What About the Cats?
Welcome

The sorry state of discourse on the Internet has many causes, and the experts have offered many solutions for the mess. One of the biggest problems is the way that social media platforms reward engagement.
Dear Reader,
The sorry state of discourse on the Internet has many causes, and the experts have offered many solutions for the mess. One of the biggest problems is the way that social media platforms reward engagement. You get shown different content depending on what you click on. For instance, you might click on an innocuous-looking link for a topic such as "vaccine side effects" and from there be shown slightly darker stuff until you descend down into a thought bubble that represents a different reality from what other users are seeing.
I know what you are thinking: Is it possible for the platform (and the user) to get better at spotting these innocuous links that act as a front door to the dark conspiracies that have entrapped so many users? My best response is "good luck with that one," or, to put it another way, what are you going to do about the cats?
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.