Issue 24

the Week of July 20, 2015
Image of a bare wood infrastructure against the sky.

In this issue, read new articles on addiction in tech, the failures of games moderation, and anti-black violence and media consumption. We explore social media activism in the Native American community, and discuss how new and emerging groups are building safe spaces online. Plus, a new approach to tech’s “pipeline problem,” and crime and punishment on major Internet platforms. Photo CC-BY Martin Pettitt, cropped & filtered.

Sign reading "Comment Alley".

How Niche Sites are Building Safe Spaces and Better Communities

I spoke to the founders and editors of Femsplain, CirclePlus.co, Black Girl Nerds, Thurst and Autostraddle to find out what it takes to create safe spaces online.

Photo of the author standing behind a wire fence and looking out over roads, fields and hills in Pine Ridge, SD. Her back is to the camera and her red sweatshirt reads "Oglala Lakota Nation."

Word Warriors: Fight For Your Rights

In the wipe of rights to our ancestral homelands and the realization that a country we call home doesn’t understand our sovereignty, social media has played a huge role in igniting movements that bring awareness and positive change.

Characters fight a large dragon in Guild Wars 2.

Privilege and Rules in Online Play: Institutional Failures of the Video Game Industry

Simply telling people to use the ignore function is not going to curtail decades-long problems in video games communities.

A rusty, curving pipe along a river.

Re-Recruit From the Leaky Pipeline

How did we become so invisible, irrecoverable stats in dreary headline after dreary headline? And what would be possible if we weren’t?

Black hands outstretched and holding on to a large pillar.

Trauma and Spectacle: Antiblack Violence and Media

The subjugation of Black people will never end until white people confront their desire to see Black bodies suffer.

Broken beer bottle on the ground.

The UX of Alcohol Abuse: Reflections on a Year of Sobriety

A cautionary tale to individuals and organizations, a call to action to be more proactive against alcohol abuse, and the start of a dialogue within our community.

This issue is made possible in part by some of our generous readers: Christina Morillo, Christian Müller, Elea Chang, Cate Huston, Fiona Tay and Dylan Staley.Â