The Case For The Newsletter In 2020

A critique of online gatekeeping, algorithms, and "Best" ranking lists.

I finally bought a new phone this month. I put up with my cracked iPhone SE for years because I liked how frustrating it was to use — it kept me from doomscrolling or slipping into a viral vortex of Karen videos. I’m still resisting becoming a slave to my screen, but we’ll see how long it lasts. Social media platforms are, after all, designed to be as addictive as slot machines, to sustain our revenue-generating attention. I’m not saying it’s all bad — there is a lot of connection and education happening online, which has served us well during a global pandemic. More importantly, videos of police brutality against Black and Indigenous people act as a form of accountability for crimes that might have otherwise gone unreported. But lately, the ways in which these virtual spaces limit my agency as a consumer and creator have become increasingly frustrating. This frustration has led me here.

I guess I should start by introducing myself (as if my few subscribers — my two childhood friends …