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HTML
696 lines
85 KiB
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<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
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<title>15 April, 2023</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Privacy-Minded Social Network at the Center of the Classified-Document Leak</strong> - A young National Guardsman posted hundreds of secret government files to a private Discord group. Then they sat there for months unnoticed. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-privacy-minded-social-network-at-the-center-of-the-classified-document-leak">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bob Lee’s Murder and San Francisco’s So-Called Crime Epidemic</strong> - The killing of a tech executive reveals the cycle of outrage that puts enormous pressure on progressive district attorneys. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/bob-lees-murder-and-san-franciscos-so-called-crime-epidemic">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>All Gaffes Are Not Created Equal: Biden vs. the Almighty Trump</strong> - On a week when the 2024 contrast could not be clearer. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/all-gaffes-are-not-created-equal-biden-vs-the-almighty-trump">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What’s Behind the Bipartisan Attack on TikTok?</strong> - A hundred and fifty million Americans are on TikTok. Evan Osnos and Chris Stokel-Walker discuss why politicians are so keen to ban the app. Plus, Broadway’s new comedy of white wokeness. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/whats-behind-the-bipartisan-attack-on-tiktok">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is the Trump Indictment a “Legal Embarrassment”?</strong> - Analysts have argued that the case, which was put down by previous prosecutors, sets a dangerous precedent in American politics. That might be naïve. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/is-the-trump-indictment-a-legal-embarrassment">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>These adorable tiny owls are thriving in the most unlikely place</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A burrowing owl standing on dead grass." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9B6uXMJKSRvsx6CM04FvjXceoiE=/235x0:3991x2817/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72182874/B88A0177_copy__1_.0.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Plot twist: Humans have accidentally helped save some animals, for once.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T3zdEb">
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<strong>In the last decade, I’ve spent hundreds of hours</strong> hiking through forests and wetlands, across prairies and mountains, often looking for wildlife. In all that time, I’ve seen just two owls I can remember — a barred owl in an Iowa woodland and a great horned owl in New York City’s Central Park.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="32uYzb">
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Even experienced birders have a hard time spotting these iconic avian predators. Owls have superb camouflage, often appearing identical to tree bark or a bank of fresh snow. Many of them are nocturnal, hunting for mice and frogs by moonlight. And they fly noiselessly, seldom flapping a pair of wings that has <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/the-silent-flight-owls-explained#:~:text=They%20have%20large%20wings%20relative,feathers%20serves%20as%20a%20silencer.">built-in silencers</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="msP2Wl">
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I am not an experienced birder, or even a regular one (I only saw the owl in Central Park because a friend pointed it out to me). Yet during a short week last month, I saw dozens of owls. I had no binoculars and no scope, but it didn’t matter. They were everywhere.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="axwM8T">
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In March, I was in Southern California for a story about the Imperial Valley, a farming region wedged between the Salton Sea and the Mexico border. I was there to talk with farmers about the shrinking Colorado River; it waters their crops, including nearly all of the veggies Americans eat between November and March. But the local fauna caught my attention, too. On the ground near almost every farm I visited, I saw small, brown birds called burrowing owls.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NtaP4N">
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Few owl varieties are more adorable than the burrowing owl. They are tiny, no larger than a child’s shoe; they can look a bit mean, like a cartoon villain; and they live like rodents in underground burrows, laying eggs many feet under the dirt.
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</p>
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<div class="p-fullbleed-block">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A burrowing owl in flight, silhouetted against the sky." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z_jvxefhUnWBPNF7w81hvnyJbNQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24575266/B88A0373.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dFntWs">
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I was surprised to see so many of them here. Burrowing owls are a threatened species, declining across much of North America, and the Imperial Valley is one of the most ecologically transformed parts of the country. Neat rows of lettuce, carrots, and alfalfa have replaced the native desert habitat. Researchers have long known that, globally, farming is considered one of the greatest drivers (if not <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/our-global-food-system-primary-driver-biodiversity-loss">the greatest driver</a>) of wildlife declines.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PuKxXu">
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Yet as I drove around the valley, little owl heads ducked into burrows. I’d catch the flash of their bright yellow eyes while touring farms. The owls appear to be thriving.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-left c-float-hang">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="An owl peering out of a burrow, with a canal and a field visible in the background." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vZLVGQ1pnWNRWoFNCGJV5j-YwEI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24575165/B88A0320_copy.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ceTZaE">
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What allows owls to flourish here, in a highly developed landscape, while human activities elsewhere put them and so many other threatened species at risk?
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="74K1bX">
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Questions like this are important as environmental advocates seek to stem the ongoing biodiversity crisis. Roughly <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/">1 million</a> animal and plant species are threatened with extinction worldwide and <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/more-half-us-birds-are-decline-warns-new-report#:~:text=North%20America%20Has%20Lost%20More,50%20Years%2C%20New%20Study%20Says">more than half</a> of US birds are in decline. Perhaps, I thought, these owls could teach us that conserving nature isn’t just about protecting humanless habitats — remote jungles and national parks — but looking for ways to sustain the ecosystems where we live and work.
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</p>
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="cwOJpw"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vfOM3s">
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<strong>The burrowing owl was once widespread</strong> in the Western Hemisphere, abundant in deserts and other open areas from southwestern Canada and the American West down to the southernmost reaches of South America. But as human developments gobbled up more and more land, the birds began to vanish.
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</p>
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<div class="c-wide-block">
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<div class="c-image-grid">
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A canal carries water from the Colorado River into California’s Imperial Valley." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-iQLny7KFPtNYtpMn-yBBPfgmiQ=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24577010/a_canal_just_outside_of_calexico_copy.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A lettuce farm in the Imperial Valley." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n5H-lUJxmEe5Ra19IZHCJKgNrxo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24586003/vessey_romaine_lettuce_copy.jpg"/>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A cabbage farm in the Imperial Valley." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CzwIbEoJl9KNO6hxIf5E0Fzxb_c=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24586034/sprinkler_s_on_vessey_s_cabbage_farm__2__copy__1_.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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<div class="c-image-grid__item">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A herd of sheep on a farm in Brawley, California, in the Imperial Valley." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BWIPIEnJjcaIMCgmftwsdGPvDFA=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24576996/sheep_on_pasture_in_brawley_copy.jpg"/>
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</figure>
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</div>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="y107dk">
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The survival of burrowing owls essentially depends on two things: burrows and food.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FrWNR9">
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They don’t dig into the ground themselves but instead occupy tunnels dug by ground squirrels, prairie dogs, or other critters. The owls move in once the burrow is vacant or by forcefully evicting its resident (by eating it).
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1UtbU6">
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When it comes to food, these raptors aren’t picky. They’ll eat insects, rodents, lizards, and small(er) birds. Sometimes the owls will <a href="https://news.ufl.edu/archive/2004/09/scientists-burrowing-owls-use-dung-to-fish-for-beetles.html">scatter feces</a> around their burrows in order to attract and ultimately consume dung beetles.
