Latest news with #identitycrisis
WIRED
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- WIRED
What Even Is Instagram Now?
Long after shifting your feed away from friends and toward influencers, Instagram is adding new features intended to make the app more personal. The turnabout exposes the platform's identity crisis. Photograph:In her classic novel Frankenstein , author Mary Shelley imagines a monster that's reanimated with its piecemeal body sewn together, tendon by tendon. 'The dissecting room and the slaughter-house furnished many of my materials,' Shelley writes. That's exactly what scrolling through Instagram feels like right now—an ungodly morass of features stitched together. It's an AI search tool! It's a shopping app! It's getting on my last nerve. Instagram is having a full-blown identity crisis, and I'm exhausted. Mimicking features from other social media platforms and grafting them onto existing apps has long been the modus operandi for Meta, the owner of Instagram. Three years after Snapchat popularized the idea of 'stories'—ephemeral posts only your friends can see that disappear after a day—Instagram launched a similar feature that was also called Stories and looked almost identical. As time passed and TikTok became the hottest app in the US, entertaining younger users with its endless scroll of vertical videos, Instagram reacted again by adding its own version of an algorithmic video feed, called Reels. As Instagram has continued to add new features every time the social winds blow in a new direction, the user experience has become a jumbled amalgamation of popular ideas from other platforms. As ecommerce rose in popularity, the app leaned into online shopping. When generative AI went mainstream, Instagram's search bar morphed into a chatbot. What started as a place to share photos was already a sprawling mishmash of engagement-maxing features. This week, Instagram decided to throw a few more into the mix. Most notably, the platform added a map tool that lets your Instagram friends see your precise location every time you open the app. It's something you have to opt into, but it's still oddly creepy. This feature arrives almost a decade after Snapchat released its similar mapping feature that does the same thing. Instagram's version sparked backlash online from users who, despite the opt-in aspect, are uncomfortable with the ease that the app could potentially broadcast wherever they are with just a few taps. Looking at the map feature on my personal account, I can see the exact location of some random guy I met at a San Francisco party forever ago and never spoke to again. Instagram also just released its Friends Reels tab for users globally. So now you can see what your friends have been liking and commenting on, as well as the Reels they choose to repost. These types of public reposts have long been part of the online culture, from Tumblr to Twitter. The reposts don't bother me; it's the active pushing of my liked videos to friends that feels invasive, similar to the map tool. I'm a saint and would never tap that heart button on some steamy Reel from an OnlyFans model, but my friends aren't so cautious. And after less than 10 minutes scrolling through this newer feed, I saw multiple interactions instigated by my friends that they would likely be quite embarrassed to acknowledge the next time I saw them in person. (Didn't know you were into furries!) The original Instagram concept of an app for sharing softly glowing Valencia-filtered photos with your circle of friends is a distant memory, even though the app's stewards still see it as a platform for intimate connection. 'We want Instagram to be not just a lean-back experience that is fun and entertaining, but also a participatory one,' CEO Adam Mosseri said about the features in a video post. 'One where you actually engage with and connect with people that you care about.' People I care about? My Instagram feed has long been chock-full of professional influencers hawking the latest fast-fashion trends, home cooks sharing their high-protein recipes, and random comedians doing stand-up bits. My actual friends are buried under a mountain of sponcon and memed-to-death dross. By piling these new features on top of the old ones, Instagram is trying to make the app feel chummy and personal again. But it's too far gone from that ideal, and the attempt to shift the feed's focus from influencers to your IRL friends just feels awkward, and ultimately unconvincing. This new version of Instagram reminds me of a meme about the 'landlord special.' Where, rather than fixing the actual issues in a rental unit, everything just gets slapped with another layer of spackle and white paint over and over again—until it's unrecognizable and the hidden wood is likely rotted. The original Instagram, which had a distinct purpose and identity, has been globbed over with new feature after new feature so many times that even if you stripped everything away, it can never really revert back to what it was.
Daily Mail
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Bill Maher gives dire warning to Democratic Party as it faces collapse: 'Whose side are you on here?'
