Mashable: Fitness influencer’s morning routine goes viral for all the wrong reasons. “We regret to inform you that the hustle bros are at it again — this time, they’ve brought mouth tape and banana peels. Over the weekend, the internet was captivated (read: deeply confused) by a resurfaced video from fitness influencer Ashton Hall, whose morning routine might be the most unhinged one to […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/31/mashable-fitness-influencers-morning-routine-goes-viral-for-all-the-wrong-reasons/

The History of the Web: Our Online Homes Need Infastructure. “In the 2000’s, in the days of Web 2.0, the phrase homepage fell away, relegated to a rough approximation of a site’s main page. Homepages were replaced by profile pages on centralized platform, plugged into a vast network of friends and online followers, but starkly homogeneous and laced into the latticework of increasingly […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/31/the-history-of-the-web-our-online-homes-need-infastructure/

Teen member of Musk's DOGE once provided support to a cybercrime gang
By Georgie Hewson

Records revealed by Reuters show the teen, who now has access to departments including Homeland Security, provided services to a cyber crime ring known as "EGodly" prior to his US government role.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-27/doge-staff-big-balls-provided-tech-support-to-cybercrime-ring/105101466

Teen member of Musk's DOGE once provided support to a cybercrime gang
By Georgie Hewson

Records revealed by Reuters show the teen, who now has access to departments including Homeland Security, provided services to a cyber crime ring known as "EGodly" prior to his US government role.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-27/doge-staff-big-balls-provided-tech-support-to-cybercrime-ring/105101466

What are your rights if someone films you in public?
By Jesse Hyland

Privacy rights have been raised after a content creator from the United States covertly filmed women in Sydney using smart glasses. These are your rights when it comes to being filmed or recorded in public.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-25/nsw-privacy-filming-recording-rights-explainer/105092932

'Absolute cesspit': Mother of murdered teen Brianna Ghey backs under-16 social media ban
By Heloise Vyas

The mother of British transgender teen Brianna Ghey speaks out in support of a social media ban for children aged under 16.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-24/brianna-ghey-mother-calls-social-media-absolute-cesspit/105088636

University of Pennsylvania: How #ChristianTikTok Users Understand and Utilize the Platform’s Algorithm. “Are you reading this article right now? Maybe you found it on our website, stumbled upon it in a newsletter, or — who knows — perhaps it was delivered to you by divine intervention. [Editor’s note: heh.] That’s one of the reasons you might see a video from “Christian TikTok,” […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/23/university-of-pennsylvania-how-christiantiktok-users-understand-and-utilize-the-platforms-algorithm/

BBC: The hidden world beneath the shadows of YouTube’s algorithm. “That’s the vision of YouTube the company promotes – slick, professional, entertaining and loud – but from one perspective, it’s all a façade. Through another lens, the essence of YouTube is more like this video from 2020. Before I watched, it had only been seen twice. A man points the camera out of his bedroom window as a […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/23/bbc-the-hidden-world-beneath-the-shadows-of-youtubes-algorithm/

The 'worst word in the world' is now used to describe a must-have hairstyle
By Virginia Trioli

A quick search reveals how common, casual and uncoupled from shame and insult the term now is.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-22/see-you-next-tuesday-reclaimed-white-lotus-bob-kpop/105074682

Ars Technica: Study finds AI-generated meme captions funnier than human ones on average. “On average.” “A new study examining meme creation found that AI-generated meme captions on existing famous meme images scored higher on average for humor, creativity, and ‘shareability’ than those made by people. Even so, people still created the most exceptional individual examples.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/20/ars-technica-study-finds-ai-generated-meme-captions-funnier-than-human-ones-on-average/

In Adolescence, online misogyny is taken to the darkest extreme
By Rachel Rasker

Netflix's new one-take crime drama takes toxic masculinity to a violent extreme. We asked an expert to help us unpack how reflective Adolescence is of our real world.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-20/adolescence-netflix-manosphere-incel-jamie-crime/105066666

In Adolescence, online misogyny is taken to the darkest extreme
By Rachel Rasker

Netflix's new one-take crime drama takes toxic masculinity to a violent extreme. We asked an expert to help us unpack how reflective Adolescence is of our real world.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-20/adolescence-netflix-manosphere-incel-jamie-crime/105066666

Elon Musk’s IQ Is Irrelevant – Jesse Singal https://www.inbella.com/958820/elon-musks-iq-is-irrelevant-jesse-singal/ #BudgetDeficits #CelebritiesTopics #DepartmentOfGovernmentEfficiency #DonaldTrump #ElonMusk #FederalBudget #InternetCulture #opinion #SocialMedia #TrumpAdministration

NSW nurses who allegedly threatened Israeli patients appear in court
By Jamie McKinnell

Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27 and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 26, were charged over a video where they allegedly made threats to Israeli patients.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-19/nsw-bankstown-nurses-first-court-appearance-video-israelis/105069608

NSW nurses who allegedly threatened Israeli patients appear in court
By Jamie McKinnell

Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27 and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 26, were charged over a video where they allegedly made threats to Israeli patients.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-19/nsw-bankstown-nurses-first-court-appearance-video-israelis/105069608

A cult of expert personality happens in a niche topic or hobby community, when well-regarded experts start to care more about image and ego than about information and education.

Here's my description of how to recognise and avoid them: https://tradescantia.uk/article/cults-of-expert-personality/

Tubefilter: Can old TV shows find a Netflix Effect on YouTube?. “An attempt to revive a bygone television spinoff is also a novel twist on a common marketing tactic. In recent months, studios and other rights holders have started making classic films and TV shows available for free on YouTube, where a new generation of viewers can revive interest in older productions.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/15/tubefilter-can-old-tv-shows-find-a-netflix-effect-on-youtube/

PsyPost: Erotic webcam viewers experience conflicting emotions and ethical tensions. “A new study exploring viewer experiences on erotic webcam sites reveals complex, often contradictory emotions among users, highlighting both positive and negative aspects for viewers and performers.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/12/psypost-erotic-webcam-viewers-experience-conflicting-emotions-and-ethical-tensions/