Kristine Lowe
@kristinelowe.bsky.social
Journalist & blogger working in science communication. Books, media & tech, science communication, life
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10 per cent of its overall annual revenue — or $16bn — from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show" - Reuters www.ft.com/content/4560...
We have to be able to hold tech platforms accountable for fraud
Algorithms ensure that people who click on scams are likely to see more of them
www.ft.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:50 AM
"Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10 per cent of its overall annual revenue — or $16bn — from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show" - Reuters www.ft.com/content/4560...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Across social media sites, political posting is tightly linked to affective #polarization - the most partisan users post the most
As casual users disengage & polarized partisans remain vocal, the online public sphere grows smaller, sharper, and more ideologically extreme
arxiv.org/abs/2510.25417
As casual users disengage & polarized partisans remain vocal, the online public sphere grows smaller, sharper, and more ideologically extreme
arxiv.org/abs/2510.25417
October 30, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Across social media sites, political posting is tightly linked to affective #polarization - the most partisan users post the most
As casual users disengage & polarized partisans remain vocal, the online public sphere grows smaller, sharper, and more ideologically extreme
arxiv.org/abs/2510.25417
As casual users disengage & polarized partisans remain vocal, the online public sphere grows smaller, sharper, and more ideologically extreme
arxiv.org/abs/2510.25417
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
3 Ways Jane Goodall Challenged What It Means to Be a Scientist 🏺🧪👩🔬
www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane...
Here are three big ways that Jane Goodall transformed science
www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane...
Here are three big ways that Jane Goodall transformed science
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
3 Ways Jane Goodall Challenged What It Means to Be a Scientist 🏺🧪👩🔬
www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane...
Here are three big ways that Jane Goodall transformed science
www.scientificamerican.com/article/jane...
Here are three big ways that Jane Goodall transformed science
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
The Ground Has Shifted: Europe chose regulation. China chose manufacturing. America chose extraction. What should you choose now? 7thin.gs/p/sustainabi...
The Ground Has Shifted
Europe chose regulation. China chose manufacturing. America chose extraction. What should you choose now?
7thin.gs
October 21, 2025 at 7:16 AM
The Ground Has Shifted: Europe chose regulation. China chose manufacturing. America chose extraction. What should you choose now? 7thin.gs/p/sustainabi...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Spot the North-American anomaly: only region where social media use is still growing.
Great work by the FT’s @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/a072... “Have we passed peak social media?”
Great work by the FT’s @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/a072... “Have we passed peak social media?”
October 4, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Spot the North-American anomaly: only region where social media use is still growing.
Great work by the FT’s @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/a072... “Have we passed peak social media?”
Great work by the FT’s @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/a072... “Have we passed peak social media?”
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Talking Points Memo is turning 25 and I wrote a little encomium to early blogging, which I sometimes miss: talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/what-...
What Made Blogging Different?
Whether I like it or not, the first line of my obituary...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Talking Points Memo is turning 25 and I wrote a little encomium to early blogging, which I sometimes miss: talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/what-...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
I love how Sam Altman is all "Oh, some silly start-ups might be over-valued, but not us, guv. Oh no, we're all value, we are."
That there is an AI bubble is pretty much irrefutable now - the only grounds for disagreement are over its scope. Certain uses, genAI in general, or something wider?
BBC News - 'It's going to be really bad': Fears over AI bubble bursting grow in Silicon Valley
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - 'It's going to be really bad': Fears over AI bubble bursting grow in Silicon Valley
www.bbc.com/news/article...
A tangled web of deals stokes AI bubble fears in Silicon Valley
Some are worried that the rapid rise in the value of AI tech companies may be a bubble waiting to burst.
www.bbc.com
October 12, 2025 at 8:37 AM
I love how Sam Altman is all "Oh, some silly start-ups might be over-valued, but not us, guv. Oh no, we're all value, we are."
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee
Why I gave the world wide web away for free
My vision was based on sharing, not exploitation – and here’s why it’s still worth fighting for
www.theguardian.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Why I gave the world wide web away for free | Tim Berners-Lee
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
“Norwegian journalism is famously vibrant and there is the highest willingness to pay in the world. At the same time, news in Norway tends to be very traditional ... Young men especially are gravitating away from traditional outlets.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
From Denmark to Finland to Norway, Zetland bets its model can travel well (and Germany’s up next)
“It is possible to build excitement around journalism if you reach out and invite engaged citizens to help and guide you."
www.niemanlab.org
September 27, 2025 at 9:08 AM
“Norwegian journalism is famously vibrant and there is the highest willingness to pay in the world. At the same time, news in Norway tends to be very traditional ... Young men especially are gravitating away from traditional outlets.” www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/from...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
One of my favorite neuroscience lessons:
When you start something new, it feels like a struggle and requires your entire focus. But it gets easier and you need far less brain power. Things become automatic.