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</p>
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<div class="c-float-right">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A burrowing owl standing on dead grass." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GBYkLmd5M2fBwntl7n-oAC8A5tI=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24575118/Owl1_forstory.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kxSfEw">
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In recent decades, though, owls have had a hard time fulfilling those needs.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5fqznd">
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Ranchers, farmers, and other landowners often kill burrowing rodents that eat crops and dig up the ground, creating a shortage of suitable holes. Growing cities and suburbs have paved over much of their habitat. Meanwhile, the US, Canada, and other countries have waged a war on crop-eating insects like grasshoppers, leaving the owls (and countless other animals) with less food.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="puKkxh">
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Populations of burrowing owls have plummeted across much of their range. In the last 50 years, they’ve declined “dramatically” in Canada, where they’re now federally endangered, according to one <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-raptor-research/volume-52/issue-2/JRR-16-109.1/Spatial-and-Temporal-Patterns-In-Population-Trends-and-Burrow-Usage/10.3356/JRR-16-109.1.full">2018 study</a>. US populations have fallen as well, according to the <a href="https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/specl19v4.html">North American Breeding Bird Survey</a>, though not as precipitously.
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C7Vjqm">
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“They’ve declined in most of their native areas,” said Courtney Conway, an avian ecologist at the University of Idaho.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2s5rNF">
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Owls in eastern Washington state and parts of coastal and central California have been especially hard hit, Conway said. In California, they’re dubbed a “<a href="https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/SSC">species of special concern</a>,” a vague category for species that are not officially endangered but still at risk.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BhmTcR">
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Then there’s the Imperial Valley, which is in some ways an exception to this trend. While there were always burrowing owls in the valley, Conway said, they only occurred in low densities before humans developed the region, when it was an open desert. The growth of farmland caused their population to balloon.
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</p>
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<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="kvy0DO"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AypCRD">
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<strong>It almost never rains in the Imperial Valley.</strong> Crops only grow here because of the Colorado River, an iconic feature of the American West that lies 60 miles east along the Arizona border. A large channel known as the All American Canal carries water to the valley, which then enters a series of smaller channels that run alongside farms.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2f0gYn">
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Those farmside channels are key to the region’s burrowing owl abundance.
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</p>
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<div class="c-wide-block">
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<figure class="e-image">
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<img alt="A burrowing owl in flight with a canal and a green field behind it." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8tm_0xLxEodDL-to8g1YuF7MCgo=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24575179/B88A0334_copy.jpeg"/>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V8AIcm">
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The banks are made of relatively loose dirt, which makes them easy for animals to burrow into. I saw holes everywhere while driving along the channels last month — and some of the resident excavators. Most of the burrows are dug by round-tailed ground squirrels, rodents about the size of a chipmunk. (As I drew near them, the rodents would chirp rather adorably and dart underground.)
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s4JvQs">
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Dirt banks along channels and roads make for great squirrel burrows, and those burrows make perfect nesting grounds for owls, Conway said.
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<img alt="A ground squirrel peering out of a burrow beside a concrete canal." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tuDztpjtSPF4XTuAXE4XSHS1Aok=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24577619/B88A0241_copy.jpeg"/>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YLHFl9">
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The other secret to this owl oasis is food. The Colorado River fills the Imperial Valley with water, allowing farmers to grow crops, such as produce and forage grasses, year-round. That provides a steady source of sustenance for ground squirrels but also for a range of other critters that burrowing owls eat, such as beetles. “The animal life there is very rich because we’re putting huge amounts of water onto a desert,” Conway said, adding that agriculture has been “a boon to burrowing owls.”
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vc0lZ5">
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Population data for burrowing owls is a bit spotty, but the region does appear to be a stronghold for the species, according to Conway and the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), a regional water and electric utility that monitors the birds. The Imperial Valley has one of the highest concentrations of burrowing owls anywhere in North America, Conway said.
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Surveys commissioned by IID every few years from 2007 to 2020 indicate that there are somewhere between 7,000 and 11,000 owls along IID-operated channels — and the bird population is stable. These numbers are most certainly underestimates for the Imperial Valley because they don’t cover habitat across the entire region. “It’s a healthy population,” said Stevie Sharp, an environmental specialist at IID.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="We0gzC"/>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2fXM7j">
|
|||
|
|
<strong>Farmers I spoke to in the Imperial Valley</strong> don’t have particularly strong feelings toward burrowing owls. They mostly let them be. And while growers do trap and kill some ground squirrels, eradication efforts haven’t been severe.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="I87C8N">
|
|||
|
|
Perhaps that’s another reason why these owls are so abundant here: Farmers tolerate them.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hDRBzX">
|
|||
|
|
(A complicated, 20-year-old water agreement between districts in Southern California also requires the IID to conserve the owls, such as by avoiding construction during certain times of the year.)
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="p-fullbleed-block">
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A burrowing owl standing atop of clump of dirt, outlined against a green field." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sLHCbuOrJKqaMTzUtM_vQhuOyGU=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24577903/B88A0371_copy__1_.jpeg"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J1gRO1">
|
|||
|
|
The owls certainly benefit farmers, too, by preying on pests that might otherwise eat their crops, Conway said. It’s a good example of how maintaining at least some semblance of an ecosystem has value. Plants provide food for ground squirrels which provide homes for owls which provide free pest control.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LBLFgx">
|
|||
|
|
The future of the region’s owl population is uncertain, and some data from the Breeding Bird Survey suggests it may be smaller than it was 25 years ago. Some experts also fear that any changes to farmland could cause declines, said Peter Bloom, a zoologist who was involved in some of the IID-commissioned surveys. If farmers are pushed to use less water as the Colorado River’s shortage worsens, for example, some of them may stop growing alfalfa. Hays tend to attract the insects that owls like to eat, he said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<div class="c-float-left">
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A burrowing owl." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bT8UZD0ylz2_k6MV4MLlMhUpjI8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24575133/B88A0220_copy.jpeg"/>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
</div>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SRxoHO">
|
|||
|
|
But it’s clear that farmland has tremendously benefited them. And this point is worth emphasizing: While human activities often unravel ecosystems and the life they sustain, sometimes they form new ones that support important and even threatened species. This is especially true when farmers <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2022/8/15/23301352/inflation-reduction-act-farms-climate-wildlife">are paid</a> to invest in projects that help restore some native ecosystem features.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mRARyK">
|
|||
|
|
