Threads is girl internet, Twitter is boy internet
Zuck & Musk battle it out over text-based platforms.
Keep scrolling for the biggest theories about Olivia Rodrigo’s new song.
Instagram takes on Twitter with the launch of Threads
As Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk prepare for their possible cage match, Instagram launched its anticipated Twitter competitor, Threads, a day early.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, said Twitter’s “volatility” and “unpredictability” under Musk provided the opening to compete.
“Obviously, Twitter pioneered the space,” he said. “And there are a lot of good offerings out there for public conversations. But just given everything that was going on, we thought there was an opportunity to build something that was open and something that was good for the community that was already using Instagram.”
Meta describes Threads as a “sanely run Twitter” alternative designed for “public conversations.”
In its first 24 hours, Threads saw 30 million sign-ups.
Threads was primed for success thanks to Musk and several of his recent (unhinged) decisions, like implementing a rate limit for tweets users can see per day and requiring a Twitter account to read tweets.
The barrier to entry is also currently very low, with Instagram users easily able to sign up via their existing account— importing their bio, followed accounts, and profile photo.
By tying it to Instagram for its launch, Meta has ensured that Threads feels familiar and less intimidating to users than other Twitter alternatives like Mastodon.
The flip side, however, is that users can’t delete their Threads account without deactivating their Instagram account. This will likely change in the future when Meta inevitably splits the two platforms.
Read the full story via The Verge.
Colleen Ballinger accused of performing in Blackface in resurfaced video
Amid the ongoing manipulation and grooming allegations against Colleen Ballinger, a seemingly racist video of the YouTuber has resurfaced.
Uploaded on February 23, 2018, the YouTube video shows Colleen performing a rendition of Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ as her internet character Miranda Sings, where she appears to be in Blackface.
The performance is available on the Miranda Sings YouTube channel and is currently unlisted— meaning the clip can only be accessed through a link.
The video started going viral after commentary creator Paige Christie brought attention to the clip on Twitter.
Paige came across the clip after reading through two books by Miranda Sings, Selp Helf and My Diarrhe. The link to the performance was included as a QR code in My Diarrhe.
Colleen does not appear in Blackface in other videos, begging the question of why the influencer linked this specific performance in her book. Many internet users claim that this decision was intentional and a way to reaffirm her racist beliefs.
On July 6th, legal representatives for Colleen denied the Blackface accusation, claiming it was green face paint that she was wearing while performing 'Single Ladies’.
Fans claim it was following a segment where Colleen performed as Elphaba from Wicked.
Nevertheless, this is not the first time Colleen has been called out for racist behaviour.
Just last week, April Korto Quioh, a writers' assistant on Colleen's Netflix original Haters Back Off, published an exposé on Substack detailing her experience on the show. She claimed Colleen was egotistical, obsessed with adding incest references to the script, and often made racist microaggressions.
Colleen and her sister Rachel Ballinger also mocked Latinx women in old videos— speaking with parodied accents and wearing dark makeup.
Colleen’s friend and former podcast co-host, Trisha Paytas, also spoke out against the creator this week.
Trisha addressed claims made by former Colleen fan, Johnny Silvestri, that Colleen would message Trisha's nude photos to fans as a way to mock Trisha's body size.
Johnny posted several screenshots on July 3rd of alleged messages from Colleen to a young fan that included Trisha's OnlyFans content.
"I do not condone, at all, unsolicited nudes— sending unsolicited nudes to anybody, sex worker or not. I think using someone's nudes as a way to hurt them, make fun of them, make light of them, be mean, is the lowest form of human.”
Read the full story via Centennial World.
Welcome to the era of the trans it-girl
In a new piece for Vox, journalist Rebecca Jennings interviewed six of the “most trendsetting” trans women on the internet right now about what it’s like to be at the forefront of culture while also being targets of daily harassment online.
Jennings spoke with Antoni Bumba (creator of the viral BBL effect), Blizzy McGuire, Selyna Brillare, Junlper (June), Uniekue, and Kay Poyer.
In addition to asking them about their careers, milestones, and goals, Jennings spoke with some of the women about their financial situations. Despite being at the top of their industry, some of the women say they rarely get brand deals.
In America, LGBTQ+ workers earn about 90 cents for every dollar that non-LGBTQ+ identifying workers earn. LGBTQ+ people of colour, transgender women and men, and non-binary individuals earn even less when compared to straight workers.
Blizzy, who has nearly 250K followers on TikTok, still struggles to make ends meet.
“I’m not like Dixie D’Amelio, I’m not doing the ‘Renegade.’ I would like to be booked, I would like to have an income from all this stuff. I don’t want to be stuck in this cycle of bad retail job to bad retail job. I see these people who have fewer followers than me and they’re flying to Cancun so that they can do the ‘Renegade’; on a beach. I’m like, ‘Girl, what’s going on? Where’s my flight?’ At the end of the day, I’m still just that little broke girl from Long Island. I could be in a room with a whole bunch of big-name people, and I go home and my card’s getting declined at Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Selyna says she gets paid well for music gigs, but only gets a few "influencing jobs here and there.” She currently has over 604K followers on Instagram.
Uniekue, on the other hand, says she’s at the point where she can choose her brand sponsorships based on alignment. She has 232K followers on TikTok.
“If there’s no queer or trans representation within their corporate structure or their online presence, I also err on the side of caution. I try and gauge whether this is like a real thing or just a PR move. I’m really blessed to be at a point where I’m able to have that discernment and the security to turn certain deals down. When you are a queer person who is brought into mainstream spaces, sometimes there is this pressure to perform, and a pressure to shrink yourself and be more palatable for brands and executives or whoever the case may be. But I think that we do ourselves a disservice by not showing the full scope of our humanity in every space, because I think that until everyone can exist truly and freely as they are, we will never all be truly free.”
