Kristin Merrilees
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kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
Kristin Merrilees
@kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
220 followers 150 following 31 posts
internet culture writer, journalist
@columbiajournalism, alum @barnard
phonetime.news
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kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
Kristin Merrilees @kristinmerrilees.bsky.social · Mar 17
i haven’t shared it on bluesky yet but i have a new substack called PHONE TIME!!! i hope you will subscribe and enjoy!! :)

phonetime.substack.com
Hi! My name is Kristin Merrilees, and I’m a writer, journalist, and creator covering the internet — think TikTok trends, niche communities, memes, platform features, and more. Today, I’m launching PHONE TIME, a new publication and newsletter on Substack. It’s free (for now)! A lot has changed since I first started writing about the internet a few years ago — from the Twitter-to-X transformation to TikTok’s rise as an impossible-to-ignore cultural and economic engine. At the same time, while trust in legacy outlets has declined, a new media ecosystem has flourished. Creators, Instagrammers, podcasters, Substackers, TikTokers, and others have built brands delivering incisive commentary and original insights across fashion, food, technology, and beyond. The internet is facing real threats — from disinformation to increased corporate control — but it also remains a space of constant creativity and cultural shifts. With PHONE TIME, I aim to deliver critical writing and original reporting about the internet, not just looking at trends in isolation but digging deep into the cultural transformations happening before our eyes. Here’s a little bit more about what to expect: Reviews of new social apps, online tools, and internet/tech-related media (everything from books to movies to YouTube videos to Instagram accounts) Interviews with online creators, technologists, and makers shaping digital culture Service journalism on how to live with technology amidst fragmentation, information overload, and algorithmic feeds Original reporting on online trends, platforms, and communities
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
ienjoymusic.net
you should definitely subscribe to PHONE TIME and not just because i did an interview for it!

www.phonetime.news/p/i-enjoy-mu...
I Enjoy Music is a callback to old-school music blogging
A conversation with Molly Mary O'Brien about the state of music publications, the joys of personal writing, and how to get people to actually read things.
www.phonetime.news
September 12, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
ienjoymusic.net
listened to a song rec by @kristinmerrilees.bsky.social, went down a bit of a rabbit hole of production music, TV theme songs, ARPEGGIATION, and a bonus Sliding Doors career moment...

www.ienjoymusic.net/music-moots-...
music moots with PHONE TIME's Kristin Merrilees ("Keep Your Head" by David O'Dowda)
We are extremely back with Music Moots™, the blogseries where I ask someone to recommend me a song they like, and then I listen to the song and then write a little about it. Today we have Kristin Mer...
www.ienjoymusic.net
September 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
jbenmenachem.com
Always curious to see who gets to be an anonymous source!
While Mr. Mamdani was not a target of the hack, the information about him was included in a database of millions of student applications to Columbia going back decades. The data was shared with The Times by an intermediary who goes by the name Crémieux on Substack and X and who is an academic and an opponent of affirmative action. The Times agreed to withhold his real name.
July 3, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
maxy.bsky.social
Chatted a little about The HTML Review with the great @kristinmerrilees.bsky.social www.phonetime.news/p/the-html-r...
the html review is a journal of literature 'made to exist on the web'
Published each spring, the html review features poetry, nonfiction, fiction, graphics, and experimental works that use the web as a medium.
www.phonetime.news
June 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
droqen.bsky.social
www.phonetime.news/p/making-gam...

yay phonetime! @kristinmerrilees.bsky.social and i had a nice phone time (we talked on the phone), she asked me some questions about my droqevers & we chatted abt various things

some of your droqever comments are immortalized there, in screenshots...
Making games that disappear
Game designer droqen on the evolution of his work, droqevers, and newest game "The End of Gameplay."
www.phonetime.news
June 9, 2025 at 10:37 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
i did some scrolling for you

www.phonetime.news/p/i-scrolled...
I scrolled to the bottom of Instagram's Instagram grid
Plus, an update from The Browser Company and the end of read-it-later app Pocket.
www.phonetime.news
May 29, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
onthemedia.bsky.social
“The reason they’re doing [this] is to try to create an environment of fear, to try to get people like myself... to shut the fuck up,” Piker said on a stream recounting the details of the incident.

www.usermag.co/p/hasan-pike...
Hasan Piker detained at the border and questioned for hours over politics
"They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently"
www.usermag.co
May 12, 2025 at 7:47 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
Material Grrrlz has built a fiber arts community through memes, a magazine, and meetups.

I talked with founder Alexa Kari in the latest PHONE TIME!! (pics courtesy Material Grrrlz)

open.substack.com/pub/phonetim...
Material Grrrlz is building a fiber arts community through memes, meetups, and a magazine
A conversation with Material Grrrlz founder Alexa Kari.
open.substack.com
May 4, 2025 at 10:40 AM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
My first interview for PHONE TIME was a few weeks ago with Amy Burek of Awkward Ladies Club. Burek has been making zines about the internet—touching on Reddit, Wikipedia, LiveJournal, and more—since 2012

Thanks for reading, lots more to come :)

open.substack.com/pub/phonetim...
Amy Burek on her publishing project Awkward Ladies Club, zine-making, and the joys of internet forums
Burek has made zines about Wikipedia list pages, internet parenting advice, LiveJournal entries, and Craigslist dating ads.
open.substack.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
ronbronson.com
Glad that @kristinmerrilees.bsky.social is back to writing her newsletter again, her insights and pulse into where the Zoomers and post-Zoomers are trending is quality reading.
Being offline is the hottest thing to post online
Plus, some of my favorite corners from around the internet.
phonetime.substack.com
April 9, 2025 at 6:48 AM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
i haven’t shared it on bluesky yet but i have a new substack called PHONE TIME!!! i hope you will subscribe and enjoy!! :)

phonetime.substack.com
Hi! My name is Kristin Merrilees, and I’m a writer, journalist, and creator covering the internet — think TikTok trends, niche communities, memes, platform features, and more. Today, I’m launching PHONE TIME, a new publication and newsletter on Substack. It’s free (for now)! A lot has changed since I first started writing about the internet a few years ago — from the Twitter-to-X transformation to TikTok’s rise as an impossible-to-ignore cultural and economic engine. At the same time, while trust in legacy outlets has declined, a new media ecosystem has flourished. Creators, Instagrammers, podcasters, Substackers, TikTokers, and others have built brands delivering incisive commentary and original insights across fashion, food, technology, and beyond. The internet is facing real threats — from disinformation to increased corporate control — but it also remains a space of constant creativity and cultural shifts. With PHONE TIME, I aim to deliver critical writing and original reporting about the internet, not just looking at trends in isolation but digging deep into the cultural transformations happening before our eyes. Here’s a little bit more about what to expect: Reviews of new social apps, online tools, and internet/tech-related media (everything from books to movies to YouTube videos to Instagram accounts) Interviews with online creators, technologists, and makers shaping digital culture Service journalism on how to live with technology amidst fragmentation, information overload, and algorithmic feeds Original reporting on online trends, platforms, and communities
March 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
retrocomps.bsky.social
One thing I have a devil of a time finding are 'electric brains', the various purpose-built devices made for computing after electrification but prior to modern electromechanical parts. Any leads are appreciated.
An ad from a 1957 issue of Popular Electronics magazine. Up top, the title: "New! A machine that COMPOSES MUSIC!" To the top left, an image of the "Geniac Electric Brain," a masonite board with a set of six ceramic dials in which electronic components may be mounted; these dials are turned for input and the connections underneath serve as the analog "timer" of sorts; the side has a series of four lights, the machine's output. To the top right, an image of a tune created by the Geniac. Below, dense type promotes the machine ("Yes, you can build any one of 33 electric brain machines!" "Over 400 components and parts!" "Your cost for GENIAC kit: Only $19.95 postpaid" (roughly $200 today). A sidebar lists institutions that have purchased GENIACs (including IBM, Bell, and Westinghouse); at the bottom is an ordering sheet for the Oliver Garfield Co., plus options to show interest in various other scientific fields.
March 16, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
samleecole.bsky.social
NASA workers were told to "drop everything" and spend their time scrubbing mentions of women in leadership, indigenous people, and environmental justice from the web: www.404media.co/nasa-dei-dro...
Workers at NASA Told to ‘Drop Everything’ to Scrub Mentions of Indigenous People, Women from Its Websites
"This is a drop everything and reprioritize your day request," a directive "per NASA HQ direction" stated.
www.404media.co
February 4, 2025 at 3:09 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
$2 total from the used bookstore!!
The Internet for Dummies & The Internet Complete Reference Part IV: Finding Stuff on the Net
January 18, 2025 at 5:13 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
Read my short history of social networking at Columbia — covering email, blogs, Facebook, Snapchat, Yik Yak, Instagram, meme pages, Sidechat, and more!!

www.columbiaspectator.com/arts-and-cul...
From blogging to Sidechat: A short history of social networking at Columbia
From posting Instagram photo dumps at the end of the semester to checking Sidechat while procrastinating for finals, social media is a fact of life for virtually everyone at Columbia. The virtual plat...
www.columbiaspectator.com
December 17, 2024 at 2:34 AM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
my story on memenome, founded by jackie ni, cc ‘26, which describes itself as “the original pdf to brainrot”

www.columbiaspectator.com/arts-and-cul...
Memenome, founded by Jackie Ni, CC ’26, is turning PDFs into ‘brainrot’
Step aside, ChatGPT: A new startup is betting on using “brainrot” to help students learn.
www.columbiaspectator.com
December 3, 2024 at 3:00 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
is there a meme community on bluesky ‼️
November 19, 2024 at 1:29 AM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
csmapnyu.org
New report on America's news influencers from @pewresearch.org & @knightfdn.bsky.social offers some interesting insights:

- 21% of adults get news from influencers (more for young ppl)
- More influencers lean to the right (27 to 21%)
- More are men (63 to 30%)

www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2...
November 18, 2024 at 6:13 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
meme for friends
the “new york or la” meme with two women but it’s “twitter or blue sky” and she responds “google+”
November 16, 2024 at 5:30 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
Read my review of “Paper of Wreckage” 🗞️

www.columbiaspectator.com/arts-and-cul...
Review: ‘Paper of Wreckage’ delivers a juicy, comprehensive history of the New York Post
Salacious headlines, a no-holds-barred approach to subject matter, and distinct cover pages—if you know New York City, then you know the New York Post. But, as argued in the recently released book “Pa...
www.columbiaspectator.com
November 15, 2024 at 6:05 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
elf bar vape with bluesky logo
November 15, 2024 at 5:10 PM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
is it really worth it bluesky butterfly meme
November 15, 2024 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
memes incoming
April 27, 2023 at 4:33 AM
kristinmerrilees.bsky.social
WHERE ARE MY OOMFS!
November 15, 2024 at 4:20 PM
Reposted by Kristin Merrilees
ycsm1n.bsky.social
what posting on here feels like
November 14, 2024 at 7:44 AM