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Ben Pettis

@bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy

3 followers 0 following 46 posts

he/they Assistant Professor University of Richmond Studying Internet culture & web histories. So basically I get to look at memes and scroll through […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.benpettis.ninja/@bpettis, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 50m

Nobody could have possibly predicted that private platforms collecting government IDs would possibly become a security liability...
https://flipboard.com/@theverge/tech-news-e3qmqbb8z/-/a-OsdZs6LSRJWaDGdFVlnglw%3Aa%3A43611565-%2F0

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 11h

I think that the president calling for a governor and a mayor to be jailed is a Very Bad Thing™

The painting "Freedom of Speech" by Norman Rockwell. A man in a thick coat stands and looks forward stoically. Other people in the room are sitting and look toward him as he speaks.

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 1d

This was the automatically generated alt-text (from trying to read text in the image)

“And this life activity [the worker] sells to another person in “You wanna live fancy? Live in a big mansion? Party in
order to secure the necessary means of life. ... He works France? You better work, bitch […]

Original post on mastodon.benpettis.ninja

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 1d

on my way to talk about influencers and @sophiebishop's algorithmic gossip piece with my students and/or (depending on who you ask because I teach in America) brainwash students with a bunch of "woke" radical ideologies about labor and precarity

Portrait of Karl Marx alongside a portrait of Brittney Spears, with quotes beneath each image:

“And this life activity [the worker] sells to another person in order to secure the necessary means of life. ... He works that he may keep alive..”
– Karl Marx

“You wanna live fancy? Live in a big mansion? Party in France? You better work, bitch..”
– Britney Spears

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Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 2d

Surely the AI bubble will go differently than the Dot Com bubble and the mid-2000s housing market. If there's one thing that you can reliably expect from the doing the same thing it's that you're surely get different results....

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 2d

@AlsoPaisleyCat But in an twisted and ironic way, the rise of Mastodon phishing schemes is a good sign of the network gaining significant traffic and "legitimacy"

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 3d

My new goal is to find a way to work this screenshot into either my book or a future journal article, because I want to bring something unexpected into a copyeditor's day by making them conform this image to their publisher's standards

Screenshot of mastodon post by my "Objectionodon" bot with a video paused on a frame of Phoenix Wright pointing alongside a meme image of JD Vance

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

Any institution which accepts or signs onto the president's loyalty oath is enabling and supporting a fascist regime while happily throwing their students, faculty, and staff under the bus.

The Trump administration's offer
to give preferential treatment to
colleges and universities in
exchange for allegiance to a
partisan ideological agenda
stinks of favoritism,
patronage, and bribery.
IT IS ENTIRELY
CORRUPT.

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

@objectionodon

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

https://mastodon.benpettis.ninja/@objectionodon/115308136369700118

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

The Fediverse needs more shitposting. I'm doing my part! https://github.com/bpettis/objectionodon

https://mastodon.benpettis.ninja/@bpettis/115307940394169668

GitHub - bpettis/objectionodon

Contribute to bpettis/objectionodon development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

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Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

to test a few things

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

just need a thread

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 5d

don't mind me

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 7d

More adventures in #selfhosting:

Turns out that when upgrading the software on your mastodon server, it goes a lot better if you actually read the dependencies requirements correctly -- who knew!?

I mean you could spend hours digging through logs trying to figure out why one of the services […]

Original post on mastodon.benpettis.ninja

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Reposted by Ben Pettis

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 8d

OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this

220 3.3K 11K

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 12d

Hello Fediverse!

I’m studying how communication and media scholars think about Twitter/X and its recent whirlwind of changes. If this sounds like you (communication/media scholar, currently or previously used twitter, 18+ years), please take this […]

[Original post on mastodon.benpettis.ninja]

Recruitment graphic for "Survey of Academic Twitter"

Twitter (or X) has changed quite a lot in the past few years. I am researching how communication and media scholars use the platform and think about how it has changed. Please take this survey and share your thoughts!

Contains a QR code and URL to the survey, as well as contact information for Ben Pettis <ben.pettis@richmond.edu>.

Project reviewd and Approved by the University of Richmond Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research (URIRB). For more information, email irb@richmond.edu or call (804) 484-1565.

Project Number: URIRB250920

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 14d

I love our dumb tech so much

Screenshot of iPhone call screening feature

iPhone: Hi, if you record your name and reason for calling, I'll see if this person is available
No Caller ID: Stupid because.
iPhone: Thanks. Please stay on the line

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 16d

The new macOS 26 is so magical - at random intervals between 15 seconds and 5 minutes, the entire operating system freezes for a second and the screen locks.

Oh yeah, and the liquid glass looks like shit too.

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 16d

I'm very proud to be a part of the WCFTR team!

UW-Madison ran a profile on the WCFTR, highlighting archival collections (plus digitized materials!) as well as recent successes, challenges, and ongoing fundraising efforts given the uncertainty facing higher education […]

Original post on mastodon.benpettis.ninja

mastodon.benpettis.ninja

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 19d

NY Times Article from February 4, 1939: Goebbels Ends Careers of Five 'Aryan' Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime

Ben Pettis @bpettis.mastodon.benpettis.ninja.ap.brid.gy · 20d

Overheard from a gaggle of business bros on campus, shouting toward one of their group as they walked away: "I hope your covid goes away bro!"

Reader: I have not seen a single student on campus wearing a mask.

It is difficult to avoid the looming feeling of "oh my god we are so fucked"

Reposted by Ben Pettis

Robert W. Gehl @rwg.aoir.social.ap.brid.gy · 20d

When I was writing my latest book, Move Slowly and Build Bridges, I talked about the stakes: corporate social media is accruing incredible power and is increasingly tied to state power. We need noncommercial, non- centralized media.

Honestly, I thought I overstated it when I wrote the book […]

Original post on aoir.social

aoir.social

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Reposted by Ben Pettis

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 21d

It is, of course, utterly fitting that the mascot of ABC's parent company is a mouse, the rodent that symbolizes cowardice and timidity.

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