Function with Anil Dash

Latest Episodes:

Should Twitter Have an Edit Button? Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

If you're an active Twitter user, you've probably made a typo or a mistake in a tweet before that you wish you could correct. You could delete the tweet and just write another one, or Twitter could create a feature that users have adamantly requested for years -- an edit button. Even Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey has mulled over this feature, and according to recent news, it may just happen.

Enabling a button to edit your tweets sounds like an easy thing to set up from a user standpoint, but like most technological features, implementing it comes with its own positives and negatives.

This week on Function, we look at this popular feature request from the expert and the user side. We talk with Leslie Miley, former engineering manager at Twitter, about the behind-the-scenes technical and ethical considerations that need to take place to carry out this feature from a product level.

We also talk to Andy Carvin, author, professor, and former social media editor at NPR. Andy knows firsthand how one misinformed tweet can have a dangerous ripple effect, and talks about how the possibility of editing that tweet may have caused even more damage.

Guests

Other Links

Charles Johnson, one of the Internet’s most infamous trolls, has finally been banned from Twitter (The Washington Post)
NPR's Giffords Mistake: Re-Learning the Lesson of Checking Sources (WBUR News)

How GIFs Became Embedded in Our Culture Nov 12, 2018

Show notes

Ah, the humble animated GIF. We use them on social media or in text messages as a way to signify a reaction, tell a story, or just to have a laugh. Some are even making animated GIFs of entire movies!

It's not all fun and games though — organizations and media companies are cracking down on animated GIF usage, with some going as far as issuing copyright notices against animated GIF creators. Even the IOC, the governing body of the Olympic Games, banned news organizations from creating animated GIFs of sports coverage from the Rio 2016 Summer Games. Are animated GIF creators protected under fair use, or are these organizations not being fair?

This week on Function, we unpack this issue with Kenyatta Cheese and T. Kyle MacMahon. Kenyatta, a long-time Internet historian and co-creator of Know Your Meme, talks about the history of the GIF format and how animated GIFs are a fundamental part of memes and Internet culture as a whole. Later, we talk to T. Kyle about his website RealityTVGIFs, his thoughts on how animated GIFs have influenced modern television, and why these images aren't going away any time soon.

Guests

GIFs Referenced in the Episode

Other Links

GIF on Wikipedia
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), Version 89a, Library of Congress
Lenz v. Universal, Electronic Frontier Foundation
RealityTVGIFs

What Makes the Apple Notes App Good for Apologies and Grocery Lists? Nov 05, 2018

Show notes

What does the latest celebrity mea culpa and your weekend shopping list have in common? If your answer is the Apple Notes app, then congratulations! You're not alone.

Apple Notes has become the de facto tool of choice for social media apologies, circumventing the brevity of Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms to provide lengthy additional context in a single update. But why?

In this week's episode, we explore the reasons, motivations, and compromises behind this behavior with writer and culture expert Kara Brown and senior user experience designer Regine Gilbert. Together, we look at what the evolving use of Apple Notes means for the ways in which we interact via technology.

Guests

Other Links

Apple Notes on Wikipedia
Skeuomorphism Will Never Go Away, And That's a Good Thing (Gizmodo)
Deafness Led To The Phone, Internet & SMS Texts (Sound Advice)

What Does Epic Games Owe the Artists Who Inspire Fortnite Emotes? Oct 29, 2018

Show notes

Epic Games' Fortnite is one of the most popular video games in the world, and a big part of that popularity comes from their emotes -- dances and other gestures which are used in the game as taunts or celebratory moves. However, many have called out Epic Games for these emotes, claiming that they have been stolen and renamed in Fortnite without permission or citation from their creators or sources.

On this week's episode of Function, we explore the concept of commodifying culture through video games. We talk with Ty Robinson, a former game animator for Konami's Dance Dance Revolution, about the technology behind putting dance moves into video games. And we also speak with Brooklyn rapper 2 Milly, an artist at the center of the controversy surrounding Epic Games' and their use of his dance, the Milly Rock.

Guests

Other Links

Introducing Function with Anil Dash Oct 20, 2018

Show notes

Anil Dash is a world-renowned technology expert and the CEO of Glitch. From the Obama White House to the Lower Eastside Girls Club, he’s spent decades advising people on the ways tech can transform government, society, and culture. On Function, he’ll bring those conversations to you, offering insight into the way makers think, users act, and communities shift with new technologies and products.

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