Samantha Cole

Samantha Cole

Sam Cole is writing from the far reaches of the internet, about sexuality, the adult industry, online culture, and AI. She's the author of How Sex Changed the Internet and the Internet Changed Sex.
227 posts
Moderators Across Social Media Struggle to Contain Celebrations of UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Assassination

Moderators Across Social Media Struggle to Contain Celebrations of UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Assassination

While Reddit mods and admin try to keep up with the site's "no violence" terms of use, Facebook and LinkedIn is reacting with tens of thousands of laughing emojis.
Major Health Insurance Companies Take Down Leadership Pages Following Murder of United Healthcare CEO
insurance

Major Health Insurance Companies Take Down Leadership Pages Following Murder of United Healthcare CEO

Following the shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, multiple major health insurance companies have taken their executive leadership pages offline.
Your Bluesky Posts Are Probably In A Bunch of Datasets Now
Bluesky

Your Bluesky Posts Are Probably In A Bunch of Datasets Now

After a machine learning librarian released and then deleted a dataset of one million Bluesky posts, several other, even bigger datasets have appeared in its place—including one of almost 300 million non-anonymized posts.
Behind the Blog: How About Them Eggs
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: How About Them Eggs

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about traffic, a return to Azeroth, egg prices and bullying.
Someone Made a Dataset of One Million Bluesky Posts for 'Machine Learning Research'
Bluesky

Someone Made a Dataset of One Million Bluesky Posts for 'Machine Learning Research'

A Hugging Face employee made a huge dataset of Bluesky posts, and it’s already very popular. 
WTF Is Stake, the Online Casino Using Viral Posts to Advertise Its Gambling Site
advertising

WTF Is Stake, the Online Casino Using Viral Posts to Advertise Its Gambling Site

Stake is an online casino and sportsbook that's using watermarks on viral meme accounts to advertise on social media. But it goes deeper than that.
Behind the Blog: 'I Reject It!'
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: 'I Reject It!'

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about conjuring gaming memories, AI-generated Birkin bags, and a rejection of a certain type of criticism.
Spotify Has A Pirated Software Problem
spotify

Spotify Has A Pirated Software Problem

Playlists and "podcast" episode descriptions are hiding malware and piracy sites in plain sight on the streaming platform.
AI Companies Are Trying to Get MIT Press Books
AI

AI Companies Are Trying to Get MIT Press Books

The non-profit, university press asked its authors for input on how they'd prefer to see any hypothetical AI training deals handled, and plans to base future decisions on what they say, MIT Press told 404 Media.
HarperCollins Confirms It Has a Deal to Sell Authors' Work to AI Company
AI

HarperCollins Confirms It Has a Deal to Sell Authors' Work to AI Company

The Big Five publisher made a deal with an unnamed “artificial intelligence technology company” and is allowing authors to opt-in if they want to join the agreement.
Behind the Blog: Political Perspectives and Platforms
Behind The Blog

Behind the Blog: Political Perspectives and Platforms

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about data storage, political perspectives and platforms.
‘Not a Scam 😂:’ Caitlyn Jenner Is Being Sued For Memecoin Securities Fraud

‘Not a Scam 😂:’ Caitlyn Jenner Is Being Sued For Memecoin Securities Fraud

The plaintiffs allege they've lost tens of thousands of dollars on investments into Caitlyn Jenner's $JENNER memecoin.