Anna E. Cook
@annaecook.com
Award winning bog hag, product designer, accessibility advocate 💙
Website: https://annaecook.com/
Focus State newsletter: https://annaecook.com/newsletter
She/They
Website: https://annaecook.com/
Focus State newsletter: https://annaecook.com/newsletter
She/They
Grok being used to violate women and children has been one of many horrible things this week.
I don't know how to put it...it has hurt me in ways I did not know possible and traumatized me to see it happening.
I've cried multiple times from this alone, and I am not one to cry easily.
I don't know how to put it...it has hurt me in ways I did not know possible and traumatized me to see it happening.
I've cried multiple times from this alone, and I am not one to cry easily.
I keep thinking about how a young woman DoorDash driver was charged and hauled into court for recording and posting evidence of her customer sexually harassing her, while nothing is happening to the droves of men using Grok to sexually harass women and children. The institutions are pro-perpetrator.
January 10, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Grok being used to violate women and children has been one of many horrible things this week.
I don't know how to put it...it has hurt me in ways I did not know possible and traumatized me to see it happening.
I've cried multiple times from this alone, and I am not one to cry easily.
I don't know how to put it...it has hurt me in ways I did not know possible and traumatized me to see it happening.
I've cried multiple times from this alone, and I am not one to cry easily.
For every horrible design choice that is made in an app you use, think of me (and other designers), in a meeting going "no that's a horrible choice" and it happening anyways.
That's product design some days.
That's product design some days.
January 9, 2026 at 7:58 PM
For every horrible design choice that is made in an app you use, think of me (and other designers), in a meeting going "no that's a horrible choice" and it happening anyways.
That's product design some days.
That's product design some days.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
I spent my last few months at Amazon burnt out and agonizing over which days I could spend less time in the office, if I had gone past the allowed "X days per 8 week allotment", if I was going to get in trouble for working at the building that wasn't as depressing as the one I was actually assigned.
Businesses tracking the amount of time employees spend in office have their priorities really out of wack.
In office time is so clearly not correlated with meaningful business outcomes and it's a bad look for businesses to spend time and energy doing it.
www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags...
In office time is so clearly not correlated with meaningful business outcomes and it's a bad look for businesses to spend time and energy doing it.
www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags...
Amazon gives managers a new way to spot who's barely coming into the office
Amazon rolls out an updated dashboard for managers to track office attendance and hours, expanding strict RTO policies.
www.businessinsider.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:13 PM
I spent my last few months at Amazon burnt out and agonizing over which days I could spend less time in the office, if I had gone past the allowed "X days per 8 week allotment", if I was going to get in trouble for working at the building that wasn't as depressing as the one I was actually assigned.
Businesses tracking the amount of time employees spend in office have their priorities really out of wack.
In office time is so clearly not correlated with meaningful business outcomes and it's a bad look for businesses to spend time and energy doing it.
www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags...
In office time is so clearly not correlated with meaningful business outcomes and it's a bad look for businesses to spend time and energy doing it.
www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags...
Amazon gives managers a new way to spot who's barely coming into the office
Amazon rolls out an updated dashboard for managers to track office attendance and hours, expanding strict RTO policies.
www.businessinsider.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Businesses tracking the amount of time employees spend in office have their priorities really out of wack.
In office time is so clearly not correlated with meaningful business outcomes and it's a bad look for businesses to spend time and energy doing it.
www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags...
In office time is so clearly not correlated with meaningful business outcomes and it's a bad look for businesses to spend time and energy doing it.
www.businessinsider.com/amazon-flags...
My peers and I have a thing we do called "Feel Good Fridays," where we just share good things we've got going on.
My FGF: I've been playing with SVGs. I updated my work page with some visuals I've used in presentations, made them responsive and (hopefully) accessible
annaecook.com/work
My FGF: I've been playing with SVGs. I updated my work page with some visuals I've used in presentations, made them responsive and (hopefully) accessible
annaecook.com/work
January 9, 2026 at 5:25 PM
My peers and I have a thing we do called "Feel Good Fridays," where we just share good things we've got going on.
My FGF: I've been playing with SVGs. I updated my work page with some visuals I've used in presentations, made them responsive and (hopefully) accessible
annaecook.com/work
My FGF: I've been playing with SVGs. I updated my work page with some visuals I've used in presentations, made them responsive and (hopefully) accessible
annaecook.com/work
My partner has helped me realize that yes, even in days like today, you can feel a little better with a little care.
