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Welcome to another edition of Cyberbits—a bi-weekly column on all things internet culture, from TikTok trends to random corners of Reddit to secret online subcultures. I send out Cyberbits in between working on longer essays like these:
- The Blurred Lines of Parasocial Relationships
- Caught in the Study Web,
- Cashing in on Clubhouse
- Creeping as a Service (CraaS)
- LinkedIn’s Alternate Universe
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- 🔒 Interview with the creator of a Discord community with 150K+ members
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Genius Verified: Where Singers Spill Song Secrets
In a 2019 song “Did it Again,” Lil Tecca raps about hook-up culture, travelling to lavish locations, and driving an expensive car. But in a Genius Verified video, a series where artists explain their song lyrics, he exposes the reality behind the rap song from his debut mixtape:
“I got a pack, hit ‘em and do it again, fuck it, I’m fucking her friend,” he raps, following up his lyrics with this commentary: “I have a girlfriend…don’t DM me.”
Rapping, “I got bands, one day I’m flying to France, juggin’ ‘till a nigga land,” he pauses to note, “Nah, I never went to France. But one day I will.”
To the lyrics “Crashed the ‘Rari, so I hopped in the Benz,” he clarifies that he doesn’t drive—a few years shy of 18, donning braces, he doesn’t know how.
