INTERVIEW: Jason Koebler on the origins of Shrimp Jesus
Added 2024-09-02 21:00:05 +0000 UTCJason Koebler is a co-founder and editor of 404 Media. Throughout 2024 Jason has been reporting on Facebook and how it’s become overrun with uncanny AI content, and last month he figured out where it’s all coming from. This morning Josh sat down with Jason to learn more about his reporting, and over the course of 40 minutes they talked about the degradation of Facebook and how it may be a sign of things to come for the rest of the internet.
Read more from Jason:
Facebook’s AI Spam Isn’t the ‘Dead Internet’: It’s the Zombie Internet
Do You Like These AI Images of Dying, Mutilated Children? Facebook Algorithm Wonders
Facebook’s Algorithm Is Boosting AI Spam That Links to AI-Generated, Ad-Laden Click Farms
Check out Jason’s podcast: The 404 Media Podcast
Listen to Jason's episode of Ten Thousand Posts: The Big Slop Part 1 feat. Jason Koebler
Get access to our full episode about Shrimp Jesus and the Death of Facebook, plus 70+ more premium episodes, for $5/month at our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/worstofall
Comments
To answer the vainly grasping inquiries of my haters, it is imperative to understand the inherent value impressed upon the Original Poster Like by the capitalist “crowd funding” structure of the Patreon so-called “application.” To refrain from liking the hard-made comment of a transgender fan is tantamount social murder. Nonetheless, my haters line up hand in hand with class traitors and police in attempting to “call out” my comments. What should be done instead is a “call-in,” all of us acknowledging our privilege (I have none, so none needs be acknowledged) and coming together in the spirit of dialectics. * * * As far as the interview goes, I’ve listened to Koebler around the November Kelly podcast circuit (the podcasts in which she has guested or hosted) and I am still thinking about what he’s been researching a few days later. The grift reminds me somewhat of reporting on the source of pig butchering scams, their source it turns out, comes at least in part in visa-slavery schemes in Southeast Asia that confine immigrants to a kind of indentured servitude, forcing young foreigners to scam rich white ladies. This is a different kind of bullshit and not nearly as sinister, but I feel a bit less harshly towards the total enshittification of the internet when I see the “agents” furthering it are merely underpaid non-employees of the SNS giants. But at the end of the day, it all does tie back to capital, right? Facebook wants the Internet to be like this because people are seeing ads (lord knows who actually clicks on them).
Alex Anderson
2024-09-07 04:54:27 +0000 UTCShrimp jesus looks more like a curse than art. Now I know why Muslims were so against the depictions of the profit Muhammad
Jimmy McMillan
2024-09-07 04:19:53 +0000 UTCSo Facebook is paying for AI slop because it gets more reactions - even though many or even most of those reactions are from bots - which incentivises more people to create AI slop? A product which basically nobody wants and which actively makes every site that hosts it a worse experience? Do I have this right??
Nemo
2024-09-06 12:39:06 +0000 UTCI see the podcast liked the comment above and below me but not mine. Another clear example of modern transphobia smhmh
Alex Anderson
2024-09-03 21:54:25 +0000 UTCI spent class today talking to my students about all of this.
Josh James
2024-09-03 19:57:38 +0000 UTCI am a transgender woman
Alex Anderson
2024-09-03 08:56:48 +0000 UTCWhat a treat! 404 is doing some of the most interesting and effective tech journalism out there.
Gorbant
2024-09-03 00:20:51 +0000 UTC
