What You See Is “Not” What You Get!

As February winds down, it’s the perfect time to send the latest edition of my monthly letter. It’s been a busy month, both personally and professionally. This is reflected in how often I have written (or not written). The reason doesn’t matter; whenever I have spare time, I end up either reading or listening to a book or long feature articles. It’s good to take your social media time and reallocate it to reading books. I’ve also been watching a bit of television.

Sometimes, it’s good to be part of the cultural zeitgeist, for it triggers thoughts worth writing about. Take, for example, “Apple Cider Vinegar,” a Netflix series inspired by Australian wellness influencer and con woman Belle Gibson. The series examines how Gibson used social media to gain fame through lies about her medical problems and promote a false narrative around cancer. Gibson leveraged her online popularity to make fraudulent claims that she had cured her nonexistent brain cancer using natural remedies. After watching the series, I viewed Gibson’s interview on ABC’s “60 Minutes.”

Gibson’s fraudulent narrative isn’t an isolated case. Anna Sorokin (aka Anna Delvey), who posed as a wealthy heiress and defrauded banks and acquaintances; Caroline Calloway’s fabricated influencer persona; and Danielle Miller, who committed identity theft to share a lavish lifestyle, are just a few examples of how online platforms can be manipulated to craft persuasive false narratives.

But why focus on these “cons” when social media is packed with individuals peddling half-truths and passing themselves off as digital messiahs and gurus? Even the world’s richest man is using the platform he owns to shape public opinion and influence beliefs.

Returning to Belle, it’s easy to see her addiction to attention. It’s a growing affliction, and I have seen seemingly sane people do irrational things. One reason I’ve reduced my social media use is that everything has become a form of marketing or messaging. {Related Essay: Social Internet Is Dead. Get Over It.]

Very little of what flows through the platforms can be taken at face value. This shift in social media dynamics has not only affected individual users but has also transformed the digital landscape as a whole. Half-truths and fictions comes at a big price as Gibson eventually found out.

If you haven’t seen the series, it’s worth watching.

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What You See Is “Not” What You Get Era

Given that we are now living in the golden age of half-truths, I have a handful of links that reinforce my point: What you see is not what you get.

“Swiss Made Watch” means “Swiss Enough.” It’s really a sleight of hand that watchmakers use as effectively as LVMH does for many of its overpriced, gaudy offerings. [The Robb Report]

Amazon’s most recent earnings report shows its transformation from retailer to toll collector. Small sellers are increasingly funding the empire, including spending money on ads. No wonder you get a lot of bad products when you order stuff. [Fortune Mag]

PayPal’s Honey, marketed as a money-saving browser extension, allegedly blocks better coupon codes and hijacks influencer affiliate commissions while masquerading as a consumer champion. It’s a classic case of a “help the user” narrative masking questionable behavior. [LifeHacker]

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A Small but Important Update on Crazy Stupid Tech

Now almost six months ago, Fred Vogelstein and I started to work on our newsletter, CrazyStupidTech. After beta-testing it for just about six months, we learned a few lessons. It seems that we are onto something good. However, many of our readers want to know what to expect from us for the remainder of the year. So, here is what Fred and I are going to be doing in months to come. [What to expect from us in 2025.]

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ICYMI

I wrote about the meaning of DeepSeek, an AI system with a different approach from China. While on the topic of AI, many of my smart friends and sources are convinced that AI will completely reshape software. Here’s a window into the new AI (code) world. I also celebrated the iPad’s 15th birthday by writing about it. It still remains one of my favorite Apple products, despite not having lived to its full potential. Not surprisingly, it got many people talking.

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Etc:

I haven’t done much photography either. However, I plan to go out and start snapping photos again. A lot of that has to do with my friend Rod Clark and his new newsletter, “Outside With a Camera.” It’s a refreshing approach to writing about photography that eschews everything I hate about photography writing — gear, reviews, and high-brow intellectualism. He writes like a human, from the perspective of a simple amateur artist, with a desire to improve. Plus, he is part of my photographic mafia. Check out his newsletter.

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February 23, 2025. San Francisco