Here at Flavorwire, we pride ourselves on not only writing some of the best content on the Internet, but keeping an eye on all of the great writing that other folks on the ‘Net are doing, too. Today, we’ve got reports on the dangers of texting and walking, weird kids who ruled Tumblr, hated and confused Beach Boy Mike Love, and an autistic man looking for his soulmate.
The New Republic peered into the life of teen Tumblr bloggers like Jess Miller, who built an immense following writing a blog under the pseudonym Pizza, which was then shut down for participating in unauthorized advertising campaigns.
“Blogs that had brought relief from unremitting high school agony and then miraculously made their teen creators more money than they could have ever imagined, were erased from the internet, except for fragments reblogged on other sites. The day before, if they’d had a funny thought, they could share it with half a million people. And now, nothing.”
Esquire ‘s Danielle Bachner shared stories about Randy, her Autistic younger brother, who, as a person with mental disabilities, has struggled with dating.
“Problems between them soon began. She was overly affectionate, and he often did not want to reciprocate—the touch from another person took an enormous amount of trust. At times her attention made him uncomfortable. When she smiled at him and leaned in, her lips seeking his, he turned to peck her on the cheek. She’d poke him as a way of flirting, which he found annoying rather than endearing. But he wanted this to work; his drive to keep trying despite the obvious signs otherwise was a way to protect against feeling rejected. He may not have understood how to be the perfect boyfriend all of the time, but he wanted to be. Being alone was so much worse.”
Rolling Stone profiled The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, who has struggled with the idea that a lot of people who love his band hate him personally.
“Love is considered one of the biggest assholes in the history of rock & roll. That’s been the popular opinion of him for several decades. He just can’t seem to shake it. There are “I Hate Mike Love” websites and a “Mike Love Is a Douchebag” group on Facebook. He’s been called a clown, the Devil, an evil, egotistical prick, a greedy bully, sarcastic and mean-spirited, and, let’s not forget, “if he were a fish, he’d be a plastic bag wrapped around the neck of a beautiful sea lion.” Love is mostly able to laugh off this hateful venom, but on occasion he will break down, turn to his wife of 21 years, Jackie, and ask her, “What did I do? Why am I the villain? How did it get to this?”
Lastly, the Wall Street Journal published a story about how using a smartphone affects how we walk, and suggested how governments, tech companies and, yes, even you, need to compensate for it.
“Better urban planning could help. Some towns and college campuses have put “look up” signs in dangerous stairwells and intersections. Announcements in Hong Kong’s subways advise passengers, “Don’t keep your eyes only on your mobile phone.” New York City reduced speeds for cars, and San Francisco has been making more busy corridors pedestrian-only, partly in response to walkers looking at their phones.”