All kinds of wild animals can flourish in human-dominated landscapes. A large and healthy population of river otters is living <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23180428/river-otters-iowa-restoration">among farmland in Iowa</a>, for example, which is perhaps the most ecologically disturbed state in the country. Even tiny patches of grass near airports <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23433773/bell-bowl-prairie-grassland-illinois-rockford-airport">can sustain important species</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xDasO6">
|
|||
|
|
This isn’t an attempt to glorify human development. Farms and cities are a big part of the problem; they’re why burrowing owls are rare in other parts of the continent. Rather, it’s an important reminder that wild animals can live alongside us if they can meet their basic needs and we let them be. Ultimately, there’s only so much land that we can envelop in parks and reserves, so we should conserve wildlife wherever we find it.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>What doing other people’s taxes taught me about our broken tax code</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A volunteer tax preparer helps a client." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sErt6PuVTih-cIker6pH3fWeplI=/0x0:1609x1207/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72182800/1089007826.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Julianna Chow, left, helps Rob Liberman with his taxes at the Boulder, Colorado, public Llibrary in 2002. Chow was a VITA volunteer, like me. | Jon Hatch/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
Our tax system is impenetrable, needlessly complex, and intrusive about our personal lives.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ayKKwB">
|
|||
|
|
I love taxes.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c18ZEd">
|
|||
|
|
I relish doing my own taxes; I wake up every New Year’s like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlJtfbk1eRs">Ned Flanders</a>, eager to fill out my 1040 as soon as possible and impatient that I don’t have my W-2 yet. But it’s more than that. I cut my teeth as a reporter on the budget battles of Obama’s first term, much of which hinged on the fate of Bush’s tax cuts, set to expire in 2010 and then again in 2012.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QTyAUv">
|
|||
|
|
Even earlier, when I was in middle school, I remember my mom ordering me to go to bed when I was staying up late on my lime green iBook trying to draft a new tax code; the problem wasn’t that I was up too late but that I was getting too angry at the state of the tax code and she thought I could use some rest.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RtIZuq">
|
|||
|
|
So it’s probably unsurprising that I wound up volunteering for VITA: the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers">Volunteer Income Tax Assistance</a> program, an IRS-led endeavor in which local nonprofits provide tax preparation services free of charge. The services are aimed at people with limited English, disabilities, and/or income below $60,000. That’s obviously a lot of people, and the office gets busy, particularly as the mid-April deadline approaches.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GWR1GG">
|
|||
|
|
I’ve volunteered for four years now; some of my VITA colleagues have been at this for decades. It’s immensely rewarding, but it’s also changed the way I think about, and write about, the tax code.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MPd9Dd">
|
|||
|
|
Reporting on congressional fights about taxes gives you an excellent view of why the code is the way it is from policymakers’ point of view. That’s a good vantage point for understanding how the code came to be, but a bad one for understanding how well the code is working.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="L8ANYf">
|
|||
|
|
If a 23-year-old office cleaner were to ask me to explain why she can’t get the earned income tax credit (EITC), the main tax provision meant to help working people near the poverty line, I could recall my old reporting and say that it’s because she’s too young and has no kids; childless people didn’t get the EITC at all until 1993 — and then only because Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) cut a deal with skeptics who worried about it going to college students with rich parents — but only those 25 and over.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MAQonH">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KRELWW">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a2MptL">
|
|||
|
|
That, however, doesn’t explain why it’s fair or appropriate for her to not get the help she’d get if she were two years older.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JvOfWK">
|
|||
|
|
That’s a small example — and a fictional one; I’m not going to violate anyone’s privacy by discussing specific tax situations — but there are some larger lessons I’ve gathered too.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YANYyn">
|
|||
|
|
I should be clear that these are my views and I speak for none of my fellow VITA volunteers or the wonderful organization itself. I’m just offering my own take on what policymakers could do to make life easier for our clients.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="4IQG3C">
|
|||
|
|
You gotta withhold
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FQoSRE">
|
|||
|
|
The return you want to be handed as a tax preparer, the easiest possible one to deal with, is a “one W2.” That means a taxpayer who has one job, where they’re classified as a normal employee, get paid a wage from which taxes are withheld, and has no other income.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WuaJ0U">
|
|||
|
|
These returns are easy; you just type the W2 into TaxSlayer, the software VITA uses, and you’re basically good.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qm6l8V">
|
|||
|
|
Many returns aren’t “one W2”s, and often due to no fault of the taxpayer. The most common scenario is <a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/gig-economy-tax-center">gig economy work</a>. Typically, employers like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, etc. do not treat their workers as normal employees, do not withhold income or payroll tax, and do not issue W-2s.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="80vsDN">
|
|||
|
|
Instead they <a href="https://www.uber.com/us/en/drive/tax-information/">issue</a> <a href="https://www.lyft.com/driver/taxes/us">1099</a>-<a href="https://help.doordash.com/dashers/s/article/Common-Dasher-Tax-Questions?language=en_US">NECs</a> (non-employee compensation), for the income they paid to their workers as independent contractors. I’ve also increasingly seen people bringing in 1099-NECs totaling well into the five figures from what sound like pretty normal jobs in retail or food service or janitorial work that one would think should provide W-2s.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nUzIo1">
|
|||
|
|
Almost without fail, this approach winds up screwing workers. 1099-NEC workers tend to come in without having withheld any of their income to pay either income or self-employment tax during the year. We often learn together that they owe thousands of dollars to the IRS, plus perhaps a penalty because they didn’t make quarterly tax payments like they were supposed to.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xNDrBX">
|
|||
|
|
This has to stop. It’s not fair to ask workers in disproportionately low-paying jobs to sock away hundreds or thousands of dollars a month for tax payments when they’re living paycheck to paycheck. If the government is going to claim that money in taxes, it should enforce stricter withholding rules on companies with large independent contractor workforces so workers aren’t surprised every April.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="JZR5hS">
|
|||
|
|
We need to decide what a child is
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="btt6GY">
|
|||
|
|
On its face, deciding who counts as a child and who doesn’t seems like an easily solvable problem, but it’s actually not — and it’s hugely consequential.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CrUReV">
|
|||
|
|
There are at least three definitions of “child” for tax purposes. One definition allows parents or guardians to claim a larger EITC. A different definition allows a child’s parent or guardian to claim head-of-household filing status, which offers advantages relative to filing as a single person. Then there’s the definition of a “child” for the purposes of the child tax credit (CTC), which takes up to $2,000 per child off families’ tax bills.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vfnqBQ">
|
|||
|
|
These are overlapping but not identical categories, and I’ve seen no small amount of confusion from preparers and taxpayers struggling to figure out if a kid is a child for CTC and<em> </em>head-of-household purposes, or just one of the two, etc.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jMshNZ">
|
|||
|
|
This sounds preposterous, I know, but just look at the decision tree the IRS provides to VITA volunteers to figure out if a child qualifies for the EITC, just one of the three definitions above:
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yId4xB">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Earned Income Tax Credit qualifying child test. It’s six steps long" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ae5tTM10Ncg-bJc_b1fTGH2m2H0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24583414/image1.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4012.pdf" target="_blank">VITA/TCE Volunteer Resource Guide</a></cite>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IOOwed">
|
|||
|
|
This is from <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4012.pdf">the 4012</a>, the tax volunteer’s bible. On page 176, you can find the equivalent table for the child tax credit; on page 52, the one for head-of-household status.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C5xizZ">
|
|||
|
|
The differences are subtle, but significant. If a child is 18 and married? Eligible for the EITC, but not the CTC or HOH (but you could get the ADC — the Additional Dependent Credit, a whole different tax credit!). Eighteen and unmarried? Then HOH is on the table but not CTC (don’t forget about ADC though).
