The Weekly Wrap: January 22, 2023

Warning - I'm going to rant about Twitter. 

Now, I mostly like Twitter. Even through the Musk takeover, it's generally been a good tool for me. I've always highly curated my feed thus avoiding the worst of the muck. For me, Twitter is an information awareness tool. I can stay up-to-date on topics and people that matter to me. Since I'm particular about what I see, all of the other shenanigans have mostly passed me by.

This week, Twitter changed the platform's feed layout. I hate it. There are now two feeds - one that is all about the algorithm and another that is for "Following" but seems to miss half the stuff the people I  follow share and comment on.  To get the full picture, I have to toggle between the two feeds. That puts my content at the mercy of algorithm. I HATE IT!

All I want is to see the content created and shared by the people I choose to follow in reverse chronological order. Is that so hard? 

Listen, Twitter, I will give you promoted ads. I'm fine with that. But stop burying what I want to see under a pile of shit I didn't ask for. I know you're trying design things to keep me scrolling, but all you are doing is overwhelming my brain and making me want to run away.

This issue is the same across other social media - namely Instagram and Facebook. However, on those feeds, I still can narrow down to who I choose to see. That now seems impossible on Twitter. 

I'm about to go through my annual purge and clean up of my online accounts and, for the first time, I'm seriously considering jumping ship on an entire platform.

When something becomes so focused on the algorithm that you lose all control, it's time to leave.

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• Bar soap versus body wash. [Real Simple]
• It's time to upgrade the pizza box. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]
• Stop widening highways. It doesn't work. [NYT - may be paywalled]
• Ridding the government of actual red tape. [WaPo - gift link]

• The power of citizen science. [Short Wave]
• Can placebos be cures? [Hidden Brain]
• A delightful interview about lovely ideas. [By The Book]
• Are we at risk of losing human writing? [The Indicator]

• After reading a ranking of Tom Hanks' films, I was in the mood to watch some Tom Hanks. Captain Phillips was available as a free streaming option for us. I've seen the movie before and it's still impressive on rewatch. I find the last 15 minutes to be some of the best acting I've seen out of Hanks - or anyone for that matter. [HBO Max]

• Tried my hand at homemade stromboli again. This time, I went vegetarian with mushroom and spinach. The flavor was excellent but the middle of stromboli was a little gummy. The filling was rather wet and I think that prevented the dough from fully cooking. Next time, I'll cook it longer to dry things out. [Skinny Taste]
• Broke out a slower cooker classic for the holiday Monday: white chicken chili. This one is good as written but I think I will add frozen corn next time. That sweet pop would be an excellent addition. I like to eat this one with tortilla chips. The scoop variety worked great. [Budget Bytes]