Culture / Digital Culture

Unlike most dating apps, which charge monthly or annual fees for their paid tiers, there is only a one-time payment of €9 to sign up granting users unlimited matches; a free option limits users to five matches. Depoorter says he doesn’t want to exploit users by having them pay on …

As traditional media shrinks, storm streamers are growing; Schuster recently hired his first full-time employee—Reilly Dibble, who used to work for Hall. Unlike a traditional broadcast, YouTube allows Schuster to go live before there’s a tornado warning, so he can warn viewers if a storm is likely to produce a …

“Perhaps a large number of people have claims, but the claims are worth fairly small amounts of money. Maybe they lost $25 each? A corporation could make a lot of money by collecting lots and lots of $25,” she says. “But individually, going to court for $25? Forget it.” Thus, …

For relationship anarchists, there is no pecking order among their connections—partners, friends, neighbors, colleagues—are all regarded the same. They treat all their relationships equally, be they romantic or platonic, and believe each relationship possesses “similar or identical potential for emotional, physical, or mental intimacy, love, and satisfaction,” Rare noted in …

There are around five darkness retreat centers in the US, Berman says, with approximately 100 worldwide. Sky Cave has three dark rooms; four-night retreats cost $1,770, with an extra night to settle in and another to decompress afterward. The potential effects of prolonged darkness have not been studied well, but …

Like OnlyFans, Subs features both safe-for-work and adult content, of which creators take an 80 percent earnings cut. (To better create “a balanced ecosystem,” but also to keep users safe and comply with global regulations, Stokely makes clear that adult content is paywalled behind subscriptions and DMs). New personalized features, …

After posting a “looksmaxxing” video, Imeh, who is Black, says he received racist comments, including ones telling him to “just be white.” Upon realizing that the community was “toxic and racist,” Imeh pivoted to anti-looksmaxxing content and then stumbled on “SkinnyTok” and pro-eating disorder communities on X. “It’s way easier …

Kate’s real-life therapist is not a fan of her ChatGPT use. “She’s like, ‘Kate, promise me you’ll never do that again. The last thing that you need is like more tools to analyze at your fingertips. What you need is to sit with your discomfort, feel it, recognize why you …

When you’re talking about this new ecosystem of applications, is the idea that you’re the CEO of all of this, or just Bluesky? I am just the CEO of Bluesky Social. We have built out the protocol, and we maintain the Bluesky app, but the protocol is going to take …

On Friday, Epic Games announced Darth Vader would be returning to Fortnite as an in-game boss—but this time, players would be able to chat with him through conversational AI. “Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire … or you know, a good strat for the …