A new issue of First Monday is out. From e-flux, Jon Rich on how the widespread use of Facebook has created the “final statement” that replaces the messy exchange on a blog, which in turn replaced the in-depth thinking that exists in books, effectively re-creating the Facebook user as a judge. Sarah Mitroff on translating the entire Internet, one language lesson at a time. Aja Romano on a skeptic's guide to spotting an "Internet kook". Ann Friedman reviews Social Media Is Bullshit by B.J. Mendelson and The Kickstarter Handbook: Real-Life Success Stories of Artists, Inventors, and Entrepreneurs by Don Steinberg. Michelle Koufopoulos is a morally bankrupt fascist babykiller: Can we balance free speech and privacy with basic decency in online communities? Stop pagination now: Why websites should not make you click and click and click for the full story. There are some strong parallels between MySpace’s impending “makeover” and the “urban renewal” efforts sometimes called gentrification or regentrification. Alexis Ohanian started Reddit, the self-proclaimed “front page of the internet,” then he helped kill SOPA, the bill that threatened to destroy it; now he's running for President — of the whole thing.