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Pj5IfX">
|
|||
|
|
This is … ridiculous. It’s marginally less ridiculous thanks to the Trump tax cuts, which consolidated the child tax credit and “personal exemptions” for dependent children into one enlarged credit. But that just wiped the frosting off a moldy cake. You have to throw the whole cake in the trash.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LpW32W">
|
|||
|
|
The minimalist approach to fixing this would be to rewrite the law so that any child who qualifies their parent or guardian for the EITC also counts for HOH and CTC.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nCFGuH">
|
|||
|
|
A better, more ambitious approach would be to try to <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/option-reform-income-tax-treatment-families-and-work">consolidate these various benefits for families with kids</a>. There are various ways to do this. The easiest would be to follow the <a href="https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/tlaib-omar-garcia-introduces-end-child-poverty-act-cut-child-poverty-nearly">End Child Poverty Act</a> and replace the child tax credit and the child portion of the EITC with a single monthly check for all children (though even that bill falls short because it doesn’t end head-of-household status). If policymakers are worried that such a benefit would discourage work, they could replace all three provisions with a phased-in monthly check based on the previous year’s earnings.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="adkSwG">
|
|||
|
|
Whatever your views on the optimal underlying policy here, there’s no reason why the presentation and implementation have to be this complicated.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="mruuur">
|
|||
|
|
The government would like to know about your marriage
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DKLMKT">
|
|||
|
|
Being a tax preparer means asking total strangers about some of the most intimate aspects of their personal lives, repeatedly.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nrl0uR">
|
|||
|
|
Even in a simplified world where the government sent out checks for each child in the mail (as happens in <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/27/15388696/child-benefit-universal-cash-tax-credit-allowance">much of the rich world</a>), the government would still need to know where to send that check, and would need a test to determine which adult or adults in a child’s life should get it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wk777c">
|
|||
|
|
Along those lines, the government also demands to know about marriage. The whole income tax code is organized around marital status: Your marriage or lack thereof determines what filing status you can choose.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V7zBTo">
|
|||
|
|
Filing status determines what standard deduction you can claim and when different tax brackets kick in, which for many tax filers is the most important factor in how much they pay. If you’re married, you can file jointly with your spouse, or separately — but <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf#page=24">the code is set up to heavily penalize you</a> if you file separately.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QtuHun">
|
|||
|
|
In reality, life is messy. Sometimes people get married and drift apart. The tax code makes some allowances for this, but the EITC, for instance, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf#page=5">requires people to either be legally separated or live apart for the last six months of the year</a> to claim the credit while married filing separately. If you move out in July and your spouse won’t grant a legal separation? Or you live in a state where <a href="https://www.justia.com/family/divorce/legal-separation-in-divorce-laws-50-state-survey/">legal separations aren’t allowed</a>? Tough luck — either you file with your spouse anyway or you don’t get the credit.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kfnr4z">
|
|||
|
|
These situations are hard enough to live through; it’s worse when you have to explain to a stranger preparing your taxes (like me!).
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HG2tLW">
|
|||
|
|
More generally, joint filing creates a strange system where some filers are heavily penalized, and others rewarded, for getting married. A <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/racial-disparities-income-tax-treatment-marriage">Tax Policy Center study</a> from earlier this year estimated that 43 percent of married couples pay more in taxes (averaging $2,064) for being married; another 43 percent pay less (averaging $3,062). For only 14 percent of taxpayers does marriage make no difference. In general, the bonuses go to couples with unequal earnings, such as those where one partner doesn’t work, while those with equal earnings are penalized.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="EPWfB2">
|
|||
|
|
In practice, it’s a factor pushing women out of the workforce. This has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272708000303">found</a> in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24439984">numerous</a> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/restud/article-abstract/79/3/1113/1535631">high-quality</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0927537114000517">studies</a> across <a href="https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.p20171063">numerous</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10797-013-9283-y">countries</a>. One <a href="https://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/institute-working-papers/are-marriage-related-taxes-and-social-security-benefits-holding-back-female-labor-supply">recent paper</a> estimated that in the US, eliminating joint filing would increase married women’s participation in the labor force by more than 20 percentage points until age 35; the effect diminishes a bit with age but remains large. Given that there are <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/age-and-sex/2021-age-sex-composition.html">about 11 million married women under 35 in the US</a>, that implies some 2.2 million more workers, which could have significant positive economic ramifications.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aj4ZmM">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://researchdatabase.minneapolisfed.org/downloads/cv43nw997"></a>
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="K3x92u">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Bb0r98">
|
|||
|
|
The solution is to get the tax code out of the marriage business. Most rich countries have abandoned joint tax filing altogether: A <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/be/Documents/tax/TaxStudiesAndSurveys/Personal-income-tax-return-study_EN_2017.pdf#page=11">2017 survey from Deloitte</a> found that 62 percent of countries surveyed, including the UK, Canada, Australia, and all of Scandinavia, require that individuals pay taxes on their own and disallow joint filing.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SbcA5i">
|
|||
|
|
Eliminating joint returns, and moving to a system where everyone has the same filing status, would create winners and losers, but it would treat couples equally regardless of earnings, and it would make life vastly simpler for the millions of Americans who do not fit neatly into the IRS’s categories.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="op8COI">
|
|||
|
|
Should this really be in the tax code?
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A photo showing students on a sunny college campus." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lwG5ZS19snpAr3VuAR_-jtp06to=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24583424/1235588015.jpg"/> <cite>Terry Pierson/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Should benefits for students like these ones at UC Riverside be administered through taxes, or through financial aid?
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f7ojyQ">
|
|||
|
|
The main tax credits we deal with in VITA are the EITC and CTC, which have their complexities (see above).
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ufHTcp">
|
|||
|
|
After that, the most common are the education credits: the refundable American opportunity tax credit (AOTC), which covers four years of undergraduate college education, and the lifetime learning credit (LLC).