Bill Maher delivered a scathing rebuke to Democrats on his HBO show Real Time, warning the party is headed for collapse if it continues to appease radical leftists instead of defending core Western values. Speaking during the Overtime segment on YouTube, Maher said Democrats are gripped by an 'identity crisis' and running out of time to choose a side. 'The world is a complicated place and it's not just about oppressor and oppressed,' Maher said. 'They have a thought in their head that white people did some very bad things and white people did some very bad things, BUT so did everybody else in the world. 'But they don't know that, they see the world through this one prism. And until they do, I don't think you're going to get them off this issue and I don't think the Democratic Party is going to go forward until they make a decision: whose side are you on here? 'Are you on the side of Western civilization and Western values or are you on the side of the terrorists?' He pointed to New York City Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as an example of how extreme the party's fringe has become. 'Are you with those kids? Because Mamdami, he's the perfect candidate for them.' Maher's comments came just after he clashed with Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) during the main episode over New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani - a Democratic socialist whom Maher described as dangerously radical. 'There's a lot of opposition [to Mamdani] because we've never had someone this radical,' Maher said. 'Some of the things he says, you know he quotes Marxists, 'each according to their need.' I mean, that's straight up Communism.' Crow dismissed criticism of Mamdani as political theater. 'They always try to create a villain is my point,' he said. 'They always try to create some boogeyman or bogeywoman.' 'No, these are quotes. I'm not creating anything, I'm quoting [Mamdani],' Maher fired back. Maher was backed by his second guest, Secret City author and columnist James Kirchick, who took the critique further. 'Everything that the crazy far-right alleged about Obama – wasn't born in America, Islamist, socialist, antisemite, hates America, it's all true about this guy [Mamdani],' Kirchick said. 'He defends the expression "globalize the intifada," which explicitly means – and I don't wanna hear anyone deny this – it means kill Jews whenever and wherever you can find them.' Kirchick also accused Democratic leaders of showing 'cowardice and spinelessness' by failing to denounce Mamdani, likening their silence to how Republicans failed to stop Donald Trump's rise. In July, The New York Times reported that Mamdani told a group of business leaders he would no longer use the phrase 'globalize the intifada' and would ' discourage' others from using it. Still, a July poll by American Pulse found 30 percent of New York City voters support Mamdani's refusal to condemn the slogan and his support of the anti-Israel boycott movement - highlighting the deepening rift within the Democratic Party.
Washington Post
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Democrats risk taking the wrong lessons from Trumpism
The Democratic Party is having an identity crisis; that much is obvious. The question now is whether the party will draw the wrong lessons from Trumpism and try to defeat the right by replicating its populism. Americans have already seen some of the horrors wrought by right-wing populism. Among them: A growing police state. Bizarre, brain-pickling conspiracy theories about depraved elites and outsiders. (They are purportedly destroying your jobs, corrupting your kids and controlling the weather.) And of course, a cultlike devotion to a charismatic leader who represents the true will of The People and promises to solve their problems by punishing their enemies.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Yahoo
After every major break-up, I move to a new city — sometimes, even a new continent. It helps me heal more quickly.
After a major heartbreak, I pack up and move to a new city — sometimes, even a different continent. It makes it easier for me to heal from the heartbreak. I've done this three times, and I'm not about to stop now. Some people cope with a breakup by starting a new hobby, throwing themselves immediately back into dating, or finally giving in to those BetterHelp ads. Me? I pack up my life and book a one-way flight to a new city, sometimes even a different continent. It started in 2014 after a brutal three-month run: a breakup, a messy rebound, and getting fired from a brand-new job. I was sitting at home in Johannesburg, doomscrolling on Facebook, when an email came through from an airline offering a deal on flights to Cape Town, South Africa. My interest? Piqued. My credit card? Ready to swipe. My impulse control? At an all-time low. I booked a flight for the following week and immediately began boxing up my room at my mom's into three small boxes and sending out invites for farewell drinks at my favorite bar. Little did I know, this major life decision I had made in less than 60 seconds would go on to start a pattern of shaking up my surroundings to an extreme after heartbreak. I did it again in 2021, when I left Cape Town for Namibia, and last year, I said bon voyage to South Africa and moved to France. Is making a major move after a breakup a little dramatic? Absolutely, but there is a method to my madness. Every move forces me to confront the post-breakup identity crisis and answer the million-dollar question: Who am I without anyone else? Starting over in a new place strips away all the relationship compromises, shared daily routines, and habits. The only thing left is me: my habits, my desires, and my identity beyond another person. It gives me the space to figure out where I may have been performing