The brain becomes more efficient in a single hour: mrbartonmaths.com/resourcesnew...
When you start something new, it feels like a struggle and requires your entire focus. But it gets easier and you need far less brain power. Things become automatic.
The brain becomes more efficient in a single hour: mrbartonmaths.com/resourcesnew...
September 23, 2025 at 7:44 PM
One of my favorite neuroscience lessons:
When you start something new, it feels like a struggle and requires your entire focus. But it gets easier and you need far less brain power. Things become automatic.
The brain becomes more efficient in a single hour: mrbartonmaths.com/resourcesnew...
When you start something new, it feels like a struggle and requires your entire focus. But it gets easier and you need far less brain power. Things become automatic.
The brain becomes more efficient in a single hour: mrbartonmaths.com/resourcesnew...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
How a journalist turned PTSD into an industry-wide mental health movement: After witnessing the murder of her colleague and finding no help, Leona O'Neill is challenging the 'toxic mindset' that treats journalists like robots
How a journalist turned PTSD into an industry-wide mental health movement
After witnessing the murder of her colleague and finding no help, Leona O'Neill is challenging the 'toxic mindset' that treats journalists like robots
dlvr.it
September 17, 2025 at 6:52 PM
How a journalist turned PTSD into an industry-wide mental health movement: After witnessing the murder of her colleague and finding no help, Leona O'Neill is challenging the 'toxic mindset' that treats journalists like robots
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
I wrote my own Charlie Kirk obituary, and about valuing truth over manners: www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning
The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn't a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division
www.thenation.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:42 PM
I wrote my own Charlie Kirk obituary, and about valuing truth over manners: www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
“Scientists Are Flocking to Bluesky. Academics once loved Twitter—but in the age of X they’ve abandoned it in droves.” Via @wired.com
Urbanists too.
Check out #UrbanistShoutOut.
Urbanists too.
Check out #UrbanistShoutOut.
Bluesky now platform of choice for science community
It’s not just you. Survey says: “Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky”…
arstechnica.com
August 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“Scientists Are Flocking to Bluesky. Academics once loved Twitter—but in the age of X they’ve abandoned it in droves.” Via @wired.com
Urbanists too.
Check out #UrbanistShoutOut.
Urbanists too.
Check out #UrbanistShoutOut.
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Age verification and these “child safety” laws are a massive gift to big tech. Persona, the leading third-party age and identity verification platform, recently announced a $2bn valuation after its latest funding round co-led by Peter Thiel.
The UK's Online Safety Act is a licence for censorship – and the rest of the world is following suit | Taylor Lorenz
From the US and Australia to France and Italy, those seeking to obliterate privacy and restrict content are on the move, says technology journalist Taylor Lorenz
www.theguardian.com
August 9, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Age verification and these “child safety” laws are a massive gift to big tech. Persona, the leading third-party age and identity verification platform, recently announced a $2bn valuation after its latest funding round co-led by Peter Thiel.
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Stark and damning data about how much the AI companies scrape relative to the amount of traffic that they drive to the sites they scrape --- and how much worse it's getting. www.techpolicy.press/cloudflare-w...
August 1, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Stark and damning data about how much the AI companies scrape relative to the amount of traffic that they drive to the sites they scrape --- and how much worse it's getting. www.techpolicy.press/cloudflare-w...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
This month's column in Prospect: What costs are we willing to pay - environmentally, socially, economically - for an AI future, even a really good one?
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
An AI-enabled world isn’t inevitable
How much change are we willing to accept in return for an AI future?
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
July 15, 2025 at 12:03 PM
This month's column in Prospect: What costs are we willing to pay - environmentally, socially, economically - for an AI future, even a really good one?
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/techno...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
WeTransfer now uses whatever you upload to train genAI.
It was bought by scumbags Bending Spoons who laid off 75% of its workforce, as they usually do. Enshittification always follows a BS acquisition.
It was bought by scumbags Bending Spoons who laid off 75% of its workforce, as they usually do. Enshittification always follows a BS acquisition.
July 15, 2025 at 6:40 AM
WeTransfer now uses whatever you upload to train genAI.
