CSU Diversity/ Inclusivity Style Guide
See also: Disability language best practices
Kind: Notes
short content: a post or status update with just plain content and typically without a title
Categories
Article pairing: wealth disparity
WHY THE SUPER RICH ARE INEVITABLE by Alvin Chang | January 2023
Why do super rich people exist in a society?
Many of us assume it’s because some people make better financial decisions. But what if this isn’t true? What if the economy – our economy – is designed to create a few super rich people?
That’s what mathematicians argue in something called the Yard-sale model…
+
Who Benefits from Income and Wealth Growth in the United States? by Blanchet et al
Realtime Inequality provides the first timely statistics on how economic growth is distributed across groups. When new growth numbers come out each quarter, we show how each income and wealth group benefits.
Controlling for price inflation, average national income per adult in the United States decreased at an annualized rate of -2% in the third quarter of 2022, and average income for the bottom 50% shrunk by -2.4%.
Emphasis mine.
The blandness of TikTok’s biggest stars by Rebecca Jennings (Vox)
[P]op culture is being increasingly determined by algorithms… [W]hat we’re seeing is the lowest common denominator of what human beings want to look at, appealing to our most base impulses and exploiting existing biases toward thinness, whiteness, and wealth.
TikTok fame celebrates a different kind of mediocrity, though, the kind where “relatability” means adhering to the internet’s fluctuating beauty standards and approachable upper-middle-classness and never saying anything that might indicate a personality.
+
What Works by Tara McMullin
Creators are basing their livelihoods on the performance of an identity through the expression of their knowledge, experiences, or talents.
As our actions are influenced by what Richard Seymour dubs the twittering machine, our identities are revealed to us by the algorithm. Not only does the machine tell us who we are and who we will become, it turns around and sells us the symbols of the identity. My identity is commodified in an instant. Who I Am and What I Do On the Internet can feel like an act of self-expression, but they are more likely artifacts of conformity.
I just yawned, then my cat did. Happenstance or social contagion?
Categories
Twitter and social media commentary
Cleaning out some tabs…
To read:
The Billionaire and the Anarchists (Crimethinc) – 10/28
Elon Musk and the Narcissism/Radicalization Maelstrom (TPM) – 11/25
Genius Elon Musk is not so smart about Twitter (Mike’s List) – 12/6
There is no social media alternative (Ed Bott’s READ.ME) – 11/5
The Whiteness of Mastodon (Tech Policy Press) – 11/23
I don’t want to go back to social media (Lapcat Software) – 11/19
How to gain a gazillion followers online, Taco Bell Quarterly Style (LitHub) – 11/22
We Joined Mastodon. Here’s What We Learned About Privacy and Security (The Markup) – 11/21
OMG, a Right-Wing Jerk Can Buy Twitter! Media Concentration Matters (Counterpunch) – 12/1
There Is No Safe Alternative to Twitter (Yet) (Ginny.Today) – 5/13
How Web Platforms Collapse: The Facebook Case Study (The Honest Broker) – 12/4
It’s ok to feel sad about Twitter (Garbage Day) – 11/18
Social media is just a thing that happens (Garbage Day) – 11/9
Categories
Weeknotes: Dec 3-9
I tried out weeknotes this summer and fall over on my blog, but I’m not sure that’s the right place for them — going to try out posting them here on Fridays.
Stuff I did this week
- spent 9.5 hours on my novel — worked on outlining the next four chapters, which make up one big, very important sequence at the midpoint
- attended a 2-day virtual conference — two half days is a nice format
- published my birthday playlists on my website
- updated my RSS feed and newsletter subscriptions — when I finished, I counted my subscriptions by the gender of the author and was pleasantly surprised that the breakdown was pretty close — ignoring multi-author and anonymous authors, I follow 51 blogs by women and nonbinary authors and 58 written by men
- took the weekend off working / writing
- walked with a friend
- got my teeth cleaned
- used Teladoc to get a 3-month prescription for my birth control, so I have a countdown to find a new PCP
Reading
- read The Long Game, realized it was a sequel, then read the first book Heated Rivalry
- started reading Ducks by Kate Beaton
- still reading Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey and The 12 Week Year for Writers by Trevor Thrall
- added 19 books to my TBR based on end of year recs
Website changes
- added a land acknowledgment to my about page
- changed the background color from tan to a soft pink
- updated and reorganized the menu — added a writing heading
- created a page to collect pages on this site
- moved my listening stats onto a page for the year
Misinformation as an Obstacle to Science Communication
by Brian Southwell at RTI International
What is scientific misinformation? from Southwell et al for The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science:
- publicly misleading info that is misleading or deceptive relative to best available evidence at the time and
- counters statements by actors who adhere to scientific principles without adding accurate evidence for consideration
What’s the problem with misinformation?
- we are biased towards acceptance — we listen and then filter / think about it, which sometimes doesn’t happen sufficiently because we’re tired etc.
- there are reasons we share misinformation — we signal belonging with others by sharing info related to our identities
- our regulatory approach (in democracies) focuses on after-the-fact detection and response — does not censor info, prevent misinformation from being shared
- correction is hard
- emotions make us vulnerable — anger makes us more likely to accept misinformation
The Time is Always Now:
Centering Equity and Community Voice as an Evergreen Communications Tool
by Paj Nandi at DH
- everyone filters information through their unique lens of lived experience
- thus CONTEXT is essential to communicate effectively
- communications serves to share information AND power
- comms sits at the axis of power and access
- comms as strategy channels access, counters discrimination
- equity-centered philosophy:
- partner directly with community and shift power
- create positive narratives rooted in community
- work to undo harmful narrative
- practice cultural humility
- be mindful of own biases
- intent > process > outcome > impact
Categories
Music recommendations to check out
Categories
NaNoWriMo 2022 Day 30
Today’s first scene suffered from a shitty outline — I didn’t go into deep enough detail and it makes the writing much slower, because I’m having to choreograph as I’m writing. I finally wrapped that scene after three agonizing work blocks.
This evening I came back for another writing session, hoping to hit 45k, but realized I might want to switch POV characters for the next scene. I spent half an hour cleaning things up and thinking through word count. I’m working in mostly 1600 word blocks (two to a chapter, either combined as one 3200 word scene or two individual scenes, sometimes one from each character and sometimes from the same POV) so when I hit that word count it’s often about time to move into a new scene. I made a decision about what would happen in each of the next scenes and adjusted my loose outline, then spent another half an hour writing a detailed outline for the next scene.