in the relationship and identify where I lost myself. The crisis I had where I wondered whether I was changing my mind about having kids? It turns out I was never unsure about having children — I always knew deep down that it wasn't my path. I was just too scared to choose myself and lose my partner in the process. During my last relationship, I stopped doing all the things I love: DJing, hiking, and going to festivals. It wasn't until it ended and I moved yet again that I realized how much I'd been missing out on when I found myself in Paris at a rave, cheezing so hard my cheeks hurt, asking myself, "How did I forget how much I loved this?" I believe my heartbreak wanderlust has helped me avoid the trap of using other people as emotional Band-Aids instead of processing the pain and grief after a break-up. My self-imposed exile gives me the space to sit with my emotions without any familiar distractions (after all, you can't call up your roster or ex when you're 7,000 miles away in France). It's a launchpad to a life of independence and self-confidence, where I'm showing myself every day how capable I am without someone else, each time I figure out something new. That said, should everyone move to a new city after a break-up? If you have a remote career like mine and no responsibilities tying you to a specific location, I'd say go for it. Being in a completely different city soothes the sting of rumination because nothing is familiar. The first time I moved after a breakup was on impulse. When I realized it was helping me process what had happened and improve my relationship with myself, I got curious and wanted to know why. I learned that when I create new memories and daily habits, I'm training my brain to form new associations that aren't tied to my ex. So when I move, I'm rewiring neural pathways, and I'm spending less energy stuck in a loop replaying the same old story. But if you can't move cities, plan a solo trip for two weeks. You'll still get to reap the benefits of taking yourself out of the familiar and give your heart and brain the chance to reset and interrupt the emotional ties. It's an incredible heartbreak cure, and reader, it's probably the greatest gift I've given myself. Read the original article on Business Insider
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
I was given a name so unusual the government took my rights away - it was tied to an extreme tragedy, and now I'm fighting to change it
A Texas woman with an unusual name and no social security number has been battling the government for her identity. Sandra Wardlow, a 39-year-old from Houston, is named 'Baby Girl' on her birth certificate. 'My mom passed away when I was nine-months-old and she didn't name me,' Sandra told 'My birth certificate is just "Baby Girl" and my last name.' She was raised by her mother's first cousin and has gone by Sandra for as long as she can remember. 'My birth mom's name is Cassandra, so my mom who raised me just gave me half of my mom's name,' Sandra explained. Now married and working as a property manager, the mother-of-four is facing the consequences of a logical discrepancy she had no part in creating. She has tirelessly going back and forth with agencies including Social Security and the Texas Department of State Health Services to correct her birth certificate. But the process has been both expensive and convoluted, with no one able to rectify the issue to date. 'It was like everybody was giving me a runaround - "Do this, we need this..."' she said. Over the years, Sandra recalled being turned down from jobs or being unable to open bank accounts, but now that she has children, matter have only gotten worse. Due to her identity issues, Sandra said she is not allowed to pick up her own kids' birth certificates. She has also struggled with eligibility for her SNAP benefits because in order to receive them, she must provide a Social Security number. Further complicating matters, she has been issued a state ID, which ordinarily would require having a SSN. Growing impatient with the lack of answers she has been receiving from various government agencies, she has become increasingly concerned that 'Sandra' is not being legally acknowledged. 'They're saying Sandra doesn't exist - I'm legally married under that name, so am I not married?' she asked, outlining her uniquely difficult circumstances. 'I still didn't get no answer to that. Nobody ever reached out to me about that.' Sandra wants to go on a cruise with her family, but the legal confusion surrounding her identity has made travel virtually impossible. Now married and working as a property manager, the mother-of-four is facing the consequences of a logical discrepancy she had no part in creating 'I just want to fix my name,' she reiterated. 'So I can do stuff with my isn't my fault.' A Nebraskan toddler has found herself in the same boat as Sandra - as the little girl's father has been trying to legally change her name from Unakite Thirteen Hotel to Caroline. The perplexing backstory behind the one-of-a-kind name began when Carolina was born inside a home in Council Bluffs, Iowa and was transferred to state custody without a birth certificate or Social Security number. Her mother was reportedly suffering from a drug problem, and was not currently in a relationship with the child's father, Jason Kilburn of Omaha. The little girl was taken into foster care, and Kilburn successfully fought for custody of his daughter. But while she was in the state's care, Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) gave the child her unorthodox computer-generated name. 'I'm worried that this child fell between the cracks,' attorney Josh Livingston told WOWT in February. 'And I'm worried that when it became apparent that this child fell through the cracks, any authority did anything to fix it.'