It was bought by scumbags Bending Spoons who laid off 75% of its workforce, as they usually do. Enshittification always follows a BS acquisition.
It was bought by scumbags Bending Spoons who laid off 75% of its workforce, as they usually do. Enshittification always follows a BS acquisition.
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Only a small % of people engage in toxic activity online, but they’re responsible for a disproportionate share of hostile or misleading content on nearly every platform
Because super-users are so active, they dominate our collective impression of the internet www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Because super-users are so active, they dominate our collective impression of the internet www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Are a few people ruining the internet for the rest of us?
Why does the online world seem so toxic compared with normal life? Our research shows that a small number of divisive accounts could be responsible – and offers a way out
www.theguardian.com
July 13, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Only a small % of people engage in toxic activity online, but they’re responsible for a disproportionate share of hostile or misleading content on nearly every platform
Because super-users are so active, they dominate our collective impression of the internet www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Because super-users are so active, they dominate our collective impression of the internet www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
How journalism is finally confronting its mental health crisis: A photographer's month in a Lebanese jail, a veteran reporter's refusal to cover a child killing, and CNN's chief correspondent's plea for honesty - the media industry is addressing the psychological toll of storytelling
How journalism is finally confronting its mental health crisis
A photographer's month in a Lebanese jail, a veteran reporter's refusal to cover a child killing, and CNN's chief correspondent's plea for honesty - the media industry is addressing the psychological toll of storytelling
dlvr.it
July 10, 2025 at 7:15 PM
How journalism is finally confronting its mental health crisis: A photographer's month in a Lebanese jail, a veteran reporter's refusal to cover a child killing, and CNN's chief correspondent's plea for honesty - the media industry is addressing the psychological toll of storytelling
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Just how badly are AI-powered overviews on web searches, esp Google, hurting website publishers? Very, very badly indeed. Traffic has collapsed 50% and online ad revenue could be down by $2bn per year.
winbuzzer.com/2025/06/20/c...
winbuzzer.com/2025/06/20/c...
Cloudflare: AI Poses 'Existential Threat' as Publisher Traffic Collapses - WinBuzzer
Cloudflare's CEO has revealed startling data showing AI search is causing a catastrophic collapse in publisher traffic, threatening the web's ad-supported business model.
winbuzzer.com
July 2, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Just how badly are AI-powered overviews on web searches, esp Google, hurting website publishers? Very, very badly indeed. Traffic has collapsed 50% and online ad revenue could be down by $2bn per year.
winbuzzer.com/2025/06/20/c...
winbuzzer.com/2025/06/20/c...
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
Meredith has always been a G, but it's still exceptionally weird and very refreshing hearing from a tech exec who can see through all of this AI bullshit for what it is at its foundation: a backdoor surveillance tool.
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
June 28, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Meredith has always been a G, but it's still exceptionally weird and very refreshing hearing from a tech exec who can see through all of this AI bullshit for what it is at its foundation: a backdoor surveillance tool.
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
"News media has now entered exponential change...If we don't get this right, we cease being the mainstream media": @adders.blog on @reutersinstitute.bsky.social's #DigitalNewsReport onemanandhisblog.com/2025/06/digi... "News ...is a service performed for the benefit of a population"
Digital News Report 2025: exponential media change is here
The era of incremental media change is over, and the emerging media tsunami is upon us. It's exponential all the way from here on out.
onemanandhisblog.com
June 17, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"News media has now entered exponential change...If we don't get this right, we cease being the mainstream media": @adders.blog on @reutersinstitute.bsky.social's #DigitalNewsReport onemanandhisblog.com/2025/06/digi... "News ...is a service performed for the benefit of a population"
Excellent and troubling interview with @marcishore.bsky.social
Why a professor of fascism left the US: ‘The lesson of 1933 is – you get out’
Marci Shore made news around the world when her family moved to Canada. She discusses Trump, teaching history and how terror atomises society
www.theguardian.com
June 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Excellent and troubling interview with @marcishore.bsky.social
Reposted by Kristine Lowe
I ran an experiment, simultaneously posting articles on Bluesky and X, and then testing to see how many people actually clicked and read them. The numbers on Bluesky are higher, both because the X algorithm downranks journalism, and because Bluesky attracts readers, not just shitposters.
June 9, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I ran an experiment, simultaneously posting articles on Bluesky and X, and then testing to see how many people actually clicked and read them. The numbers on Bluesky are higher, both because the X algorithm downranks journalism, and because Bluesky attracts readers, not just shitposters.