Platforms & Communities Reporter, The Verge
Mia Sato is a reporter at The Verge covering tech companies, platforms, and users. Since joining The Verge in 2021, she’s reported on the war in Ukraine and the spread of propaganda on TikTok; Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter; and how tech platforms and digital publishers are using artificial intelligence tools.
Sato has written about tech platforms and communities since 2019. Before joining Vox Media she was a reporter at MIT Technology Review, where she covered the intersection of technology and the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to that she served as the audience engagement editor at The Markup. As a freelance reporter, she’s written about the subversive Hmong radio shows hosted on conference call software, online knitting activism, and the teens running businesses in Instagram comment sections. Her work has appeared in outlets like The New Republic, The Appeal, and Chicago Magazine. She is based in Brooklyn.
Got a tip? Contact her at mia@theverge.com or email for her Signal number.
Brazilian fans of musicians, actors, and other celebrities play a huge role in cultivating fandoms online — and it’s unclear what will happen to stan Twitter (X) now that a judge in Brazil has ordered a ban on platform. A Timothée Chalamet updates account has already announced it’ll cease operations, and I bet this won’t be the only unexpected collateral damage.
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The company announced today it would extend restrictions on election-related queries to more AI services including AI Overviews in Search, YouTube Live Chat summaries, and image generation in Gemini. It’s an expansion of the policy Google announced last December.
The platform’s Search Visibility Page tells sellers what they should update in their product listings to improve their position in the on-platform search — an important way for sellers to get in front of buyers. That might mean adding a return policy, swapping out a product image, or changing shipping cost.
[www.etsy.com]
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Kamala Harris is the latest participant on Track Star, a TikTok game show where players identify a song for money.
Internet shows like Track Star are a new kind of media circuit for public figures. Democrats want these viral moments — and they’re trying hard to make them happen.
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With the DNC, Democrats finally understand that content is king
Unleashing influencers on the Democratic National Convention isn’t the only way the party is fighting for viral moments.
Author and journalist Malcolm Harris found a bag filled with Project 2025 merch and documents on the street this week — apparently nothing top secret, but interesting nonetheless.
The Washington Post reports that the Heritage Foundation, the right wing think tank spearheading Project 2025, filed a police report for “theft.” Then the cops showed up.
[The Washington Post]