Yes, fight back. But also nourish, replenish.
Look at a plant, pet an animal, drink a warm thing, read, love and be loved.
Also damn it why is my partner always right.
Yes, fight back. But also nourish, replenish.
Look at a plant, pet an animal, drink a warm thing, read, love and be loved.
Also damn it why is my partner always right.
January 9, 2026 at 2:38 AM
My partner has helped me realize that yes, even in days like today, you can feel a little better with a little care.
Yes, fight back. But also nourish, replenish.
Look at a plant, pet an animal, drink a warm thing, read, love and be loved.
Also damn it why is my partner always right.
Yes, fight back. But also nourish, replenish.
Look at a plant, pet an animal, drink a warm thing, read, love and be loved.
Also damn it why is my partner always right.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents shot two people in Portland on Thursday afternoon, according to ABC News sources.
The shooting occurred near East Burnside and 141st Avenue.
Updated 3:38pm PT January 8, 2026
The shooting occurred near East Burnside and 141st Avenue.
Updated 3:38pm PT January 8, 2026
January 8, 2026 at 11:44 PM
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents shot two people in Portland on Thursday afternoon, according to ABC News sources.
The shooting occurred near East Burnside and 141st Avenue.
Updated 3:38pm PT January 8, 2026
The shooting occurred near East Burnside and 141st Avenue.
Updated 3:38pm PT January 8, 2026
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
I'm glad to see this pressure on Google and Apple. If any other company was running an active CSAM generator in public you better believe it would have been removed from their app stores by now www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
Why Are Grok and X Still Available in App Stores?
Elon Musk’s chatbot has been used to generate thousands of sexualized images of adults and apparent minors. Apple and Google have removed other “nudify” apps—but continue to host X and Grok.
www.wired.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I'm glad to see this pressure on Google and Apple. If any other company was running an active CSAM generator in public you better believe it would have been removed from their app stores by now www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
I’ll be as frank as I can be.
Journalists, even if you’re not being explicitly pushed off a tech platform, if youre sharing anything against their interests (including anything opposing MAGA) you will be suppressed
Tech companies will subdue you and silence you quietly
www.cjr.org/tow_center/b...
Journalists, even if you’re not being explicitly pushed off a tech platform, if youre sharing anything against their interests (including anything opposing MAGA) you will be suppressed
Tech companies will subdue you and silence you quietly
www.cjr.org/tow_center/b...
Are tech companies allies or threats to press freedom?
In 2026, this will be the question that matters most to journalists.
www.cjr.org
January 8, 2026 at 9:12 PM
I’ll be as frank as I can be.
Journalists, even if you’re not being explicitly pushed off a tech platform, if youre sharing anything against their interests (including anything opposing MAGA) you will be suppressed
Tech companies will subdue you and silence you quietly
www.cjr.org/tow_center/b...
Journalists, even if you’re not being explicitly pushed off a tech platform, if youre sharing anything against their interests (including anything opposing MAGA) you will be suppressed
Tech companies will subdue you and silence you quietly
www.cjr.org/tow_center/b...
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
If you're hiring for user research/design roles, get in touch with Dominika 👇
Here's a re-intro I wrote a year ago on LinkedIn and reading through it now, it still feels right. Feedback and/or introductions to people or orgs I might get on with/ feel resonant also very welcome!
January 8, 2026 at 12:44 PM
If you're hiring for user research/design roles, get in touch with Dominika 👇
I’m really feeling the hurt of what is happening, and yes, have felt it for a long time.
But sometimes that comes crashing down, and I feel ashamed of the hurt because others seem to be okay.
But today I am not okay, and Felix has come to help. If you’re not okay too, Felix is here for you too.
But sometimes that comes crashing down, and I feel ashamed of the hurt because others seem to be okay.
But today I am not okay, and Felix has come to help. If you’re not okay too, Felix is here for you too.
January 8, 2026 at 7:24 PM
I’m really feeling the hurt of what is happening, and yes, have felt it for a long time.
But sometimes that comes crashing down, and I feel ashamed of the hurt because others seem to be okay.
But today I am not okay, and Felix has come to help. If you’re not okay too, Felix is here for you too.
But sometimes that comes crashing down, and I feel ashamed of the hurt because others seem to be okay.