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YoNOGc">
|
|||
|
|
These credits have <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4012.pdf#page=232">subtle differences</a> that become important: The AOTC, for instance, bars students with felony drug convictions from collecting the credit, which the LLC does not; but the AOTC can also be used for the cost of books and materials that are helpful but not explicitly required for classes, which the LLC cannot.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oItebV">
|
|||
|
|
This is all a significant headache for affected taxpayers — and I can say from experience that asking, “Have you been convicted of a drug-related felony?” does not become an easier question to ask the more you ask it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cUeGp6">
|
|||
|
|
A common proposal from higher ed wonks is to <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w22127/w22127.pdf#page=26">fold these credits into an increase in the value of Pell Grants</a>, which are a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-economic-case-for-doubling-the-pell-grant/">well-targeted program aimed at students from families with low incomes</a> and which don’t require a complex tax return to receive. That’s a very good idea, and one worth applying to a number of other less-used provisions too.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YGi2g9">
|
|||
|
|
The <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc602">child and dependent care credit</a> (CDCC, not to be confused with the similarly named, much larger child tax credit) is a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2023/02/13/with-federal-child-care-legislation-abandoned-its-up-to-states-to-help-working-families/">mess</a>. This is a credit meant to defray the cost of child care, nannies, preschool, and related services.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="C98g6g">
|
|||
|
|
Most clients I work with who have kids in day care are not eligible for it because you have to owe income taxes to get it, and most low-income people don’t owe income taxes; they file to get “refundable” credits that people who don’t owe can receive. One solution would be to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/6/3/5776044/rich-parents-get-the-biggest-child-care-tax-breaks">make the CDCC fully refundable</a> — but a better one would be to remove this complication from the tax code entirely.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fUBurQ">
|
|||
|
|
The leading Democratic proposal on child care, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1360/text">Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-WA) Child Care for Working Families Act</a>, would offer funds to state-run programs that provide subsidies directly, so people can get the money when they need it to pay child care bills, rather than at the end of tax season.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="igJDTG">
|
|||
|
|
That plan <a href="https://www.vox.com/22744837/house-senate-democrats-build-back-better-child-care">has its own problems</a>, but it gets that part right. Not everything has to be in the tax code.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="vFeME7">
|
|||
|
|
A world without tax filing
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z2gRCS">
|
|||
|
|
If you add up the suggestions above, you get a vastly simpler tax code. Indeed, they put you in a good position to implement a system in which very few people have to file income taxes.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="P9O0rB">
|
|||
|
|
In a 2019 paper, <a href="https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jeffreyliebman/files/liebman_ramsey_independent_taxation.pdf">economists Jeffrey Liebman and Daniel Ramsey</a> ran through the changes the US would have to make to adopt this system of exact-withholding. Under this approach, used by the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/how-you-pay-income-">UK</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/opinion/filing-taxes-in-japan-is-a-breeze-why-not-here.html">Japan</a>, and <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-other-countries-use-return-free-filing">others</a>, “the majority of taxpayers do not need to file tax returns. Instead, these countries use withholding systems in which the correct amount of tax is withheld during the year.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HUVS1t">
|
|||
|
|
That could be us — so why isn’t it? They offer four big aspects of the US tax code that prevent it.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QOh4nG">
|
|||
|
|
The first is the complex system of benefits for families with children. Creating a simple monthly child benefit would solve that.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IlA8JT">
|
|||
|
|
The second is that capital income like interest and stock capital gains aren’t “taxed at the source”: your broker doesn’t automatically tax, say, 30 percent of the proceeds from selling stock and send it to the IRS. Creating a flat tax on capital imposed at the source would eliminate filing requirements for most people with this kind of income.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xoMLm3">
|
|||
|
|
Third is the numerous deductions in the tax code. Most of these, like the mortgage interest or charitable deductions, don’t come up much in VITA because it’s almost always more advantageous for clients to claim a standard deduction — but things like the education credits do come up, and removing them would simplify our clients’ lives.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qCOzhT">
|
|||
|
|
Fourth and most important is eliminating joint returns and moving to individual-based taxation. Joint filing makes precise withholding much more difficult because employers would need to know the earnings of each of their employees’ spouses in order to withhold correctly. If everyone’s taxed as an individual, then eliminating joint filing wouldn’t mean couples would have to file two returns: They’d have to file zero because precise withholding would be possible.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5JTArh">
|
|||
|
|
In this kind of world, VITA wouldn’t necessarily run out of clients. Even in a world where Uber and DoorDash got better about withholding, we’d still have some clients with complex self-employment situations that they’d need help with.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ywbebu">
|
|||
|
|
But our client base would be much, much, much smaller. Nothing would make me happier than to know the IRS made our clients’ lives easier so that my colleagues and I don’t have to. If the system became more functional, our obsolescence would be a happy development.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Is Twitter finally dying?</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="A drawing of a gravestone with the etching “R.I.P.” and a blue bird sitting atop it." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/St91JPXSnNjTB0iUJvs_Q9TQ9i0=/240x0:1680x1080/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72182742/Twitter_dying.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Dion Lee / Vox
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
After an extraordinarily chaotic past few weeks, the slow death of Twitter seems to be speeding up.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1dS13G">
|
|||
|
|
It’s been a year since Elon Musk <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/4/14/23024962/elon-musk-twitter-43-billion-private-analysis">initiated</a> his takeover of Twitter. The six months since he actually <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/10/27/23424938/elon-musk-own-twitter-deal-closes-what-will-change-superapp-layoffs-free-speech-parag-agrawal">took charge</a> can only be characterized as chaotic, and quietly, in early April, Musk <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-11/twitter-becomes-x-corp-as-musk-advances-everything-app-hopes#xj4y7vzkg">merged Twitter with a new shell company called X Corp</a>. In other words, Twitter Inc. no longer exists.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="DsNvG8">
|
|||
|
|
Musk painted a rosy picture in an April 12 <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65248196">interview with the BBC</a>. He said that Twitter is thriving with “record high usage” and that, despite some “compute glitches here and there,” the “site is doing really well,” advertisers who initially fled the platform after his takeover have mostly returned, and the company is on track to make a profit by next quarter. Musk also scoffed at the idea that he had destroyed Twitter, saying that predictions that the platform would “cease to exist” have “turned out to be false.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ab7MWf">
|
|||
|
|
To some extent, what Musk was saying is true: Twitter did not implode overnight in a catastrophic technical meltdown, as some of the more <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/17/twitter-archive-tweets-company-shuts">skeptical critics of Musk’s reign</a> had warned.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BJjSNx">
|
|||
|
|
So Twitter isn’t dead. But it’s getting there.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eikbH9">
|
|||
|
|
If you’re on Twitter today, you’re likely experiencing a feed that is more frequently broken, more random, and more unhinged. The site has seen a sustained uptick in outages and bugs. Many users are complaining about seeing more <a href="https://time.com/6251833/twitter-for-you-page-tiktok/">content in the new For You</a> feed that they don’t want to see. There are active <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/170176/twitter-suspends-white-supremacist-nick-fuentes">neo-Nazis on the platform</a>. And just this week, NPR and PBS, two major news outlets with over 10 million combined followers, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/04/12/1169269161/npr-leaves-twitter-government-funded-media-label">stopped using the platform</a>, saying they had lost faith in Musk’s decision-making after he slapped a “government-funded media” label on the accounts.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NaZ9IH">
|
|||
|
|
Some people on Twitter, especially Musk’s dedicated fan base, are embracing Musk’s shake-up. But there’s no denying that Twitter today is a more unreliable experience than it was before Musk took over. Musk has justified his many controversial moves by saying that he’s doing it in the name of <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23042878/elon-musk-twitter-free-speech">free speech</a>: to remove power from check mark-touting “media elites” and distribute it to everyone else, no matter how abhorrent their views.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZZ175X">
|
|||
|
|
The problem is, Musk’s plan doesn’t seem to be working as well as he’s saying. Twitter’s web traffic dropped by nearly 8 percent last month compared to the year before, and has been dropping for the past three months year over year, according to new estimates from data intelligence firm SimilarWeb. This directly contradicts Musk’s claims that usage is up. In terms of Twitter’s main line of income, advertising, outside data also conflicts with Musk’s claims that all is well. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/10/tech/twitter-top-advertiser-decline/index.html#:~:text=Companies%20as%20wide%2Dranging%20as,took%20over%20in%20October%202022.&text=Twitter%2C%20which%20eliminated%20much%20of,to%20a%20request%20for%20comment.">Multiple</a> <a href="https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/wendys-national-roast-day-moves-twitter-tiktok/2486516">reports</a> over the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/126219c4-5ac0-4c8b-996c-307c24a4cd61">past few months</a> have shown that top brands are continuing to leave the platform since Musk took over.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ISBqXC">
|
|||
|
|
Vox spoke with over half a dozen current and former Twitter employees, advertising and marketing experts, and users about the current state of the company. Many of those who worked at Twitter said the platform was only alive because of the technical strength and reputation it’s built over the past 17 years.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="35MPkx">
|
|||
|
|
“You can blow both engines on a jet, and the jet is still going to glide,” said one former Twitter employee of seven years, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of professional repercussions. They added, however, that people should worry about Twitter’s recent privacy bugs, including <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/10/twitter-circle-bug-not-private/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABy0AfBBm8GDfeNhzCt54eDxlJcH83MMEl1h6SilbMPIuiOFojt5Z7gANiYe8tGma-ZDWwVcfceBU7KKoLvBUx0Q7_n0PoGLZU218O8snRRELsWdhaX85OP_YvTKfhml03LJlduYirAZUq6oP_istK-TXLlyvVAEgZvjIEWVgWOH">one that affected Twitter Circles</a>, a feature that’s supposed to send certain tweets only to specific users. Instead, these tweets were made public.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PcYFV5">
|
|||
|
|
“If there are ways the product is breaking apart behind the scenes in ways you don’t see,” the former employee said, “then that’s a really, really bad sign.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0zxlRp">
|
|||
|
|
Any attempts to write the eulogy for Twitter, though, are still premature. Musk <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/teslas-elon-musk-keeps-proving-the-naysayers-wrong-2020-03-11">has a way of defying odds</a>. And despite a batch of contenders like <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23683140/artifact-substack-notes-twitter-competitors">Substack and Artifact</a>, there still isn’t a competing platform that’s seeing the kind of hypergrowth it would need to truly overtake Twitter. That’s partly because some of Twitter’s biggest power users, including journalists, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/12/2/23488678/twitter-journalists-quitting-elon-musk-mastodon-post">just can’t seem to quit the platform</a>, so it’s not clear where the new digital town square will be. Another issue is that, in the era of TikTok, the world seems to have moved on from <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/12/6/23496363/twitter-mastodon-hive-musk-replacement">text-based social media apps</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JUVoc8">
|
|||
|
|
How exactly Twitter is losing its relevance and maybe dying is complicated. How it has managed to survive Musk’s chaotic reign, however, feels downright mysterious.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="1gCJaF">
|
|||
|
|
The basics: Twitter by the numbers
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="83UyWn">
|
|||
|
|
There are two basic questions you can ask to assess the viability of any for-profit social media platform: Are people using it? And is it making money?