Unfortunately, following the Bud Light sponsorship situation with mega-influencer Dylan Mulvaney, trans creators are facing fewer monetisation opportunities than ever before.
Read the full story via Vox.
TikTok-famous comedian Ashley Gavin accused of being cruel to an audience member during a live show
Ashely Gavin is facing backlash after a former fan alleged the comedian told her to “kill herself” during a stand-up performance in Indianapolis.
Ashley is a 36-year-old New York-based comedian who rose to fame on TikTok.
Her comedy heavily features crowd-work and she mostly makes jokes about lesbian culture. She often encourages the crowd to get loud and frequently tells the audience not to “pull back” on their laughter when she makes uncomfortable jokes.
Ashley also hosts the popular podcast We’re Having Gay Sex and another podcast, Chosen Family, with two other creators.
On June 21st, a user named Olivia Neely took to TikTok to share her experience at Ashley’s recent Indianapolis show where she paid for VIP meet-and-greet tickets.
Olivia claims that Ashley looked her “dead in the eyes” and said “that I am the most annoying fan who has ever been to one of her shows.” Ashley then told Olivia to kill herself. Olivia says she already struggles with her mental health.
“I awkwardly shouted ‘I’ve already tried,’ reflecting on my past attempt and struggle with suicidal thoughts,” Olivia claimed in the accompanying Reddit post. “She then tells me I didn’t try hard enough and continues to tell me to kill myself over and over and over again. I started having a pit in my stomach and I was in pure shock. I’ve never had someone I [idolised] or anyone in general be so cruel.”
Weeks after Olivia’s video went viral, the audio from Ashley’s Indianapolis show has now been leaked, where she can be heard yelling at a crowd member, presumably Olivia.
“Two years ago, I had an abortion,” Ashley says in the recording. “No, kill yourself,” she says to someone in the crowd. Olivia shouts in response, “I tried!” and Ashley yells, “Shut the fuck up. That was the most virtue-signaling piece of dog shit I’ve ever seen in my entire life. […] You’re an annoying person. Try harder to kill yourself […] You just interrupted the tension that I was building into the joke. Your mother should’ve aborted you.”
Ashley has taken to TikTok to apologise, saying she let her “emotions get the best of [her]” during the set.
“I way, way over-reacted to an audience member’s interaction. I have been a comedian for almost 10 years. I know that I could have done better. I should have done better. And I want to be super clear about this. I took it way too far and I am so, so sorry.”
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Read the full story via Daily Dot.
Who is Olivia Rodrigo’s new song ‘vampire’ really about?
On June 30th, Olivia Rodrigo made her triumphant return with ‘vampire,’ the lead single from her highly anticipated second album, GUTS. The song’s lyrics, which seemingly reference a person in Olivia’s life who used her for fame and personal gain, have sparked a frenzy of speculation over who the song is about.
There are three main theories about who ‘vampire’ is based on: Adam Faze, Zack Bia, and Taylor Swift.
Adam Faze
Olivia dated Adam for about seven months. At the time Olivia was 18 years old and Adam was 24.
Vampires are depicted as immortal creatures in pop culture and often frozen at a young age— so some fans have suggested that Olivia could be referencing the six-year age gap with Adam in calling the song ‘vampire.’
The pair also made their public debut as a couple exactly two years before Olivia dropped ‘vampire.’
Zack Bia
Olivia and Zack were romantically linked after being spotted together in February 2022.
Given that they allegedly broke up in August the same year, many fans are convinced the song is about Zack because of the lyric “six months of torture.”
Another lyric that fits Zack is the description “only come out at night,” given that he is a DJ and socialite.
Numerous fans have noticed similarities between Olivia’s songwriting and another one of Zack’s ex-girlfriends, Madison Beer. Shannon of the Fluently Forward podcast pointed out the parallels between ‘vampire’ and Madison’s Selfish— a song that is rumoured to be about Zack.
In the accompanying music video, Olivia is performing at the “19th annual awards”. She dated Zack when she was 19 years old.
Taylor Swift
While it is widely known that Taylor is a significant source of inspiration for Olivia, there have been persistent rumours about a feud between the two singers.
The tension between them initially surfaced in 2021 when Olivia faced numerous plagiarism claims related to her debut album SOUR. In response to the outcry, Olivia and her label eventually gave writing credits to Taylor, Jack Antonoff, and St. Vincent due to perceived similarities between Olivia’s ‘deja vu’ and Taylor’s ‘Cruel Summer.’
But when SOUR received numerous Grammy nominations, Taylor and her team were reportedly not credited for ‘deja vu.’
Since then, fans noticed that the singers’ stopped supporting one another online. TikTok users like @thekylemarisa have also noted the parallels between Taylor’s most recent album, Midnights, and the lyrics in ‘vampire.’
Read the full story via Centennial World.
The Toxic Gossip Train: Colleen Ballinger Responds
This week’s infinite scroll podcast is a Colleen Ballinger scandal update. We first break down her response video/song that dropped last week and some key responses to her video from fans, fellow creators, and even her ex-husband. We then explore the new allegations against Colleen brought forward by April Quioh, the former Writers’ Assistant/Showrunner’s Assistant/Writers’ PA on Haters Back Off, and finish by diving into Trisha Paytas' new video addressing Colleen.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.