Social media
The dangers of censoring anti-vaxxers
Earlier this week, the Labour party wrote to the government urging it to bring forward legislation so that social media…
Why New Yorkers are fleeing the city in droves
New York Back when people used to read newspapers, they called it a ‘human interest’ story. Now it appears as…
The dismal rise of the modern elopement
I didn’t realise how attached I was to the traditional British wedding — the whole messy, pricey, drunken business —…
How many people would refuse a Covid vaccine?
Worth a shot? How worried should we be about people refusing to have a Covid-19 vaccine if one is developed?…
Facebook is right. Twitter is wrong
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey opened up a Pandora’s box two days ago by dropping a fact-check on a tweet by…
Fake news is spreading faster than the virus
The uncontainable spread of fake coronavirus news
I've lost patience with podcasts and their presenters
‘To be recognised and accepted by a peregrine,’ wrote J.A. Baker in 1967, ‘you must wear the same clothes, travel…
Twitter is manipulating the election
Twitter announced last month it would start flagging content the company and moderators decided was manipulated to deceive their users.…
TikTok is the world’s fastest-growing – and goofiest – digital platform, but should we fear it?
In November last year, an internet video made by a 17-year-old American went viral. The video was less than a…
The new trend for ‘gender reveal’ parties sums up the mood of the past decade
OMG, the end of the decade is almost here, which means it’s time to start reflecting on what on earth…
Be more carthorse: why we would all benefit from a little self-loathing
Leaving the auditorium of the Royal Opera House last week after The Sleeping Beauty, I passed a woman taking selfie…
OK zoomer, is that really the best you’ve got?
Every generation and teen subculture likes to put the boot into baby boomers like me. I’ve been physically attacked by…
I’d rather live under communism than the tyranny of social media
At the time it felt like a century, but it was only 12 years. I began this column in 1977…
Abba, Twitter vs Instagram, and papal selfies: the modern face of the Catholic Church
As a lifelong Catholic, I’ve often thought that two of the Church’s chief characteristics are a) how weird it is…
Trump will be re-elected because of left-liberal stupidity
Not such a long time ago, in a galaxy that now appears far, far away, the public space was clearly…
Social media is making it harder to hear legitimate criticism
When was the last time you were in a Twitter mob? We know these maelstroms of anger so well now,…
Parent trap: WhatsApp groups are feeding our fears
The mother of a little girl in my son’s year at school recently committed suicide. On the surface she was…
Why I could kiss Mark Zuckerberg
Since posting some of my research into the RSPCA on Facebook, I now better understand the way social networking works.…
Getting the sack was a shock but not a surprise
It was a shock but not really a surprise. I came back from holiday at the beginning of August to…
Can democracy survive the tidal wave of technological progress?
For a brief moment in 2011, standing among thousands of people occupying Syntagma, the central square in Athens, it looked…
It is a sin to die in the Land of the Depraved
New York Remember when the internet, Twitter, Facebook and other such useless gimmicks were supposed to usher in an era…
I’ve faked my own iPhone death
After much thought, I am toying with the idea of faking my own death. I mean in a virtual sense,…
Corbyn knows elections are won on social media but the Tories have barely logged on
There is a naive belief at the top of government that because the Tories are only a fart’s yard behind…
Ignore the Twitter cry-bully brigade – on social media, you reap what you sow
The nastiest person on Twitter has quit Twitter. Because I’m so generous I shan’t mention his name. All I’ll say…
The new tycoons
The giants of the internet have long said that they are not publishers but mere platforms — or couriers —…