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ngk9N">
|
|||
|
|
On the first question, Musk says that Twitter’s usage is at an all-time high of 8 billion minutes per day. But those assertions aren’t supported by outside <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/katienotopoulos/twitter-users-down-democrats-elon-musk">estimates</a>, which — although not exact — suggest that Twitter is actually less popular than before Musk took over.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="07nnpV">
|
|||
|
|
Twitter had a 7.7 percent decline in traffic in March compared to the year before, according to SimilarWeb data, which marks the third month in a row of year-over-year traffic decline. The analytics firm also recorded a 3.3 percent drop in Twitter’s unique web page visitor count year over year in March; on Twitter’s Android app, average daily active users were down 9.8 percent in March year over year.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZiiLwz">
|
|||
|
|
Those numbers aren’t necessarily devastating — and Twitter was already <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-where-did-tweeters-go-twitter-is-losing-its-most-active-users-internal-2022-10-25/">losing users even before Musk took over</a> — but they’re in stark contrast to the “better than ever” user numbers Musk keeps citing.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h9K3cfw8J0P38h53QmpRrrs14hs=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24586552/GettyImages_1244262469.jpg"/> <cite>Twitter account of Elon Musk/AFP via Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Elon Musk bringing a sink into Twitter’s offices on his first official day as owner. Musk tweeted the picture and wrote “let that sink in!”
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="q2sLrl">
|
|||
|
|
Part of the disparity between Musk’s numbers and those of third parties could be explained by how they’re being measured. Even if traffic is down, engagement — that is, how much people are interacting with content on Twitter — may be higher. Musk has also said he cares most about “<a href="https://twitter.com/alexeheath/status/1605452043262386177?lang=en">unregretted user minutes.</a>” This novel metric, which Musk may or may not have made up, refers to minutes that people spend on the platform that they think was time well spent.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ruNJPl">
|
|||
|
|
Of course, since Twitter is no longer a public company, it doesn’t have to share the details of its user numbers on a regular basis. That means only Musk and Twitter have direct access to internal numbers on user engagement and time spent. So outside estimates of these metrics aren’t a perfect reflection of the size and growth of Twitter’s base. Nevertheless, these third-party statistics raise serious doubts about Musk’s claim that Twitter usage is at an all-time high.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XMl8hR">
|
|||
|
|
On the question of whether Twitter is making money, the company has two main forms of income — advertising and subscriber revenue — neither of which seem to be doing great.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Z08tJ5">
|
|||
|
|
Over half of Twitter’s top advertisers from before Musk’s acquisition were still no longer advertising with the company as of last month, according to data from intelligence firm SensorTower by Pathmatics. Many of these advertisers are primarily <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/3/23/23651151/twitter-advertisers-elon-musk-brands-revenue-fleeing">worried about Musk’s volatile online presence</a>, including his tweets promoting conspiracy theories. In his recent BBC interview, Musk said that advertisers are “mostly coming back,” without naming which ones.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2ofi35">
|
|||
|
|
Later this month, Musk will speak to advertisers at a major marketing conference run by advertising giant MMA, where he’ll also be <a href="https://deadline.com/2022/11/elon-musk-twitter-nbcuniversal-sales-chief-linda-yaccarino-give-the-guy-a-minute-1235170436/">interviewed by influential</a> NBCUniversal ad exec Linda Yaccarino. This could be a chance for Musk to ease the concerns of the brands that have fled and try to convince them that business is back to normal. Privately, though, advertisers are reportedly worried about Musk’s presence at the conference, and some have raised concerns about his “racist rhetoric,” <a href="https://www.semafor.com/article/04/06/2023/before-meeting-with-elon-musk-top-advertisers-privately-debate-his-racist-rhetoric">according to news outlet Semafor</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S2BDzj">
|
|||
|
|
If Musk isn’t able to woo back advertisers, he’ll need subscribers for Twitter Blue, a recently revamped subscription plan that charges users for blue verification check marks and other perks, like having their tweets featured more prominently.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="HY9EXZ">
|
|||
|
|
That’s going to be challenging. The latest metrics show that only 0.2 percent of Twitter users are paying for Twitter Blue. Twitter Blue did have an estimated 116,000 confirmed signups on the web in March, up 138 percent from the month before, according to SimilarWeb. Still, that’s not nearly enough to make up for the lost money in advertising dollars.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nNzPkw">
|
|||
|
|
Musk has been working on a plan to push more people to the paid checkmarks, however. On April 20 — or 4/20, a reference to the old weed joke and possibly <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1026872652290379776?lang=en">his favorite number</a> — Musk says Twitter will finally <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/11/4/23438917/twitter-verifications-blue-check-elon-musk">revoke checkmarks</a> from all verified users who don’t currently pay for Twitter Blue. Many notable users and newsrooms, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/twitter-musk-blue-checks-new-york-times-338cb27ac4ae5d1186613104c23fd8c8">including the New York Times</a>, have said they don’t plan to dish out the fee of $8 a month per employee and $1,000 per month for their organizations’ checkmarks.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JEj9DO">
|
|||
|
|
Convincing Twitter users to pay for something they used to get for free is a tough pitch.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NKAq80">
|
|||
|
|
“I’m skeptical that Twitter Blue will become an important source of monetization and generally believe that social media platforms can’t rely on subscriptions as their primary revenue mechanic,” Eric Seufert, an industry analyst for Mobile Dev Memo, said in a Twitter DM.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Nr8u63">
|
|||
|
|
But the real sign of Twitter dying may lie beyond the pure metrics. It’s in how much more unpleasant it is for many users to spend time on the platform.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="sLCjWG">
|
|||
|
|
The user experience: More glitches, more Nazis, and more random content
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wfzZgF">
|
|||
|
|
There’s another, more subjective way to judge whether a social media app is dying or not: the quality of a user’s experience.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5GGb9l">
|
|||
|
|
This is a harder metric to quantify, and there’s a mix of opinions about these kinds of changes to Twitter. However, there are some clear ways that Twitter as a product has suffered under Musk’s leadership.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y7tRiR">
|
|||
|
|
