Social Studies

Below is a collection of every Social Studies article by The Information.
Art by Clark Miller.
Social Studies

Can Instagram Save the Department Store?

By Annie Goldsmith · Dec 16, 2023 6:00am PST · 2 comments
Tyler Bell was encouraging all her clients to “tag your bag.” Every time Bell, a Saks Fifth Avenue stylist in Troy, Mich., closed a sale, she asked the buyer to show off their purchase on Instagram and tag her account, @tyler.saks. Bell posts Saks inventory multiple times a day on Instagram Stories. Her 27,000 followers will message... Tyler Bell was encouraging all her clients to “tag your bag.” Every time Bell, a Saks...
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

The Surprise Fanatics for Meta’s VR Headset? Your Mom’s Facebook Friends

By Pranav Dixit · Nov 10, 2023 9:00am PST · 4 comments
Karla Mellinger doesn’t care about the metaverse. “It’s silly,” said the 62-year-old from Spokane, Wash., who works as a credit manager at a company that manufactures steel studs used in construction. “The whole thing is just silly.” And yet, five days a week, Mellinger straps on a Meta Quest 2 virtual reality... Karla Mellinger doesn’t care about the metaverse. “It’s silly,” said the...
GeoGuessr phenom Trevor Rainbolt. Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

A Geography Game Has Its First Superstar. Can It Survive Its First Player Revolt?

By Jessica Lucas · Oct 13, 2023 9:00am PDT · 1 comment
The final round of GeoGuessr’s World Cup qualifiers was a tense watch for fans of the game, which challenges players to precisely locate a completely random location on Earth, as seen on Google Street View. It had all boiled down to two players and one picture: a narrow tarmac road flanked by two sloping banks of snow, with only a hint of... The final round of GeoGuessr’s World Cup qualifiers was a tense watch for fans of the game,...
Art by Clark Miller
Threading the Needle: Social Media Power Users Are Divided About Threads
By Chris Stokel-Walker · Jul 21, 2023 11:00am PDT · 12 comments
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

Threading the Needle: Social Media Power Users Are Divided About Threads

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Jul 21, 2023 11:00am PDT · 12 comments
When Chris Messina joined Google back in 2010 as a user experience designer, he was placed within a team devoted to making Google+, the company’s big bet in social media, a success. The network, launched in 2011, was designed to bring Google’s might to the world of social media and supplant some of the big beasts of the time,... When Chris Messina joined Google back in 2010 as a user experience designer, he was placed within...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
Social Studies

A New VC-Beloved Startup Rips a Page From Meta’s Playbook

By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 7, 2023 11:00am PDT · 2 comments
It’s a return to a simpler version of a popular social network. An app without fancy bells and whistles. A new iteration of a famously walled garden, one less commercialized, uncluttered (so far) by advertising, and with more palatable ownership. No, I’m not talking about Instagram’s Threads. This week, as Meta Platforms... It’s a return to a simpler version of a popular social network. An app without fancy bells...
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

Rave on the Nile: The Secretive Jetsetters Rethinking the Future of Travel

By Annie Goldsmith · Jun 9, 2023 11:00am PDT · 6 comments
On a warm night last month, pop singer Mike Posner was working to whip up a crowd gathered in front of the Great Pyramids. “Is anybody out there aliiive?” he yelled from a stage. The 200-person group let out an affirmative whoop. Posner, clad completely in white from headscarf down, launched into a rendition of his pop-chart hit... On a warm night last month, pop singer Mike Posner was working to whip up a crowd gathered in...
Art by Clark Miller.
Social Studies

The Day TikTok Went Dark in India

By Amanda Florian · May 26, 2023 11:00am PDT · 8 comments
On June 29, 2020, as thunderstorms swept Mumbai and daily Covid-19 cases in India surged by almost 20,000, millions of people began experiencing a flood of network errors on their mobile devices. TikTok—and nearly 60 other Chinese apps—had been driven offline in the world’s largest democracy. A sweeping government crackdown on... On June 29, 2020, as thunderstorms swept Mumbai and daily Covid-19 cases in India surged by...
Art by Clark Miller.
ByteDance Is Luring Creators Onto TikTok’s Sibling App—Will They Stick Around?
By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 28, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment
Art by Clark Miller.
Social Studies

ByteDance Is Luring Creators Onto TikTok’s Sibling App—Will They Stick Around?

By Annie Goldsmith · Apr 28, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment
Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice creators plugging yet another new social media platform. “Follow me on Lemon8!” one said. “It’s going to be the next big thing” the next interjected. “You need to get on TikTok’s new app Lemon8,” another... Earlier this spring, as Clare Sullivan scrolled through her TikTok feed, she began to notice...
Art by Clark Miller.
Social Studies

Wall Street Wants to Dance With TikTok—but Not When Anyone’s Watching

By Michael Roddan · Apr 21, 2023 11:30am PDT · 1 comment
JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a busy week on social media. The bank’s Instagram account shared a picture snapped by one of its employees, Jock G., from atop a 13,000-foot peak in Colorado. Another post showed footage of a corporate run for workers in India. Meanwhile, over at its Facebook page, the bank celebrated the crowning of Miss New... JPMorgan Chase & Co. had a busy week on social media. The bank’s Instagram account...
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

The Rise of the Not-Home Not-Office

By Arielle Pardes · Apr 14, 2023 11:00am PDT · 11 comments
When Jamie Snedden moved to San Francisco from London in late 2021, it occurred to him that he didn’t actually know how to make friends. In college, an abundance of common areas and extracurricular clubs had made it easy to meet new people. Now, working remotely for a startup, he barely left the house. He considered roving between coffee... When Jamie Snedden moved to San Francisco from London in late 2021, it occurred to him that he...
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

How Chess.com Became ‘the Wild West of the Streaming World’

By Jessica Lucas · Apr 7, 2023 11:00am PDT · 1 comment
When Michael Brancato began working with Chess.com in late 2017, it wasn’t particularly popular. A product manager at Twitch, Brancato was tapped to spearhead a two-year partnership between the chess site and the video streaming giant, hoping to grow the 1,500-year-old game’s reputation as a legitimate e-sport. He had his work cut... When Michael Brancato began working with Chess.com in late 2017, it wasn’t particularly...
Illustration by Mike Sullivan
At Google, Meta and Other Tech Companies, the Layoffs Are Streaming Live on TikTok
By Chris Stokel-Walker · Jan 26, 2023 10:21am PST · 4 comments
Illustration by Mike Sullivan
Social Studies

At Google, Meta and Other Tech Companies, the Layoffs Are Streaming Live on TikTok

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Jan 26, 2023 10:21am PST · 4 comments
Like many of the 12,000 workers laid off by Google last Friday, Zac Bowling didn’t see it coming. The software engineer, who had worked at the tech giant since May 2015, was building what Google has billed as the future of operating systems, its Fuschia project. He thought his company and his job were safe from the widespread layoffs... Like many of the 12,000 workers laid off by Google last Friday, Zac Bowling didn’t see it...
Art by Clark Miller.
Social Studies

Why the Long Face, Founder? The New Executive Coach Has Four Legs and a Mane

By Arielle Pardes · Jan 6, 2023 11:00am PST · 5 comments
Last year, Eurie Kim, a managing partner at Forerunner Ventures, took some of her portfolio founders on a field trip. They were going to spend the day at the Golden Gate Dairy Stables, a ranch in Marin County traversed by scenic trails with pristine views of the Northern California coastline. But Kim and the startup founders weren’t there... Last year, Eurie Kim, a managing partner at Forerunner Ventures, took some of her portfolio...
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

The Season’s Hottest Toy? Hint: It’s a YouTuber

By Abram Brown · Dec 22, 2022 12:00pm PST
In September, Simon Philips found himself in an uncomfortable situation: seated across the aisle from two small children on a 10-hour work flight from Los Angeles to London. “Oh, god. What are they going to do?” Philips remembers thinking. As a father of two, Philips knows how bored kids can behave. Moreover, he’s spent a... In September, Simon Philips found himself in an uncomfortable situation: seated across the aisle...
Animation by Clark Miller
Social Studies

