Every Monday on Global Comment, we share the slow, thoughtful, considerate words that our brains – and souls – need but that it’s easy to miss in our busy world. We distil the best of the web and recommend just three links every week that you absolutely must see.
No fluff, no fuss, just three exceptional reads.
Here are this week’s recommendations:
TikTok ‘deinfluencers’ tap into trend for saving money (Mabel Banfield-Nwachi / The Guardian)
On TikTok, the #deinfluencing hashtag has more than 159.6m views. The popularity of the trend is driven by timing and people becoming sick of being told they have to constantly buy something, according to Jago Sherman, head of strategy at the social media marketing agency Goat.
“We’ve reached a point of critical mass when it comes to consumerism,” he said. “People are kind of fed up with going on social media and being told: ‘You need this and this’, especially with the cost of living.”
Why TikTok sleuths descended on Nicola Bulley’s village (Marianna Spring / BBC News)
My TikTok “For You Page” had been awash with videos speculating about Nicola’s disappearance, recommended by TikTok’s algorithm because I’ve shown an interest in them. But in recent days, these have escalated, and had widened out to include conspiracy theories suggesting the disappearance has been staged by the government or other sinister forces. Hence the video about friends “acting” I had been recommended.
I have previously covered how conspiracy theorists and trolls target survivors of terror attacks – like the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 – with some going far as to track them down offline to find out if they were lying about their injuries.
This case is very different, but there has been drastic spiralling of speculation and conspiracy theories, which has triggered statements from Nicola’s family, and police who issued a dispersal order.
The piece of wood that became king (Sandi Toksvig / QI)
@theqielves From our brand new QI Series T ep ‘Trundling’ with #SandiToksvig #AlanDavies #TomAllen #CariadLloyd & #JamieMacDonald – Watch #qi on #iPlayer ♬ original sound – Quite Interesting
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Image: Jorge Brito