For example, Twitter used to be a place for people, especially journalists, to gather for major news moments. But this month’s Trump arrest <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/5/23671478/donald-trump-arrest-twitter-arraignment-social-media">was an underwhelming moment on the platform</a>, garnering far fewer tweets than past Trump moments on Twitter, like when the former president was diagnosed with Covid. That may be because Musk has been making the platform less journalist-friendly. But it might just be that Twitter is harder to use.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kuqDmT">
|
|||
|
|
There’s been a string of notable outages that make Twitter a less reliable app, technically speaking. While Twitter has always had crashes, they’ve been more frequent lately. In February, Twitter experienced <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/28/technology/twitter-outages-elon-musk.html#:~:text=In%20February%20alone%2C%20Twitter%20experienced,on%20the%20rise%2C%20NetBlocks%20said.">four site outages, according to the New York Times</a>. And even when the site isn’t completely down, there are often major significant feature glitches, like earlier this week when many Twitter users were temporarily <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1646356797408661504">unable to reply to tweets on the web</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="Elon Musk smiling and laughing, wearing a tuxedo and white tie." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OAWurUp3xsxexoLy1VcP4-qnLA4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24586557/GettyImages_1395059297.jpg"/> <cite>John Shearer/Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Elon Musk at the Met Gala in May 2022, looking happy, before he bought Twitter.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LtWN35">
|
|||
|
|
Musk has also made some controversial changes to Twitter’s core design. A big one involved changing the site’s primary feed from a list of only users you follow to a feed that also shows more algorithmically suggested content from users you don’t follow. It’s called the For You feed, similar to TikTok’s homepage. While some people like the change, others find it harder to keep up with the users they actually follow and care about.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cDz6Uk">
|
|||
|
|
“Before, I would get more feeds from people and topics that I tend to visit more often,” Nalan Yurtsever, a resident pathologist at Northwell Health who mainly uses Twitter to keep up with academics in her field, said in a DM. “I feel like it has gotten worse. I spend less time on it now because it is less relevant.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UQ4AAJ">
|
|||
|
|
Other users complain that it’s harder to separate fact from fiction because, thanks to the changes to Twitter Blue, anyone can now buy verification and a blue check mark.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q399Xv">
|
|||
|
|
Another major concern about users’ day-to-day experience is hate speech.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mijC7U">
|
|||
|
|
In November, Musk started granting “general amnesty” to thousands of accounts that were previously banned for hate speech, violence, or misinformation. Unsurprisingly, several outside reports show that hate speech has been on the rise. Slurs against Black Americans increased from an average of 1,282 times to 3,876 times a day since Musk took over, according to a report from <a href="https://counterhate.com/blog/the-musk-bump-quantifying-the-rise-in-hate-speech-under-elon-musk/">the Center for Countering Digital Hate</a> published in December. And antisemitic tweets doubled from June 2022 to February 2023, according to research from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d7j8S6">
|
|||
|
|
Musk has insisted, including in his recent BBC interview, that those reports are false and that hate speech is declining at Twitter. Nevertheless, Twitter approved and verified a user with <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/debug/twitter-blue-user-n-word-verified-account/">the n-word in his username</a> this week. That was after the company allowed several well-known, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/neo-nazi-andrew-anglin-twitter-rife-misogyny-1234671105/">self-avowed neo-Nazis</a> back on the platform.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lN8OqR">
|
|||
|
|
It’s still hard to say exactly how much this hate speech gets seen. It’s possible that, as Musk has previously claimed the platform would do, Twitter has down-ranked people who produce hate speech so that even if there are more instances of hate speech, those tweets are viewed less often.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rhjvCm">
|
|||
|
|
Overall, there are certainly users who like the changes Musk has made to Twitter’s feed and content moderation policies. Many of them tend to fit into one of a handful of categories: Musk’s dedicated fans, people who were previously suspended from Twitter, and people with interests that align with Musk’s follower base, like crypto and Tesla.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YH6fn8">
|
|||
|
|
So one could argue that, over time, we won’t see Twitter die completely but rather shrink to fit a user base that’s more niche.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="BNlHRy">
|
|||
|
|
Why Twitter may be dying but isn’t dead yet
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UXlCgG">
|
|||
|
|
Despite all of Twitter’s problems, it’s still kicking — and there are a few major reasons for that.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4w2voR">
|
|||
|
|
For one, Musk has successfully drawn attention to Twitter by creating drama around his own actions. Each week seems to bring a new publicity stunt, like when Musk changed the logo on Twitter’s app and website to a doge icon or when he altered the sign outside Twitter headquarters to read “Titter.” Musk’s recent spur-of-the-moment interview with the BBC drew in more than 3 million listeners on Twitter Spaces; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/fox-news-viewership-crushes-msnbc-cnn-110-straight-week-among-both-total-viewers-primetime">for comparison, about 2 million people watch</a> Fox News during primetime.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kAlN37">
|
|||
|
|
In other words, Musk is a master troll.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7kQPir">
|
|||
|
|
And while Musk’s antics alienate many users, some conservatives have celebrated his leadership at Twitter, seeing him as someone who liberated the company from what they saw as overly strict content moderation policies. In fact, in the days after Musk’s takeover, conservative accounts saw their <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/27/23045005/conservative-twitter-follower-boost-musk-acquisition-data">follower counts go up</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PilODI">
|
|||
|
|
There are also a few signs of hope for Twitter on the advertising front. Despite the broader brand exodus, a handful of major companies, including McDonald’s, Disney, and Apple, continue to spend on the platform.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<figure class="e-image">
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="The sign on the Twitter building in San Francisco has a clock, the word “@Twitter,” and the blue bird logo." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ilsDcOFs_26_8Sw74w1RvAnucbc=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24586554/GettyImages_1251763316.jpg"/> <cite>Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, where Elon Musk said he sleeps sometimes.
