Cybernaut

An expedition into internet culture, and what it says about us.

May 24, 2021

Caught in the Study Web

Exploring Gen Z’s Ambitious and Anxiety-Fuelled Pursuit of Straight A’s Across YouTube, TikTok, Discord, and Twitter

Jan 17, 2023

The Quest for a Dumber Phone

Digital minimalists are using simple talk-and-text devices to spend less time online, curb distraction, and navigate internet addiction

Dec 3, 2020

LinkedIn’s Alternate Universe

How the professional platform makes networking weird

Sep 19, 2022

Artificial Intimacy

Replika users believe their AI companion chatbots have come to life

Apr 13, 2022

Blind Ambition

Big tech’s highest-paid workers get real on an anonymous professional social network

Jul 14, 2021

The Blurred Lines of Parasocial Relationships

The disappearing divide between “followers” and “friends”

Jun 16, 2021

How One Student Built a Study Discord Community With 150K Members in 15 Months

Nadir Matti, the Founder of Study Together, chats gamification, partnering with platforms, and the ins-and-outs of community building

Dec 8, 2021

Our Pseudonymous Selves

The Past, Present, and Future of Online Identity

Dec 6, 2022

On Twitch, You Can Never Log Off

The demands of daily livestreaming are driving creators to rethink the benefits of Twitch fame

Feb 9, 2021

Creeping as a Service (CraaS)

How Spoonbill reveals our obsession with identity

Aug 31, 2021

The Anti-Fan Phenomenon

Inside the online communities where people love to hate

Oct 18, 2022

An AI Might Have Written This

Writers are using apps like Sudowrite and Subtxt to craft essays, short stories, and screenplays

May 14, 2021

Oh, to be young and online!

Cyberbits Edition #1, a weekly curated newsletter of internet finds.

May 31, 2022

The Internet Encyclopedia of Memes

An Interview with Don Caldwell, the Editor-in-Chief of Know Your Meme

Apr 28, 2021

Cashing in on Clubhouse

Hustle Culture Takes Center Stage on the Audio Social App

Feb 16, 2022

The Rise of YouTube Drama Channels

How drama, tea, and commentary channels keep tabs on internet influencers

Jun 11, 2021

TikTok as a Portal Into Different Worlds

Cyberbits #5: A housemaid in Kuwait, incarcerated inmates, and other unlikely creators

Jul 9, 2021

Is Internet Receipt Culture Our Undoing?

Cyberbits #8: How demands for evidence have become an impossible quest for truth

Jun 13, 2022

The Screaming Fangirls Who Forged the Internet

Book Review—Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany

Aug 6, 2021

The Hard Work of Being a Fan Account

Cyberbits #12: How online fan accounts for Addison Rae, Ana de Armas, and Doja Cat keep followers in the know

Jun 18, 2021

r/NoSurf: A Subreddit for the Very Offline

Cyberbits #6: The quest to use the internet less

Jul 23, 2021

The Plastic World of RealSelf

Cyberbits #10: “The TripAdvisor of Boob Jobs”

Oct 6, 2021

A Primer on the Parasocial Economy

How online platforms monetize one-sided bonds between creators and fans

May 21, 2021

Longing for Internet Anonymity

Cyberbits #2: Avatars in Active Worlds, Online Ambivalence, and Alt Accounts