Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  A few days ago, 18 year old social media star Lil Tay made over $1 million by launching an OnlyFans shortly after her 18th birthday. The launch generated a massive backlash online, people on the left and the right are calling for OnlyFans to be banned and for the criminalization of porn.  On today's free speech Friday Kat Tenbarge and I break down Lil Tay's rise, what actually went down with her OF launch, and how this viral moment is already being weaponized by both influential Democrat and far right accounts to silence speech, dismantle civil liberties and push dangerous censorship laws that would lead to even more exploitation of women and children.  Follow me: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz  https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  Since its launch in 2022, ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer application [https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01/] in history. The tool is embedded in more and more areas of daily life and new research shows that it's also transforming how we write and even speak.  A group of researchers analyzed more than 360,000 YouTube videos and 771,000 podcast episodes from before and after ChatGPT’s release to track the use of ChatGPT-affiliated words like "delve" and "examine."   All of this has major implications. Adam Aleksic is an etymologist who studies the way the internet is reshaping language. His new book Algospeak tackles all of this. He joins me to discuss how ChatGPT and AI is transforming the way we talk, what words we use, and how we communicate.  Follow me: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz  https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  The UK's Online Safety Act finally went into effect this week and it has been a massive clusterfuck. Entire forums, websites, communities and essential journalism is being censored. People are being forced to scan their faces to use Spotify and YouTube. Like all of these terrible censorship bills, the Online Safety Act claims it's about protecting children from the evils of pornographic and “adult” content. But immediately after it went into effect, platforms began classifying nearly all breaking news footage, war coverage, investigative journalism, political protest material and information about reproductive and public health as “explicit” or “harmful" content, thus blocking anyone from under 18 from accessing it. I break down the fallout from the UK's Online Safety Act and what we could be facing here in the U.S. soon if we don't fight back to protect free speech online.  Follow me: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz  https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz]

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  The internet has become the primary way that people get public health information. Especially since the pandemic began in 2020, millions of people have turned to platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and newsletters to keep up to date on things like food recalls, infectious disease reports, and more.  But now, CDC social media channels have gone dark, and the agency's public health communication across the internet is being cut off and dismantled. Chiara Eisner is an investigative reporter at NPR and she's been covering the fiasco at the CDC. We talk about the crucial role that the internet plays in public health and why what's happening right now under Trump and RFK and why it might set us back decades.  Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz  [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz ] https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 ] https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz]

I'm proud to partner with DeleteMe. Get 20% off their plans: joindeleteme.com/taylor20 This is the first video in my new series on data brokers and the dark history of digital surveillance. I dig into how surveillance capitalism evolved, the companies profiting from intimate details about your life, and how it all began long before the internet. I reveal the industry's origins from early government tracking systems to invisible surveillance networks fueling ultra-targeted ads. How corporations are able to build data profiles so detailed that they can predict when you’re going to get sick, where you're likely to live, and even discover you're pregnant before your own family. Let me know what you think in the comments! I worked so hard on this one 🙏 Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz  https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz