Brian Waismeyer
@yetanotherbrian.bsky.social
former Trust & Safety researcher and data scientist (Facebook, pre-Musk Twitter).
not sure social media should exist, but it does, so I tried to help it be better.
grateful to be doing more joyful data work at Wizards these days. =)
30+ | he / him | WA
not sure social media should exist, but it does, so I tried to help it be better.
grateful to be doing more joyful data work at Wizards these days. =)
30+ | he / him | WA
I would ENTHUSIASTICALLY pay more if I knew creators (designers, artists, QA, devs, etc) were being paid fairly and treated well.
I would pay more even if it took longer to make the games.
honestly, that would probably often result in BETTER games, but I'd pay more even it made games worse.
I would pay more even if it took longer to make the games.
honestly, that would probably often result in BETTER games, but I'd pay more even it made games worse.
I agree that video games are often underpriced compared to the enjoyment you get out of them, but the industry’s problems seem more related to abysmal management than consumers being unwilling to pay for good games.
AAA video games should cost $100 on launch. this would still be extremely cheap for the amount of time and enjoyment you get out of them! But an audience of whiny babies has kept them literally at the same price for *two decades* despite both general inflation *and* sector-specific costs rising
October 24, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I would ENTHUSIASTICALLY pay more if I knew creators (designers, artists, QA, devs, etc) were being paid fairly and treated well.
I would pay more even if it took longer to make the games.
honestly, that would probably often result in BETTER games, but I'd pay more even it made games worse.
I would pay more even if it took longer to make the games.
honestly, that would probably often result in BETTER games, but I'd pay more even it made games worse.
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
Anyway, when all of this started, I kept saying that you have to always look at these new technologies through the contempt that the tech world has for labor, and their campaign to destroy anything they can get their hands on for a bit more money. Human deskilling, not flourishing, is their goal.
August 3, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Anyway, when all of this started, I kept saying that you have to always look at these new technologies through the contempt that the tech world has for labor, and their campaign to destroy anything they can get their hands on for a bit more money. Human deskilling, not flourishing, is their goal.
authoritarian checklist would have been a better label.
tho I get that the goal of calling it a playbook is that it highlights the way that authoritarians are usually proactive and intentional in their efforts.
tho I get that the goal of calling it a playbook is that it highlights the way that authoritarians are usually proactive and intentional in their efforts.
A thing I think we miss is that the “authoritarian playbook” isn’t a set of instructions authoritarians are reading from, it’s just a list of things that happen when narcissists get too much power.
August 3, 2025 at 5:17 PM
authoritarian checklist would have been a better label.
tho I get that the goal of calling it a playbook is that it highlights the way that authoritarians are usually proactive and intentional in their efforts.
tho I get that the goal of calling it a playbook is that it highlights the way that authoritarians are usually proactive and intentional in their efforts.
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
It’s not just that they normalize political violence. They also accuse the left of engaging in mostly imaginary violence, which gives unhinged right-wingers justification to “retaliate.”
June 14, 2025 at 3:36 PM
It’s not just that they normalize political violence. They also accuse the left of engaging in mostly imaginary violence, which gives unhinged right-wingers justification to “retaliate.”
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
They launched a coup, suffered no consequences for it, won back power, and have used the power to pardon everyone involved while remaking the country through violence and intimidation. It’s just ridiculous to talk about the political violence of yelling at ICE agents within that context.
June 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
They launched a coup, suffered no consequences for it, won back power, and have used the power to pardon everyone involved while remaking the country through violence and intimidation. It’s just ridiculous to talk about the political violence of yelling at ICE agents within that context.
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
The idea that this political violence is the consequence of people on both sides cheering it on seems like a sympathetic point but just doesn’t hold up to history. In my adult life, I’ve seen people on the right do everything from kill politicians to kill regular citizens, and it’s shrugged off.
June 14, 2025 at 4:27 PM
The idea that this political violence is the consequence of people on both sides cheering it on seems like a sympathetic point but just doesn’t hold up to history. In my adult life, I’ve seen people on the right do everything from kill politicians to kill regular citizens, and it’s shrugged off.
I worked on intimate image harm moderation / reporting at Meta, and based on my personal experience I agree company leadership is not acting in good faith on the issue.
they elevate public facing fluff while ignoring and demoralizing people and teams trying to make Facebook (at minimum) less bad.
they elevate public facing fluff while ignoring and demoralizing people and teams trying to make Facebook (at minimum) less bad.
Meta has run at least hundreds of *ads* selling the implied creation of nonconsensual deepfakes of *children.* They are not engaging on this issue in good faith
For the folks who insisted that the (censorial, unconstitutional) Take It Down Act was necessary to punish Meta, and that those of us calling it out were "shills for big tech" Meta has always supported the bill, knowing it'll harm its smaller competitors.
April 30, 2025 at 4:02 AM
I worked on intimate image harm moderation / reporting at Meta, and based on my personal experience I agree company leadership is not acting in good faith on the issue.
they elevate public facing fluff while ignoring and demoralizing people and teams trying to make Facebook (at minimum) less bad.
they elevate public facing fluff while ignoring and demoralizing people and teams trying to make Facebook (at minimum) less bad.
the core concept of socialism / Marxism - that separation & imbalance in power between workers and capital holders is toxic in both theory and in practice - is so transparently obvious that (most) capitalist systems try to safeguard against the worst abuses of it to slow their self-destruction.
Quite literally the only theorist people hold to the standard “well every single thing he ever said isn’t entirely true at this current moment so we should dismiss the rest of what he said forever” is Karl Marx
April 21, 2025 at 6:26 PM
the core concept of socialism / Marxism - that separation & imbalance in power between workers and capital holders is toxic in both theory and in practice - is so transparently obvious that (most) capitalist systems try to safeguard against the worst abuses of it to slow their self-destruction.
big mood.
If communism doesn’t work whatever I think we should just give it an honest shot and take all the capitalists wealth and at least make them start from scratch like
April 14, 2025 at 10:55 PM
big mood.
supporting this:
the people likely to suffer the most if the US keeps going this way should not be the ones we expect to fight it head on.
if there is any true obligation to fight for the US, that should fall on the relatively safe and comfortable allies* around them.
the people likely to suffer the most if the US keeps going this way should not be the ones we expect to fight it head on.
if there is any true obligation to fight for the US, that should fall on the relatively safe and comfortable allies* around them.
You're speaking to the daughter of a war refugee. The Biafra civil war to be exact.
I wouldn't be here today if my grandparents didn't leave for safety.
Love people, not countries.
I wouldn't be here today if my grandparents didn't leave for safety.
Love people, not countries.
As a parent of transgender child I have many fears that are extremely real being that people who are transgender are being physically assaulted in my community. We only love our country when it’s good for us? Are we just going run when it gets hard?
April 1, 2025 at 7:45 PM
supporting this:
the people likely to suffer the most if the US keeps going this way should not be the ones we expect to fight it head on.
if there is any true obligation to fight for the US, that should fall on the relatively safe and comfortable allies* around them.
the people likely to suffer the most if the US keeps going this way should not be the ones we expect to fight it head on.
if there is any true obligation to fight for the US, that should fall on the relatively safe and comfortable allies* around them.
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
thinking of one of abraham lincoln's great quotes this morning:
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
March 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
thinking of one of abraham lincoln's great quotes this morning:
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."
the people writing satires of war-loving, fascist regimes are weeping.
"what do we do now? that would have been over the top even for us..."
someone who played Helldivers 2 and didn't get the parody wrote this bullshit, and they deserve to be exiled more than any immigrant.
"what do we do now? that would have been over the top even for us..."
someone who played Helldivers 2 and didn't get the parody wrote this bullshit, and they deserve to be exiled more than any immigrant.
"freedom seeds" is somehow both cringe and incredibly dystopian
Just wasted four minutes thinking of how Rs would dunk on Ds if their social media referred to bullets as “freedom seeds.”
March 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
the people writing satires of war-loving, fascist regimes are weeping.
"what do we do now? that would have been over the top even for us..."
someone who played Helldivers 2 and didn't get the parody wrote this bullshit, and they deserve to be exiled more than any immigrant.
"what do we do now? that would have been over the top even for us..."
someone who played Helldivers 2 and didn't get the parody wrote this bullshit, and they deserve to be exiled more than any immigrant.
(speaking into a flashlight) and, in the dark, you would hear: errrr-MMmmM-EEEEEEEEEEEE!
YOU'VE GOT MAIL.
YOU'VE GOT MAIL.
(speaking into a flashlight) and you would lose your Internet connection if someone picked up the phone.
(speaking into a flashlight) and cellphone calls were only free after 9pm
March 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM
(speaking into a flashlight) and, in the dark, you would hear: errrr-MMmmM-EEEEEEEEEEEE!
YOU'VE GOT MAIL.
YOU'VE GOT MAIL.
(looks at images of destroyed buildings full of dead people that we killed to kill one guy kinda like a war crime)
going to (dis)respectfully disagree.
going to (dis)respectfully disagree.
Have I mentioned the cover-up is worse than the crime?
Because the cover-up is worse than the crime.
Because the cover-up is worse than the crime.
March 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
(looks at images of destroyed buildings full of dead people that we killed to kill one guy kinda like a war crime)
going to (dis)respectfully disagree.
going to (dis)respectfully disagree.
it's very tiring to constantly see Democrats and media orgs - when they meaningfully criticize and interrogate GOP nonsense at all - get hung up on details vs putting shit in context.
opsec blah blah? ok. sure.
but also:
* attempting to hide
* war crimes
* for favors from other countries
opsec blah blah? ok. sure.
but also:
* attempting to hide
* war crimes
* for favors from other countries
I think it’s important to realize the Atlantic editor is ex idf and has a history of promoting the US imperial line not because it’s a “conspiracy” but because it’s good for people to know Pete H doesn’t have his number on signal by accident, but only added him to that particular chat by accident.
March 25, 2025 at 7:06 PM
it's very tiring to constantly see Democrats and media orgs - when they meaningfully criticize and interrogate GOP nonsense at all - get hung up on details vs putting shit in context.
opsec blah blah? ok. sure.
but also:
* attempting to hide
* war crimes
* for favors from other countries
opsec blah blah? ok. sure.
but also:
* attempting to hide
* war crimes
* for favors from other countries
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress.
March 24, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I'm Kat Abughazaleh and I'm running for Congress.
I was born near here and can confirm!
Minnesota actually had to agree in advance to build the city to be featured in the game, including writing a whole bunch of lore for it!
Minnesota actually had to agree in advance to build the city to be featured in the game, including writing a whole bunch of lore for it!
HOOOOLY SHIT YALL i just found out they made an ENTIRE CITY based off the Minneapolis level of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater!! truly incredible.
March 17, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I was born near here and can confirm!
Minnesota actually had to agree in advance to build the city to be featured in the game, including writing a whole bunch of lore for it!
Minnesota actually had to agree in advance to build the city to be featured in the game, including writing a whole bunch of lore for it!
embarrassing take.
are there ugly misogynist bubbles of propaganda that a lot young men get sucked into?
yes. obviously.
but we fail bc we need to tear down those bubbles and what enables them.
plenty of people speak to and / or are good models for men!
they just get drowned out by trash.
are there ugly misogynist bubbles of propaganda that a lot young men get sucked into?
yes. obviously.
but we fail bc we need to tear down those bubbles and what enables them.
plenty of people speak to and / or are good models for men!
they just get drowned out by trash.
If progressives want to win back young men, then they must talk to them and address their needs, instead of constant scolding. All the finger wagging just drives them to Rogan, Peterson, and the Tate brothers. And they DO talk to young men.
March 8, 2025 at 6:32 PM
embarrassing take.
are there ugly misogynist bubbles of propaganda that a lot young men get sucked into?
yes. obviously.
but we fail bc we need to tear down those bubbles and what enables them.
plenty of people speak to and / or are good models for men!
they just get drowned out by trash.
are there ugly misogynist bubbles of propaganda that a lot young men get sucked into?
yes. obviously.
but we fail bc we need to tear down those bubbles and what enables them.
plenty of people speak to and / or are good models for men!
they just get drowned out by trash.
hate the reporting on this, because it's three lies and this hides the more important ones.
1. lying about amounts
2. lying that it's a "savings" (as if there is no cost to the loss of things or the method of cutting)
3. lying that they are in good faith trying to "save" anything
1. lying about amounts
2. lying that it's a "savings" (as if there is no cost to the loss of things or the method of cutting)
3. lying that they are in good faith trying to "save" anything
March 7, 2025 at 9:29 PM
hate the reporting on this, because it's three lies and this hides the more important ones.
1. lying about amounts
2. lying that it's a "savings" (as if there is no cost to the loss of things or the method of cutting)
3. lying that they are in good faith trying to "save" anything
1. lying about amounts
2. lying that it's a "savings" (as if there is no cost to the loss of things or the method of cutting)
3. lying that they are in good faith trying to "save" anything
Reposted by Brian Waismeyer
If your digital privacy advice is impractical for most people, you're committing malpractice.
Dogmatic, absolutist, elitist approaches towards privacy and security are actually harmful. These attitudes lead to "privacy nihilism", where people assume there's nothing they can do to help themselves.
Dogmatic, absolutist, elitist approaches towards privacy and security are actually harmful. These attitudes lead to "privacy nihilism", where people assume there's nothing they can do to help themselves.
December 1, 2024 at 6:48 PM
If your digital privacy advice is impractical for most people, you're committing malpractice.
Dogmatic, absolutist, elitist approaches towards privacy and security are actually harmful. These attitudes lead to "privacy nihilism", where people assume there's nothing they can do to help themselves.
Dogmatic, absolutist, elitist approaches towards privacy and security are actually harmful. These attitudes lead to "privacy nihilism", where people assume there's nothing they can do to help themselves.
trans man are men. trans women are women. trans people are people.
please know that you are valid and loved and cared for.
fuck anyone who says or votes otherwise.
please know that you are valid and loved and cared for.
fuck anyone who says or votes otherwise.
November 6, 2024 at 6:35 AM
trans man are men. trans women are women. trans people are people.
please know that you are valid and loved and cared for.
fuck anyone who says or votes otherwise.
please know that you are valid and loved and cared for.
fuck anyone who says or votes otherwise.
writer: [very high] so, like, instead of, like, a wood puppet becoming a boy...
editor: [very high] yea?!
writer: what if Pinocchio was, like, an ABSTRACT idea, ya know? like, what if... what if we made the CONCEPT of "both sides" into a real boy?
editor [realizing they are not high enough]: wtf
editor: [very high] yea?!
writer: what if Pinocchio was, like, an ABSTRACT idea, ya know? like, what if... what if we made the CONCEPT of "both sides" into a real boy?
editor [realizing they are not high enough]: wtf
October 17, 2024 at 10:47 PM
writer: [very high] so, like, instead of, like, a wood puppet becoming a boy...
editor: [very high] yea?!
writer: what if Pinocchio was, like, an ABSTRACT idea, ya know? like, what if... what if we made the CONCEPT of "both sides" into a real boy?
editor [realizing they are not high enough]: wtf
editor: [very high] yea?!
writer: what if Pinocchio was, like, an ABSTRACT idea, ya know? like, what if... what if we made the CONCEPT of "both sides" into a real boy?
editor [realizing they are not high enough]: wtf
it's not only morally good, it's more financially and logistically efficient! do it!
Remove means testing. I would rather every fraudster in the world get money they don’t deserve than one person be left hungry and unhoused
What’s your thing that shouldn’t be controversial in today’s politics but somehow is?
I want people to vote.
I want people to vote.
September 22, 2024 at 5:46 PM
it's not only morally good, it's more financially and logistically efficient! do it!
this also reminds me of the extent to which the media is willing to assume that the GOP will NOT do ("how much of this is just playing a character?") vs assuming what the Dems WILL do ("will X choice cause inflation?", "will Y policy FORCE the GOP to do bad things?").
exhausting.
exhausting.
That a Trump win will lead to thousands of dead children and a public health emergency because they will put a lunatic in charge of that stuff is getting very little media attention because the media wants Trump to win and attention on this helps Trump lose.
Trump will purify our precious bodily fluids
September 22, 2024 at 5:04 PM
this also reminds me of the extent to which the media is willing to assume that the GOP will NOT do ("how much of this is just playing a character?") vs assuming what the Dems WILL do ("will X choice cause inflation?", "will Y policy FORCE the GOP to do bad things?").
exhausting.
exhausting.