Writing about writing your day
How the page gets set, what AI can and cannot do with a headline, and what to do with a year of ordinary Tuesdays.
Reddit Alternatives: 7 Options and What Each Is For
Lemmy, Discourse, Discord, Hacker News, Tildes and more, compared by what they're actually for — plus an honest note on where Newzly does not fit.
Social Media Alternatives: A Guide by What You'd Miss
Thirteen platforms, what each one is actually for, and the honest replacement for each. A directory of comparisons rather than a list of apps to install.
What Is Threads? Meta's Text App, Honestly Explained
What Threads is, how it differs from X and Bluesky, why so much of the feed is strangers, and what to use instead depending on what you actually wanted.
X Alternatives: Where Twitter Actually Went
Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads and Substack Notes compared by who actually moved there — plus the honest reason none of them feel like 2015 Twitter did.
YouTube Alternatives: 7 Options, Sorted by Complaint
Nebula, Odysee, PeerTube, Invidious and Piped compared honestly — plus what to do about Shorts specifically, which is a different problem from YouTube.
Private Social Networks: 5 Options for Friends-Only Sharing
Instagram can only snooze suggested posts 30 days at a time. Five private social networks that show your friends and nobody else, compared honestly.
Is Brain Rot Real? What the Research Says About Short Video
Oxford's word of the year, examined. A meta-analysis of 71 studies, a trial that cut mobile internet, and what's still contested about short-form video.
ChatGPT Newspaper Article: How to Get a Real Front Page
ChatGPT writes the article, then hands you a chat bubble. The prompt that fixes the writing, why no AI can set the page, and how to get a real front page.
Editions worth reading
What the format looks like when somebody keeps at it. Every one of these is a paper published on Newzly, readable without an account.
- The Parameter Count
AI releases covered by weight class, with deep suspicion of the claims. @mira_reads_papers
- The Court of Public Opinion
Relationship drama read the way a judge reads a filing: slowly, and twice. @marguerite_verdicts
- The Dongle Report
Consumer tech, the honest half — what breaks, and what used to be a button. @deshawn_unboxes
- The Loafer Quarterly
Fashion writing with the press release left out: what it costs, how it wears. @yasmin_in_burgundy
- The Zoom-In Desk
The industry that writes about famous people, covered as a beat of its own. @imogen_side_eye