This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss Instagram's anti-sex policies, Google News AI garbage, and handing over ID all over the internet.
EMANUEL: I’m back! I was away on parental leave since late November and while I did check in on the 404 Media crew and the state of the world occasionally, I’ve been deeply embedded in baby world, which consists entirely of piss, shit, vomit, and other liquids. I know that might sound bad but it’s been as great and magical as everyone says. I’m thinking a lot about whether I’m going to write about baby stuff but it’s 1. Tough to say anything new, and 2. I’m already conflicted about how much I want to immortalize this poor child in content he did not consent to. Eventually I’ll do what I want because he already owes me big time but these are not the type of questions I had to deal with before.
What I’ll say for now is that it took the various internet algorithms basically one day to realize I was buying and looking at baby stuff, and now it’s all I’m being served on every platform. It’s not even all bad, but it is wild how instantly and totally it took over my feeds. It’s like I’m on a different internet now.