But today I am not okay, and Felix has come to help. If you’re not okay too, Felix is here for you too.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
“WAGMI” — we're all gonna make it — was crypto's 2021 rallying cry. But those with wealth and power knew it was a lie, and that “all” just meant them. My latest traces the last five years from hype to technoligarchy — and why they're not all gonna make it either.
The year of technoligarchy
In 2025, Trump brought tech executives into power to dismantle regulators and write their own rules. But the instabilities they’re creating may be their downfall.
www.citationneeded.news
January 7, 2026 at 6:44 PM
“WAGMI” — we're all gonna make it — was crypto's 2021 rallying cry. But those with wealth and power knew it was a lie, and that “all” just meant them. My latest traces the last five years from hype to technoligarchy — and why they're not all gonna make it either.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
The era of "platforms are neutral" is long behind us (or rather it was never really true, but now it's much more obvious).
If you're active on X, it may be worth asking yourself if you're just chasing a dopamine hit that evaporated several years ago.
If you're active on X, it may be worth asking yourself if you're just chasing a dopamine hit that evaporated several years ago.
I wrote this in April 2024, about why people were refusing to leave X as it became undeniably a pro-white-supremacist site
But holy hell could I not have predicted that by 2026, it would be a child abuse material production site and THAT TOO is not enough to get people to leave the fucking place
But holy hell could I not have predicted that by 2026, it would be a child abuse material production site and THAT TOO is not enough to get people to leave the fucking place
You are the fuel that energises Elon Musk’s hate machine
X is something entirely new: it has the clout and influence of Twitter, blended with the hate of 4chan and the lies of TruthSocial. And it lingers because its users don’t see themselves as th…
ketanjoshi.co
January 8, 2026 at 3:18 PM
The era of "platforms are neutral" is long behind us (or rather it was never really true, but now it's much more obvious).
If you're active on X, it may be worth asking yourself if you're just chasing a dopamine hit that evaporated several years ago.
If you're active on X, it may be worth asking yourself if you're just chasing a dopamine hit that evaporated several years ago.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
Please bear with me for this joke:
"I'm gonna give them the old one-two" – Binary code
"I'm gonna give them the old one-two" – Binary code
January 7, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Please bear with me for this joke:
"I'm gonna give them the old one-two" – Binary code
"I'm gonna give them the old one-two" – Binary code
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
“Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health”
It's worth keeping in mind with both of these approaches that content-mediated harm may not be picked up by broad patterns of use. This is what Meta seems to have sorted out internally as the key mechanism, and then promptly buried.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege
Rather than publishing the findings or pursuing additional research, Meta called off further work.
www.reuters.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:11 PM
“Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health”
Every day I see some horrifying thing (today it's ICE killing someone in Minneapolis) and then I have to look at my work computer like "okay let's review this cute little design here" like nothing is happening.
Sometimes the routine comforts me. Other times, it feels absurd and painful.
Sometimes the routine comforts me. Other times, it feels absurd and painful.
January 7, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Every day I see some horrifying thing (today it's ICE killing someone in Minneapolis) and then I have to look at my work computer like "okay let's review this cute little design here" like nothing is happening.
Sometimes the routine comforts me. Other times, it feels absurd and painful.
Sometimes the routine comforts me. Other times, it feels absurd and painful.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
Elon Musk’s company puts the responsibility for Grok ‘undressing’ images on users who prompt the system. But that denies the many ways that engineers and executives shape generative AI outputs, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
Why Musk is Culpable in Grok's Undressing Fiasco | TechPolicy.Press
Grok’s functionality is not a black box, but the result of specific design decisions made by executives and engineers at xAI, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
www.techpolicy.press
January 7, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Elon Musk’s company puts the responsibility for Grok ‘undressing’ images on users who prompt the system. But that denies the many ways that engineers and executives shape generative AI outputs, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
To put this in perspective, here's the number of tech sector hires per year (JOLTS data).
2025 900,000
2024 972,000
2023 864,000
2022 1,260,000
2021 1,404,000
2020 1,080,000
2019 1,250,000
2018 1,220,000
2017 1,180,000
2016 1,150,000
www.anildash.com/2026/01/06/5...
2025 900,000
2024 972,000
2023 864,000
2022 1,260,000
2021 1,404,000
2020 1,080,000
2019 1,250,000
2018 1,220,000
2017 1,180,000
2016 1,150,000
www.anildash.com/2026/01/06/5...
500,000 tech workers have been laid off since ChatGPT was released - Anil Dash
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
www.anildash.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:19 PM
To put this in perspective, here's the number of tech sector hires per year (JOLTS data).
