now accounts for 58 percent of all global traffic, and Netflix alone now comprises 15 percent of all internet downstream data consumed. But there’s another interesting tidbit buried in the firm’s report: after years of steady decline, BitTorrent usage is once again growing.
How John Adams Became Irrelevant?
Adams still gets standing ovations, and “Harmonielehre” is a staple of the symphonic literature, but his relevancy has tapered off over the last 15 years. How did this happen? When did this happen? The answers could only be in Adams’ heart and mind, if he indeed can step back to see the current state of his art.
London’s National Theatre Offers Augmented Reality Glasses For Audience
Jacob Weisberg Recalls The Founding Of Slate Magazine
“Remember, when we started, you didn’t just have to tell people what an internet magazine was. You usually had to tell them what the internet was. We thought Slate would be like a weekly magazine and people would print it out, and we mainly thought of the web as kind of an instant distribution mechanism.”
We’re Attracted To “Interesting” Experiences. But How To Define Them?
What does it mean for an experience to be interesting? First, to say that something is interesting is to describe what the experience feels like to the person undergoing it. This is the phenomenological quality of the experience. When we study the phenomenology of something, we examine what it feels like, from the inside, to experience that thing.
Bay Area Artistic Organizations’ Leadership Suddenly Facing Massive Change
As the Philharmonia Baroque announces retirement plans for Nicholas McGegan, who provided leadership there over the past third of a century, other Bay Area performing-arts organizations are experiencing a tsunami of changes after many years of apparent permanence.
What Is Western Civilization? It Isn’t About The Monuments
Mutual aid, social cooperation, civic activism, hospitality or simply caring for others: these are the kind of things that actually go to make civilisations. In which case, the true history of civilisation is only just starting to be written. It might begin with what archaeologists call ‘culture areas’ or ‘interaction spheres’, vast zones of cultural exchange and innovation that deserve a more prominent place in our account of civilisation.
PBS Tops Emmy Documentary Winners List
The public broadcaster won seven trophies, with HBO and CBS following with six each.