By Day, Elon Musk Rules Twitter—by Night, He’s Invading Our Dreams

By Zara Stone · Nov 23, 2022 12:00pm PST · 4 comments
Elon Musk made his first speaking appearance in Aaron Neyer’s dream life one night in mid-November. Neyer, a developer relations engineer at Google, dreamt that he was inside Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, where he spotted Musk exiting a meeting. He rushed over to the new Twitter owner and sounded out Musk’s... Elon Musk made his first speaking appearance in Aaron Neyer’s dream life one night in...
Art by Clark Miller
Students Are Using AI Text Generators to Write Papers—Are They Cheating?
By Chris Stokel-Walker · Oct 28, 2022 11:30am PDT · 7 comments
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

Students Are Using AI Text Generators to Write Papers—Are They Cheating?

By Chris Stokel-Walker · Oct 28, 2022 11:30am PDT · 7 comments
When West—not his real name—enrolled in college last year at the University of Rhode Island, he quickly realized that his professors expected a lot out of him. He had scheduled teaching, he had assignments, he had tests—and he didn’t want to devote an equal amount of time to all of them. “I would like to say I’m pretty smart,” West said. So he... When West—not his real name—enrolled in college last year at the University of Rhode Island, he...
Art by Clark Miller
Social Studies

‘Sometimes You’ve Got to Fight Fire With Fire’: A Vigilante Coder Goes to War Against Misinformation

By Jessica Lucas · Oct 14, 2022 1:00pm PDT · 1 comment
For the people closest to Christopher Bouzy, like his wife Jennifer, the battles he wages against trolls online can be both captivating and devastating to watch. “It’s fun when he mops the floor with them,” she said. “I’m really proud! I’m like, ‘Yeah! Get them.’ But it’s stressful. Especially when they put out your address and all this other... For the people closest to Christopher Bouzy, like his wife Jennifer, the battles he wages against...
A collage of Shuffles collages by Mike Sullivan.
Social Studies

Can a New Collage App Make Pinterest Cool Again?

By Annie Goldsmith · Aug 26, 2022 9:01am PDT
Bec Martínez-Cristillo was hours into her search for an eight-character access code. She’d scrolled through Reddit threads. She’d sorted through hundreds of TikTok and Instagram comments. She’d even considered buying a codeon Depop, Gen Z’s favorite resale app, where they were priced from $5 to $100. Then, late last week, Martínez-Cristillo... Bec Martínez-Cristillo was hours into her search for an eight-character access code. She’d...
Art by Mike Sullivan.
Social Studies

How BeReal Became NSFW: Photo-Snapping Gen Z Employees Create a New Privacy Worry for Employers

By Annie Goldsmith · Aug 5, 2022 12:00pm PDT · 5 comments
It was 2:37 p.m. on a Tuesday when new university grad Connor (not his real name) got the push notification on his iPhone: “It’s time to BeReal!” A full-time employee in the corporate offices of a major retailer, Connor took his cue from the red-hot social media app BeReal and shot a quick photo of his workstation. He then scrolled through his... It was 2:37 p.m. on a Tuesday when new university grad Connor (not his real name) got the push...
Art by Clark Miller.
Bad Algorithm! How to Retrain Your Social Media Feed
By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 29, 2022 10:00am PDT
Art by Clark Miller.
Social Studies

Bad Algorithm! How to Retrain Your Social Media Feed

By Annie Goldsmith · Jul 29, 2022 10:00am PDT
The algorithms have some behaviorial issues. All over social media, people are complaining about the content recommendation engines have been spinning up recently. It’s too random. It’s “terrible…unusable…like junk mail.” It’s even, at times, oddly biblical. This is a dramatic reversal from an earlier cultural moment, when Instagram’s and TikTok... The algorithms have some behaviorial issues. All over social media, people are complaining about...