2025 900,000
2024 972,000
2023 864,000
2022 1,260,000
2021 1,404,000
2020 1,080,000
2019 1,250,000
2018 1,220,000
2017 1,180,000
2016 1,150,000
www.anildash.com/2026/01/06/5...
2025 900,000
2024 972,000
2023 864,000
2022 1,260,000
2021 1,404,000
2020 1,080,000
2019 1,250,000
2018 1,220,000
2017 1,180,000
2016 1,150,000
www.anildash.com/2026/01/06/5...
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
What do these companies have in common?
-Cigna
-Comcast
-General Mills
-Allstate
-Marriott
-Hilton
-Walmart
-Amazon
-Microsoft
-Meta
All promised after January 6, 2021 to stop funding lawmakers who tried to overturn the 2020 election.
And all have broken that promise.
-Cigna
-Comcast
-General Mills
-Allstate
-Marriott
-Hilton
-Walmart
-Amazon
-Microsoft
-Meta
All promised after January 6, 2021 to stop funding lawmakers who tried to overturn the 2020 election.
And all have broken that promise.
January 6, 2026 at 5:15 PM
What do these companies have in common?
-Cigna
-Comcast
-General Mills
-Allstate
-Marriott
-Hilton
-Walmart
-Amazon
-Microsoft
-Meta
All promised after January 6, 2021 to stop funding lawmakers who tried to overturn the 2020 election.
And all have broken that promise.
-Cigna
-Comcast
-General Mills
-Allstate
-Marriott
-Hilton
-Walmart
-Amazon
-Microsoft
-Meta
All promised after January 6, 2021 to stop funding lawmakers who tried to overturn the 2020 election.
And all have broken that promise.
The White House marked the 5th anniversary of the Capitol attack by releasing a webpage that claims the event was a Democratic fabrication and criticizes former Vice President Mike Pence
Make no mistake, they are using AI to generate propaganda campaigns fueled by lies.
We are not safe in America.
Make no mistake, they are using AI to generate propaganda campaigns fueled by lies.
We are not safe in America.
January 7, 2026 at 2:32 AM
The White House marked the 5th anniversary of the Capitol attack by releasing a webpage that claims the event was a Democratic fabrication and criticizes former Vice President Mike Pence
Make no mistake, they are using AI to generate propaganda campaigns fueled by lies.
We are not safe in America.
Make no mistake, they are using AI to generate propaganda campaigns fueled by lies.
We are not safe in America.
Reposted by Anna E. Cook
I just found out that our stuff is being sold on Amazon - WITHOUT our consent or any ability to opt out bc Amazon is just scraping artist’s websites and putting our shit in their search results. Again, without our permission.
December 30, 2025 at 10:13 AM
I just found out that our stuff is being sold on Amazon - WITHOUT our consent or any ability to opt out bc Amazon is just scraping artist’s websites and putting our shit in their search results. Again, without our permission.
Thank you for wanting to share it 🥺
Focus State editions will be posted on the feed on my site, you can see the first edition there and share! annaecook.com/focus-state
Focus State editions will be posted on the feed on my site, you can see the first edition there and share! annaecook.com/focus-state
January 6, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Thank you for wanting to share it 🥺
Focus State editions will be posted on the feed on my site, you can see the first edition there and share! annaecook.com/focus-state
Focus State editions will be posted on the feed on my site, you can see the first edition there and share! annaecook.com/focus-state
Kicking off the new year thinking about metrics, inspired by @spavel.bsky.social
This piece explores why accessibility and design fail when we measure scores instead of real use and what works better.
Longer read, but hopefully helpful:
annaecook.com/writing/2026...
This piece explores why accessibility and design fail when we measure scores instead of real use and what works better.
Longer read, but hopefully helpful:
annaecook.com/writing/2026...
Designing accessibility for real use, not dashboards — Anna E. Cook
This piece explores why accessibility and design so often break down when success is measured before it’s clearly defined. It looks at how score-driven metrics can distort decision-making, and why gro...
annaecook.com
January 6, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Kicking off the new year thinking about metrics, inspired by @spavel.bsky.social
This piece explores why accessibility and design fail when we measure scores instead of real use and what works better.
Longer read, but hopefully helpful:
annaecook.com/writing/2026...
This piece explores why accessibility and design fail when we measure scores instead of real use and what works better.
Longer read, but hopefully helpful:
annaecook.com/writing/2026...