Kaitlyn Tiffany

Reddit Squashed QAnon by Accident

Two years ago, Reddit had the internet’s biggest QAnon problem. Today, that problem is gone—but the company can’t really explain why.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• 1:09 PM ET

How Quickly Can a Girl Go Viral on TikTok?

Teens are making it big overnight, but that kind of fame can be a mixed bag.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• September 16, 2020

America’s Summer of Viral Meltdowns

Videos of people behaving badly have become so popular that filming one another is now a reflexive impulse.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• August 27, 2020

The Women Making Conspiracy Theories Beautiful

How the domestic aesthetics of Instagram repackage QAnon for the masses  

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• August 18, 2020

Even Facebook Is Pining for the Internet It Destroyed

The tech giant’s new oddball social-media app is a testament to its power.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• July 30, 2020

The App of the Summer Is Just a Random-Number Generator

TikTok is on the chopping block. Instagram is pointless in lockdown. The best we can do is a hokey piece of software that takes us somewhere unexpected.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• July 21, 2020

Facebook’s Pandemic Feuds Are Getting Ugly

Two North Carolina groups are locked in a battle full of name-calling, conspiracy theories, and morbid memes.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• July 14, 2020

How a Fake Baby Is Born

For years, women on the internet have been writing conspiracy theories about celebrity pregnancies. What sparks them?

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• July 13, 2020

Reddit Is Done Pretending The Donald Is Fine

The social platform just banned the president’s most notorious internet fan club, as part of a sitewide purge of forums that “promote hate.”

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• June 29, 2020

The Boom in Fireworks Conspiracy Theories

Paranoia about secret government plots thrives in times of uncertainty, when strange things happen, and when people are bored. This summer is a trifecta.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• June 24, 2020

My Little Pony Fans Are Ready to Admit They Have a Nazi Problem

Even a niche subculture built around magical cartoon horses is reckoning with racism.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• June 23, 2020

Reddit Is Finally Facing Its Legacy of Racism

Social-media platforms can’t evade the scrutiny that so many other institutions in America are currently under.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• June 12, 2020

Why K-pop Fans Are No Longer Posting About K-pop

Twitter fan accounts are organizing to support the protests, often before the celebrities they love say a word.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• June 6, 2020

The Facebook Groups Where People Pretend the Pandemic Isn’t Happening

Online role-playing has taken a turn for the downright mundane.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• June 4, 2020

Pandemic Organizers Are Co-opting Productivity Software

Mutual-aid groups are distributing groceries and spare air conditioners via tools designed to turn labor into money as efficiently as possible.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• May 28, 2020

The Secret Lives of Perfect Social Distancers

Someone who looks like they’re always staying inside on Instagram may actually have a double life they’re hiding to avoid judgment.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• May 19, 2020

Something in the Air

The coronavirus pandemic is sparking baseless theories about the dangers of 5G. But the fear that wireless technology is slowly killing us isn’t new—and it doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• May 13, 2020

It’s Cool to Look Terrifying on Pandemic Instagram

Life is just four walls for many of us right now, but bizarre augmented-reality filters give us the illusion that it’s not.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• May 11, 2020

How ‘Karen’ Became a Coronavirus Villain

A popular joke about entitled white women is now a big pandemic meme.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• May 6, 2020

Women Are Buying ‘Essential AF’ Shirts, Candles, and Wine Glasses

The strangest pandemic souvenir is Etsy merch with sassy slogans about essential workers.

• Kaitlyn Tiffany
• April 27, 2020