The golden age of trashy Millennial journalism is over. Gawker is dead. Vice, Salon, Deadspin, Gizmodo and so many of the other edgy online e-zines with their woke hot takes are burned out husks of what they were 10 years ago.
But, nevertheless they/them persisted. Wired, once a technical magazine, became the same trash with a focus on technology and venture capital gossip.
In that mined-out vein, we find them looking for a way to push their leftist agenda. How do they make it Wired worthy? By introducing a technical angle - JD Vance's Venmo account.
NEW: We found JD Vance's Venmo and analyzed his friends & friends of friends. His friends list reveals connections to a wide array of people he'd likely call "elites." It doesn't take many hops before things get weird. Scoop by @dmehro @timmarchman & me https://t.co/8p60gH1JPI
— Andrew Couts (@AndrewCouts) July 18, 2024
The article is every bit as pathetic as you think it is. "Let's find the most unpalatable connections, no matter how tenuous, and show what a hypocrite Vance is," is the tone and direction.
In this case, it's the "elites" and Vance's rhetoric against them. You don't suppose Senator Elizabeth Warren would be an excellent subject for such an article?
Do yourself and society a favor and don't bother clicking through to the article. Besides, these reactions tell you all you need to know.
As an added bonus, a co-author is none other than Tim Marchman who once got so fighting mad that he offered to "get into the Octogon" with people attacking his equally odious colleague. Strangely enough, after many people offered to do just that, Tim disappeared. Sadly, he seems to have reappeared as a Wired contributor.
Recommended
I missed it last night but the Deadspin editor throwing a hissy fit on twitter because he couldn't take a single Loss was incredible. pic.twitter.com/ovRfn1oLb6
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) January 25, 2017
Anyway, let's get to the good stuff!
BOMBSHELL: JD Vance has grabbed drinks with mainstream conservatives, prominent journalists, and center-left lawyers—some of whom have, separately, grabbed drinks with more fringe figures.
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) July 18, 2024
Has there ever been a more divisive and dangerous VP pick? https://t.co/NsU6jybDSL
If Project 2025 had a body, it would be JD Vance! Cower in fear!
"This points to one important caveat—being friends on Venmo does not mean two people have transacted together, or even know the payment app has designated them as friends."
— ib (@Indian_Bronson) July 18, 2024
Oh, so actually you mean you're stupid? @WIRED ?
What you mean to say is that you're complete morons? https://t.co/pxb3rLP1EF
Yes, yes it does.
And because we’re idiots, we think a Yale law grad who married another Yale law grad, wrote a bestseller made into an Oscar nominated movie, and was elected senator wouldn’t have friends among the elites. https://t.co/rVnHpidgdu
— (((Charlie Martin))) (@chasrmartin) July 18, 2024
But "elites!"
This is creepy. Almost like rifling through someone's trash.
— Joe Coldebella (@coldebella) July 18, 2024
Yes, but it's digital trash, you see!
'This person follows someone who follows someone problematic on an app' is truly the lowest form of journalism. https://t.co/Zo2fevCzTx
— Pinboard (@Pinboard) July 18, 2024
Guilt by association is a lazy way to make a point, but here we are. This is the reason why Musk made Likes private to everyone but the liker and likee.
If you analyze the vertices and edges of a social network mapped out as a mathematical graph, we're probably all just a few hops from somebody weird. But whatever. https://t.co/7nMp7T14rO
— Roy Abrams (@RQA) July 18, 2024
We wouldn't expect the current Wired reader to understand this.
The real takeaway from this article is that there are horrible people out there and you really must take precautions to protect yourself out there on the Internets.
Semi-annual reminder to set your Venmo to private — it is public by default.
— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) July 18, 2024
It’s ridiculous we don’t have regulations that require an explicit opt-in action by user before such sensitive information is made public. https://t.co/VajsxeqkPX pic.twitter.com/tskOClsbWt
Heed this helpful tip.
CHANGE YOUR VENMO SETTINGS!
— Kevin Bankston (@KevinBankston) July 18, 2024
The fact that @Venmo still defaults to making your transactions public after all these years is such a galling privacy spit-in-the-face to their users. The gotchas it provides may be fun or interesting or newsworthy but this data should be private. https://t.co/4Fw6erOWj0
Reiterated to emphasis how important it is to protect your Venmo (and other) accounts.
This paragraph is pretty important! First sentence is just funny. The second sentence reveals whatever tenuous conclusions one could draw from this rather stupid data is undercut by fact that it’s Venmo making the connections, not the people. Breaking: JD has people in his phone. https://t.co/EPLm7I2Cfc pic.twitter.com/QXfxaPj8TL
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) July 18, 2024
And this is the gist of this "scoop".
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