The kids’ show “Cocomelon” is known for its bright visuals and its monopolization of toddlers’ attention. What is less commonly discussed is the means by which it got there. It’s no coincidence the show is so successful — rather, that success is an algorithmically calculated outcome by its parent company, Moonbug Entertainment. Moonbug’s London headquarters […]
Tag: social media
The Growing Trend of Performance-Driven Politics
Entertainment is what makes politics so lively. Whether it’s a profound scandal, offhand comment, or controversial speech, it draws people in, gets them hooked, and encourages them to support or oppose a particular candidate. Politics is becoming a series of performances and a source of entertainment, where politicians with little to no political experience are […]
MAXimizing Surveillance
When users experienced a “metallic buzzing” on WhatsApp and Telegram calls starting in Aug. 2025, Russia’s state internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, claimed it was because the platforms acted as aids in alleged fraud and terrorism. Just a week after the initial interference, the Kremlin announced a mandate that the VK messaging app Max would come preinstalled […]
Reflections on the Neighborhood Corpse of Charlie Kirk
On Sept. 10th, 2025, Charlie Kirk was assassinated. The next day, a crypto coin commemorating his death reached a market cap value of five million dollars. Within one week, over two million were placed into online bets as to the sexual orientation of his killer. Within two months, I watched an AI generated video of […]
Doomscrolling Toward Enlightenment
The first thing I do when I wake up in the mornings is open three different apps on my phone. In no particular order, I go from Instagram to TikTok to Substack. The real star of the three, and my own guilty pleasure, is Substack. I love to start my day with existentialist writing that […]
Social Media and the Over-Democratization of Debate
We all engage in casual forms of debate almost constantly, and free argumentation is so integral to our daily decision-making that it’s only natural for it to be the foundation of a free, democratic society. Throughout American history, public debate has remained consistently central. Debate shaped the nation’s founding documents, like the Federalist and anti-Federalist […]
Indonesia and the Chronically Online Political Voice of Gen Z
Searching Indonesia on TikTok once yielded viral videos of an 11-year-old kid racing boats and “aura-farming”. Now, the same search is instead met with clips of burning buildings, demands to the government, and the “Jolly Roger” flag from the 1997 Japanese manga and anime One Piece. These two jarringly different snapshots have one thing in […]
The Warden of the Panopticon: Trump and the Dawn of Digital Authoritarianism
Digital control is the bloodstream of modern authoritarianism. From the streets of Hong Kong to the border of Israel, technology has begun to amplify domination. The history of anti-authoritarian organizing has forced fascism to evolve, birthing the era of digital despotism. Left unchecked, the trend threatens to concentrate power into unelected elites, eliminate social movements, […]
A Post-Mortem of the Youth Vote in 2024
This article is a follow-up to an earlier Berkeley Political Review article entitled “Blue Generation: Gen Z and the Democratic Party.” In the 2024 presidential election, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris underperformed President Joe Biden’s vote share in 2020 nationally by three percentage points. Harris’ underperformance is more striking when looking at individual states, even states […]
Social Media’s Most Wanted: The New Age of Digital Villain Worship
“Double, double toil and trouble”—the cauldron of public opinion is once again brewing, this time casting criminals as misunderstood cultural icons. The romanticization of villains and criminals is nothing new. Yet, in an era where social media actively blurs the line between fact and fiction, Luigi Mangione is recast as a martyr, raising questions about […]