Breaking down the misogyny slop ecosystem
Last week, I collaborated with feminist YouTuber Ophie Dokie on a video breaking down what has become known as the Misogyny Slop Ecosystem. The misogyny slop ecosystem is a sprawling network of online creators and communities that manufacture and boost smear campaigns against women who speak out for women’s rights, or have been victims of gender-based crimes like sexual assault, harassment, or abuse.
Though you might have never heard of it, the misogyny slop ecosystem has radically transformed the online landscape and the content that you see. It plays a central role in the alt-right pipeline for women.
I talked to Ophie Dokie, the brilliant content creator and commentator who coined the term, and in our video we discuss the origins of misogyny slop, exactly what creators and communities make up this ecosystem, how it became so insanely profitable, and how all of it ultimately funnels women directly into the far right media machine.
I worked for two months on this video(!!) and it took weeks of editing. I don’t make any money from my YouTube channel, so if you want to support work like this please buy a paid subscription to User Mag. <3
A deep dive into the complex tragedy of Grimes
I joined two of my best friends, Matt Bernstein and Kat Tenbarge (who has an amazing new newsletter) to break down the strange tapestry of Grimes’s life. We discussed how she went from a certain type of extremely online Tumblr user in the year 2012 to the mother of three of Elon Musk’s children. We went deep on the Internet era that shaped millennials, pipelines to right-wing radicalization, and domestic abuse as a public spectacle. You can watch the video below on Matt’s YouTube channel, and don’t forget to subscribe to mine!
The history of influencers w/
I joined the podcast this week to chat about the history of influencers! We talked about everything from how the creator economy began, to the birth of influencer marketing, to the ways our world is being shaped by viral content, and more. I also shared my thoughts on Meghan Markle briefly in the beginning (I still haven’t watched her new show! It’s on my list for this weekend. Overall I’m a huge Meghan supporter and I feel bad for the hate that she’s had to endure). has a new Substack too! Link to subscribe here.
What I’m reading
Passes Lawsuit Exposes the Ethical Minefield of Underage Creators
As the lawsuit against Passes plays out, the issue of child influencers will undeniably be thrust further into the spotlight and create a feeding frenzy for regulators and the media. — Passionfruit (I wrote this!)
The questions ChatGPT shouldn’t answer
Should we allow chatbots to answer complex ethical questions about humanity, like the trolly problem? — The Verge
What We Lose When Our Memories Exist Entirely in Our Phones
What have we lost now that most of our memories exist in the cloud instead of things like ticket stubs in an old drawer? — Bloomberg
License to Shill: Inside Amazon’s 007 Takeover
Amazon approached Bond producer Barbara Broccoli with a pitch for a James Bond spin-off series based on Moneypenny. Once it was revealed that Broccoli called the Amazon execs “fucking idiots” to her friends, Jeff Bezos said, “I don’t care what it costs, get rid of her.” — The Hollywood Reporter
What It Takes to Sell Beauty on Douyin
Much like its Western counterpart TikTok, the short-form video app Douyin has become a vital part of the beauty marketing and e-commerce playbook in China. But growth on the app can be just as ephemeral as its trends. — Business of Fashion
The Diabolical World of Phone Scams
How the RCMP busted the biggest fraud ever to target Canadians—and why they can’t keep up anymore. — MacLeans
User Mag news rundown
- Coperni created a Tamagotchi handbag.
- Dan Bongino is postponing his arrival at the FBI so he can fulfill contracts with advertisers on his podcast.
- JD Vance tweeted about the warped big head meme, fun’s over.
- Can a clitoris be trained to read braille? The Vagina Museum answered this question in a long thread on Bluesky, apparently yes, you can read braille with your clit.
- King Charles is launching his own Apple Music radio show to showcase his favorite music.
- MrBeast, the biggest YouTuber on earth, is making more from selling chocolate than videos.
- Monica Lewinsky once wrote a poem about pizza.
- Angry Birds, Frogger and others are finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
- Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, had dinner with some of the most popular TikTok creators.
- Tucker Carlson’s interview with Sam Bankman-Fried was not approved by the US Bureau of Prisons, which placed him in solitary confinement after it was published.
, one of my all time favorite Gen Z writers about the internet and tech, has launched a new Substack called Phone Time
- Journalist Alex Kantrowitz built a simple game using Claude called The Journalist Game, where you move around a town square to try to talk to sources. Ask each source three times to get a scoop!
- Chinese AI agent runs 50 social media accounts 24/7 automatically.
- DOGE got access to the child-support database, meanwhile another DOGE guy at NASA left his calendar totally public.
- Instagram has launched over 20 new DM features in recent months. This chart breaks them all down.
- A new version of Monopoly replaces paper cash with a mobile app that tracks balances and properties.
- The classy fashion week debut of a brand formerly known as “Fecal Matter”.
- A San Francisco ally of Y Combinator’s Garry Tan tried to set a critics car on fire in the Tenderloin.
- A new platform called SHARE is trying to bring a profit-sharing model to film.
- Influencer’s ‘Lululemon Strategy’ travel hack to find nice neighborhoods sparks fierce debate.
- Bad actors have started a mass misinformation campaign to get Adin Ross unbanned from Twitch. Here’s a thread of his most egregious violations.
- Crypto funds seized by the government may go into a ‘digital Fort Knox.’
- ChatGPT doubled its weekly active users in under 6 months.
Doechii’s Paris fashion week looks were unparalleled:
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Related Knowledge Center: Social media
Social media platforms are the source of news for millions of people — and they have a fraught and ever-shifting relationship with the enterprises that provide that news.
The TikTok ban | The Meta-FTC trial
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors