Today's Big Tech Story

Social Media Are a Mass Shooter’s Best Friend

A terrorist attack in New Zealand cast new blame on how technology platforms police content. But global internet services were designed to work this way, and there might be no escape from their grip.

• Ian Bogost
• Mar 15, 2019

The People Who Hated the Web Even Before Facebook

As the World Wide Web turns 30, a look back at its early skeptics

• Alexis C. Madrigal
• Mar 15, 2019

The Servant Economy

Ten years after Uber inaugurated a new era for Silicon Valley, we checked back in on 105 on-demand businesses.

• Alexis C. Madrigal
• Mar 6, 2019

Is This the End of Recycling?

Americans are consuming more and more stuff. Now that other countries won’t take our papers and plastics, they’re ending up in the trash.  

• Alana Semuels
• Mar 5, 2019

When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online

Googling yourself has become a rite of passage.

• Taylor Lorenz
• Feb 20, 2019

Amazon’s Retreat and the New Politics of Tech

What Amazon pulling out of Queens means for the urban growth machine

• Alexis C. Madrigal
• Feb 14, 2019

When Wall Street Is Your Landlord

With help from the federal government, institutional investors became major players in the rental market. They promised to return profits to their investors and convenience to their tenants. Investors are happy. Tenants are not.

• Alana Semuels
• Feb 13, 2019

Jeff Bezos Brings the Receipts

The Amazon founder is at war with a tabloid.

• Alana Semuels
• Feb 7, 2019

Why People Still Don’t Buy Groceries Online

We shop online for almost everything. Why not food?

• Alana Semuels
• Feb 5, 2019

Before It Conquered the World, Facebook Conquered Harvard

On the 15th anniversary of Facebook’s launch at Harvard, a dozen students and faculty members reflect on seeing and being the first users of the world’s largest social network.

• Alexis C. Madrigal
• Feb 4, 2019

The World-Record Instagram Egg Is Going to Make Someone Very Rich

“Being the first brand to crack out of the egg is worth at least $10 million.”

• Taylor Lorenz
• Jan 31, 2019

Go Ahead, Post the Stupid Photo of Yourself From 10 Years Ago

Critics have raised fears that the pictures could be used for corporate surveillance, but this is a molehill on the mountain.

• Alexis C. Madrigal
• Jan 16, 2019

How to Lose Tens of Thousands of Dollars on Amazon

A growing number of self-proclaimed experts promise they can teach anyone how to make a passive income selling cheap Chinese goods in the internet's largest store. Not everyone’s getting rich quick.

• Alana Semuels
• Jan 2, 2019

When a Sponsored Facebook Post Doesn’t Pay Off

The agency Speakr set influencers up with brands for lucrative campaigns—and then stiffed them.

• Taylor Lorenz
• Dec 26, 2018

Facebook Didn’t Sell Your Data; It Gave It Away

In exchange for even more data about you from Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, Microsoft, and others

• Alexis C. Madrigal
• Dec 19, 2018

Rising Instagram Stars Are Posting Fake Sponsored Content

“It’s street cred—the more sponsors you have, the more credibility you have.”

• Taylor Lorenz
• Dec 18, 2018

What Tumblr’s Porn Ban Really Means

The platform used to be a home for sexual subcultures that don’t always thrive elsewhere.

• Steven W. Thrasher
• Dec 7, 2018

Everything on Social Media Is for Sale

Welcome to the age of micro-monetization.

• Taylor Lorenz
• Nov 27, 2018

The App at the Heart of the Movement to End Affirmative Action

“WeChat is a monster. There’s nothing like it on Earth.”

• Alia Wong
• Nov 20, 2018

How Sheryl Sandberg Lost Her Feminist Street Cred

The latest news about Facebook is a wake-up call that “leaning in” doesn’t mean doing right.

• Olga Khazan
• Nov 16, 2018