Episode #8×04: Farewell to Spotify and Wordle, The Case of Lauren Smith-Fields, TikTok Unfairly Pays All Creators

  • As usual, Laura starts out the episode complaining.
  • Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have officially pulled their music off Spotify in response to Joe Rogan’s vaccine misinformation. Are we going to leave Spotify?
  • Were you enjoying the early-days-of-the-web feels that came with Wordle? The New York Times has already acquired everyone’s favorite word game mere weeks after it gained popularity online.
  • SAY HER NAME: Lauren Smith-Fields went on a Bumble date and was found dead in her apartment the next day. The lack of attention this case got in the early weeks from authorities and media has reignited conversations around how missing and murdered white women will dominate headlines, while similar cases involving women of color are all too often forgotten and ignored.
  • Why wasn’t a criminal investigation opened sooner? And we share some of our own anecdotes about dating safety.
  • There’s a huge issue with the way TikTok is paying its creators according to Hank Green. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, he details how TikTok’s Creator Fund is a very limited pool of funding for an app which has experienced explosive growth since 2020.
  • Could one solution be for TikTok to attach ads to creators’ content, similar to YouTube? Or will we all just swipe up to skip?
  • #Millennial’s Make a Commitment is back! We’re gonna hold y’all to your educational, professional, and health goals!
  • This week’s recommendations get a lil nerdy: Use Amazon’s ‘Flash Briefing‘ feature (Andrew), ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas (Laura), and ‘Finding Her Edge’ by Jennifer Lacopelli.
  • This week’s episode is sponsored by Surfshark VPN (https://www.surfshark.deals/MILL for 83% off plus 3 months FREE). Support #Millennial by supporting our sponsors!

And in this week’s installment of After Dark, available on Patreon:

  • D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) isn’t too pleased with HBO’s ‘Euphoria,’ which it says “misguidedly glorifies and erroneously depicts high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors common and widespread in today’s world.” 
  • This raises the age old question – is sex and violence in popular media going to promote these risky behaviors for real life teens? Or is this an over-reaction?
  • Is #Millennial considering making D.A.R.E parody shirts? Maaaaaaaybe. (In all seriousness, we support the philosophy behind promoting education and safe behaviors for teens, we just think D.A.R.E is kinda outdated in their approach.)

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