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jess rauchberg

@jessrauchberg.bsky.social

3.4K followers 840 following 1K posts

Social media expert writing about labor/culture/inequalities in the creator economy. Repped by Aevitas Creative Management. Hot takes are my own! www.jessrauchberg.com

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · Jul 16

a very cool data viz from a talk I gave last week at McMaster University! thanks to Melanie Parlette-Stewart for bringing my presentation to life. ✨recorded lecture coming soon...

A visual note representing my invited talk at the 2025 McMaster Conference on Education & Cognition

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Reposted by jess rauchberg

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 1d

Here's my live Techtonic interview with Luddite Club members - including Lucy Jackson, featured in the WSJ story:
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
(click "pop-up player")

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Reposted by jess rauchberg

Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 2d

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

CFP: A Time of Monsters

The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

contingentmagazine.org

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 2d

they're talking about AI stigma on L*nkedIn... new oppression just dropped

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

robophobia conference panels coming your way in 2026

Reposted by jess rauchberg

Katie Tightpussy, Editor-In-Chief @katie.bzky.team · 3d

fascinating that "no, the computer is not alive" and "yes, it's questionable to gleefully say anti-computer phrases modeled after racial slurs" are two thoughts people are struggling to reconcile

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Reposted by jess rauchberg

Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 3d

If you want to understand propaganda you have to realize that what we call "reality" is really just mutually agreed upon hallucinations. Our sense of reality is easily manipulated by the creation of intersubjective hallucinations. They create "truth" that serves the interests of the propagandists.

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

You can only publicly declare your love for the album, or risk social standing when you voice your opinion.

(Sound familiar?)

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

Some of this also stems from fandom purity politics. even saying "this album wasn't for me" could result in doxxing and surveillance (vigilante shit indeed!).

Fandoms internalize surveillance mechanisms, removing nuanced "authenticity" from the cultural act of listening and engaging.

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

even if the age of authenticity is over, viewers/audiences/fans are more skeptical of optimization and they still crave something real.

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

The Internet is turning on Taylor Swift because we've reached an point of authenticity fatigue, a fair point during a political moment where truth and fiction are blurred into an unrecognizable form of entertainment.

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

Pittsburgh is the best city in America! (I'm biased as a part-time PGH resident. It's a special place, for sure.)

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

there is nothing authentic about generative AI. no matter what you're trying to create.

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

oh SAME! feels like a phantasm/container for other political practices

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

yeah, I think it's all about self-optimization and credibility these days. as if that desire to "self-brand" trustworthiness no longer requires realness.

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

does sora2 signal the end of "authenticity" as a major currency for creative labour?

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

teaching this in my digital influence grad seminar next semester, what a brilliant essay

Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 14d

Here it is, my last piece for @eater.bsky.social: my treatise on the last 20 years of food culture, and how food turned into fandom. I really hope you read it. www.eater.com/food-culture...

Nobody Wants to Be a Foodie

How “foodie” went from badge of honor to cringey term to pejorative smear and all the way back again.

www.eater.com

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Reposted by jess rauchberg

Jaya Saxena @jayasaxena.com · 14d

Here it is, my last piece for @eater.bsky.social: my treatise on the last 20 years of food culture, and how food turned into fandom. I really hope you read it. www.eater.com/food-culture...

Nobody Wants to Be a Foodie

How “foodie” went from badge of honor to cringey term to pejorative smear and all the way back again.

www.eater.com

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

performance studies and media industries are both (imho) ultimately about process (of performance/ritual, of labour) and that's something c/cs does not clearly address. because who *does* the labour?

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

also unpopular opinion but some of these takes that ultimately dismiss creative labour is what got us into this whole mess!

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

a few months ago, I predicted that we'd start to see increased influencer professionalization in graduate education: to be an (academic) laborer, one must also be trained as an influencer.

"spooky sukkot" daniel s. @self.agency · 4d

Syracuse University, which costs $100,000 per year, has opened a school to give degrees in podcasting and social media influencing 🫥

Betting on the Creator Economy, Syracuse University Opens Academic Center for Podcasters and Influencers

The shift in course offerings follows a recent decision to pause admission for 20 undergraduate majors, including fine arts and digital humanities.

www.artnews.com

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 3d

love is blind is one of the most fascinating series because it is a ultimately a show about economic choices

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 4d

great album ily davey havok!

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 4d

and when [redacted] is for the bros, it also corroborates industry practices of "influencer studies" being a "girl thing"

jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 4d

I want to say something evil about academia but all I'll share is [redacted] is really for the bros

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jess rauchberg @jessrauchberg.bsky.social · 4d

do we mean "radical contextualization" when we say critical/cultural analysis though?