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  • It's election-mode on TikTok, AI slop ruining the last good internet places and TikToker uses Meta glasses to film women

It's election-mode on TikTok, AI slop ruining the last good internet places and TikToker uses Meta glasses to film women

Plus: OzBargain's big milestone

Author

Cam Wilson
February 18, 2025

Issue 2273 - Tuesday 18 February, 2025

Hello! If you’re seeing this, it’s because I’m sending out another free edition of the Sizzle. The federal election is just about to happen, and what better way to stay across all the policy and online shenanigans than by signing up to keep getting these editions daily - CW

Hello! Unfortunately, last week’s problematic email earned the The Sizzle a spot on a widely used block list (thanks to Chris and Joel for the tip). I’m trying to get off it, but in the mean time, apologies to anyone this is affecting - CW

In Today’s Issue

  • It’s already election-time on TikTok. What about the Sizzle?

  • The good internet places are under siege from AI slop

  • TikToker filming Aussie women using Meta Ray-Bans

  • OzBargain’s big milestone

  • Deals on cheap JBL earbuds, Apple Watch SEE, Samsung MicroSDs, GL.iNet and ASUS routers, Blaupunkt 65’’ 4K TV and free Steam games and Apple TV for Xbox.

The News

It already feels like the election on TikTok. What about the Sizzle?

If the rumours are true — and depending on the RBA today, probably — this weekend Anthony Albanese could call the election for April. But if you paid attention to social media, you would already know that politicians are in pseudo-election mode because suddenly the prime minister created a TikTok account and is campaigning on the platform (Crikey, $). An ABC analysis of how the two major parties and their leaders are faring on social media found that Dutton and the Liberals are doing a fair bit better on TikTok but are probably a bit behind on Facebook and Instagram (ABC News). I have lots of thoughts on this that go beyond a Sizzle newsletter item, but one thing that’s clear is that we’re continuing to see that short video platforms are at best politically ambivalent or are favourable for right-wing politics now (like it was for Trump last year), reversing the previous trend.

While we’re on the topic, I wanted to ask: what do you want from the Sizzle during the election? I will of course be covering it over at Crikey, but I expect there will be a heap of relevant Sizzle news. The options are:

  • Option 1 - election-maxxing: I could go really hard and make a lot of the newsletter about the election: the policies, how parties and politicians use technology for electioneering, all the shenanigans etc.

  • Option 2 - election-minning: Or I could try and compartmentalise election coverage into one election item each day that tries to wrap everything up.

Here’s a Beehiiv poll to give a sense for what you would prefer.

How much auspol election content do you want?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

If you have any thoughts about things you do and don’t want to see, get in touch via email or Signal. Also, if you have any election-related story ideas/tips/leaks, I want to hear from you too!

The good internet places are under siege from AI slop

I know the Sizzle comes off as very anti-AI. I’m not religiously opposed, but I do feel the need to point out all the problems being ignored by AI hype bros who typically have a financial interest in promoting the technology. One of the things that makes me so frustrated is how AI output is ruining the good parts of the open internet where people used to congregate to create community and to help each other for fun.

We know how people are being ripped off by AI companies training models on the internet’s entire intellectual property. I’m also personally really interested in how the firehose of AI slop is ruining online spaces. Ars Technica has a nice read about how Reddit’s moderators are dealing with the onslaught (Ars Technica). It’s so easy to produce absolute shit that it’s adding to the load of moderation for these volunteers. Importantly, tech companies like Meta (Meta) and even Reddit (Engadget) are making it easier to produce slop that is filling up their platforms but they’re not doing much to help the unpaid people who run the communities that provide so much value to the companies.

One dangling thread: other than the introduction of AI summaries, the biggest story over the past few years in search trends, according to the SEO pros I follow on LinkedIn, has been Google’s growing prioritisation in its results of pages of Reddit, subsequently formalised with an official partnership (Reuters). And now other question & answer websites like Quora are getting similar treatments. I get why. These are generally well-moderated pages with content written by real people in response to questions from real people. It also makes me worry that it will incentivise people trying to hack SEO to pump Reddit and other similar sites full of the same bullshit that’s ruined the rest of the web.

TikToker filming Aussie women using Meta Ray-Bans

NSW Police have been investigating but so far have taken no action on a US TikToker who has been using Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses to film his approaches to women and publish the footage online without their consent (News.com.au). What we’re seeing is the culmination of two trends. Firstly, the growth of viral “vox pop”-style content creators (I wrote about the “random acts of kindness” subcategory of vox pop creators for Crikey back in 2022). Secondly, the biggest social media company in the world’s efforts to make it easy to film and share footage of people so they have more content for their platforms.

It fucking sucks!!! I am both resigned to this becoming more and more common, but also furious that tech companies are not doing enough to mitigate the obvious, expected misuse of products that they are releasing. One thing to keep an eye out for: the federal government’s privacy reforms passed late last year introduced a “statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy” from June this year which means that people will be able to sue if they can prove damages (NSW government). It’s very complicated, but generally I think that if it’s easier than ever to violate people’s privacy, there probably should be more guardrails.

Oh, Also

OzBargain’s big milestone

I want to celebrate an incredible milestone: OzBargain — in my mind, the beating heart of middle Australia online — hit half a million deals earlier this month!

A post about the milestone (OzBargain) has some great comments about people’s best deals or what they learnt from the forums. My personal favourite: “For years my approach was to invest in stock and real estate but I’m now shifting this to Pokémon cards which I will pay for using gift cards”. Hell yeah brother.

As you all know, OzBargain has played a big role in the Sizzle. I’ve always appreciated the community and its endless thirst for cheap chicken hacks (Crikey, $). Here’s to another 500,000 deals!

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Others

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday afternoon. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.

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