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9KlTpJ">
|
|||
|
|
But by far, the main reason Twitter is still alive is because there is <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2022/12/6/23496363/twitter-mastodon-hive-musk-replacement">no viable competitor</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CKIH15">
|
|||
|
|
The decentralized network Mastodon, for one, has attracted many journalists. But unlike Twitter, it runs on a collection of disparate, interconnected servers, which makes it difficult for the average user to navigate. The popular newsletter platform Substack has recently emerged as another Twitter competitor — Musk also recently banned the company on Twitter — but it’s not clear how much time Substack users will want to spend on a feed when they’re used to reading writers they follow in their inbox. Then there’s Artifact, a startup created by Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom that’s still in its early stages. Even Meta is reportedly working on a <a href="https://www.platformer.news/p/meta-is-building-a-decentralized">text-based social network</a>, though we still don’t have many details about how it would work.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BMJQT5">
|
|||
|
|
“Twitter is unique. News breaks on Twitter. Culture happens on Twitter,” said advertising executive Lou Paskalis, chief strategy officer of Ad Fontes Media, who has tried other alternatives like Post News. Paskalis says he’s still clinging to Twitter despite the recent changes to the platform and Musk’s “carelessness with the things most important to advertisers and beloved by heavy users of the platform.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9hZktY">
|
|||
|
|
If we want to understand the future of Twitter, we can look to what we know about its new parent company: X. The move was unannounced and unexplained, but it’s related to Musk’s long-stated plans of turning Twitter into an “everything” app, <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/23171541/leaked-transcript-elon-musk-first-meeting-twitter-employees">similar to WeChat in China</a>, that will be used to do things like make payments, order food, and hail rides.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VkVboF">
|
|||
|
|
Wharton marketing professor Patti Williams, who studies people’s opinions about companies, thinks the move may have something to do with Musk appealing to his base. Musk has “shaken” Twitter’s reputation, she said, and is disrupting the trust it had with journalists and their audiences. But that’s just one type of audience. For all of the news junkies, culture makers, and politicos he alienates, Musk might be gaining more diehard users, including Tesla enthusiasts, coders, crypto traders, and gamers.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pNwIgm">
|
|||
|
|
In essence, Musk is jeopardizing the strength of Twitter’s brand, but he’s also building a new one in the process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="zcLlHm">
|
|||
|
|
“There’s a lot of value in the Twitter name,” said Williams. “But only if Twitter aspires to what it has been.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dGBh7f">
|
|||
|
|
So, is Twitter dying? The answer is, the old Twitter is already dead. We’re all living in Musk’s more chaotic, drama-filled, polarizing Twittersphere now.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LVStn6">
|
|||
|
|
What’s uncertain is what the new Twitter — or X or whatever Musk calls it — will ultimately look like. And whether it will survive.
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Time And Tide waits for no one in the Nilgiris 2000 Guineas</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>IPL 2023, DC vs RCB | Kuldeep-inspired DC spin attack restricts RCB to 174/6</strong> - In pursuit of their first win of the tournament, bottom-placed DC found the going tough after inserting RCB in</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Anirudh adds another bronze</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pain-free Bumrah begins rehab; Iyer to undergo back surgery next week</strong> - The BCCI also gave an update on Shreyas Iyer and said the batter would undergo surgery for his lower back issue next week</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pakistan thumps New Zealand in captain Babar’s 100th T20</strong> - Pakistan celebrated the 100th Twenty20 of its all-format captain Babar Azam with a thumping 88-run win over a weakened New Zealand in the first game of five-match series on Friday</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
|
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
|
|||
|
|
<ul>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Congress nominates candidates for Arsikere, Hassan</strong> - Former JD(S) MLA K.M. Shivalinge Gowda to contest on Congress ticket in Arsikere</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Endowments commissioner takes oath as ex-officio member of TTD board</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>TTD gets donation of ₹1 crore</strong> -</p></li>
|
|||
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Explained | Why is there concern about the tiger population in the Western Ghats?</strong> - As Project Tiger celebrates 50 years, what is the National Tiger Conservation Authority reporting on the health of the 53 reserves which are home to the big cat?</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ahead of the Supreme Court’s verdict on ‘Sena versus Sena’, speculation over fresh political alignments in Maharashtra gathers pace</strong> - The NCP’s history of intrigue with the ruling BJP, and recent contrarian stands on certain issues with other parties in the Opposition MVA alliance, keeps its allies on tenterhooks</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France pension reforms: Macron signs pension age rise to 64 into law</strong> - President Macron makes the unpopular reforms law despite widespread protests in Paris and other cities.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Beatriz Flamini: Athlete emerges after 500 days living in cave</strong> - Beatriz Flamini spent two birthdays in the cave, and kept busy drawing and knitting woolly hats.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Pentagon leaks reveal Russian infighting over death toll</strong> - US documents suggest Russian officials disagreed over how casualties were being counted.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: In Kyiv, top officials shrug off US documents leak</strong> - Officials in Kyiv tell the BBC recent leaks of US intelligence didn’t reveal any important information.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Joe Biden in Ireland: President says Mayo is ‘part of my soul’</strong> - The US president was addressing a huge crowd at a homecoming event in County Mayo, ending his trip to Ireland.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dealmaster: Best cheap office chair deals</strong> - The ergonomic, affordable alternatives to Herman Miller and Steelcase chairs. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1931867">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SCOTUS preserves access to abortion pill—for 5 days</strong> - It’s unclear how the high court will ultimately rule on the matter. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1932127">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>After a sharp sales slump, report details some of Apple’s future Mac lineup</strong> - Apple is looking to boost sales after a significant post-pandemic bust. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1932101">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hype grows over “autonomous” AI agents that loop GPT-4 outputs</strong> - AutoGPT and BabyAGI run GPT AI agents to complete complex tasks iteratively. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1929067">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Green light go: SpaceX receives a launch license from the FAA for Starship</strong> - “So far they’ve done what they need to do with regard to environmental impact.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1931432">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What do you call a bear with no teeth?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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A gummy bear
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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My 8 year old daughter told me this joke
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/-Putt_Blug-"> /u/-Putt_Blug- </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12mitu8/what_do_you_call_a_bear_with_no_teeth/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12mitu8/what_do_you_call_a_bear_with_no_teeth/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>If you buy a man a plane ticket, he will fly for a day…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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If you push a man out of a plane, he will fly for the rest of his life
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Never_Apologise"> /u/Never_Apologise </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12m1m6z/if_you_buy_a_man_a_plane_ticket_he_will_fly_for_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12m1m6z/if_you_buy_a_man_a_plane_ticket_he_will_fly_for_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How many Germans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Just one. They are a very efficient people.
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Additional-Theme-532"> /u/Additional-Theme-532 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12mk7kl/how_many_germans_does_it_take_to_screw_in_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12mk7kl/how_many_germans_does_it_take_to_screw_in_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>My wife asked me “Why don’t you treat me like you did when we were first dating?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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So I brought her to a Wayans brothers movie, snuck in some vodka in a water bottle and asked her for a handy in the back row
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Czarben"> /u/Czarben </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12m1q1g/my_wife_asked_me_why_dont_you_treat_me_like_you/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12m1q1g/my_wife_asked_me_why_dont_you_treat_me_like_you/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>I was at the bar in the International Airport when a small Chinese guy comes in, stands next to me, and starts drinking a beer. I asked him, “Do you know any of those martial arts, like Kung-Fu, or Karate?” He says “No, why in the hell would you ask? Is it because I am Chinese?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“No”, I said, “It’s because you’re drinking my beer, you little fucker.”
|
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</p>
|
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Liv1ng-the-Blues"> /u/Liv1ng-the-Blues </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12lyh6p/i_was_at_the_bar_in_the_international_airport/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/12lyh6p/i_was_at_the_bar_in_the_international_airport/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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</ul>
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