@vicmsong
Senior reviewer and author of the Optimizer newsletter for The Verge. I write about wearables, health tech, the wellness wild west, and other gadgets. Previously: Gizmodo, PCMag, Yomiuri Shimbun. Signal: @vicmsong.14 Grand poobah of the penguin brigade.
Rereading this as an adult has been funny because I’m like “… Jane. JANE!!! You are SO CLOSE to getting it and it sails right over ur bonnet.” 🤦🏻♀️
Poor Grace Poole.
Justice for Bertha
That’s the plan!
Also Jane,,, it is glaringly obvious that this sketchy ass man is hiding SOMETHING in the attic I s2g there are 400 clues in every chapter
Rereading Jane Eyre and I always forget the part where Mr. Rochester dresses in drag as a gypsy fortune teller to basically go:
“UwU Jane do u like Mr. Rochester y or n? 👉🏻👈🏻”
Mr. Darcy could never.
You’re exactly right. It’s not identity theft, it’s desperation. If that doesn’t resonate with you — you’re an AI bro. Not in a slop way, but in the quintessential meaning of a tool.
lol
Firstly, can confirm I’ve never had an editor at The Verge or any other publication give feedback worded like this.
Secondly, AI is godawful at writing and editing because it HAS NO EDITORIAL TASTE.
I have not!
More like the influencers trying to sell you supplements
The handshake meme where one arm says "wellness" and the other arm says "AI bros" and the part where their hands meet says "Grifting"
How I'm feeling these days.
🥲
No lies were told.
When @vicmsong.bsky.social and I talked about how covering fitness and wearable tech meant her beat now included wellness... well, I told her it was going to get bad and weird fast www.theverge.com/column/88992...
It hurt every brain cell and my editors will attest I came running screaming into the DMs almost every chapter in real time.
From Casey Means' own book: "the ability to prevent and reverse" conditions like cancer and Alzheimer's "—and feel incredible today—is under your control and simpler than you think."
This week on The Optimizer, @vicmsong.bsky.social lays out how wellness influencers exploit public hopelessness.
This week’s Optimizer is about the wellness grifter playbook… and how perfectly Casey Means executes it.
tinyurl.com/2zbnufcz
Compounding pharmacies aren’t necessarily bad — they’re vital in cases where say, a patient is allergic to something in the commercially available formulation. Many are legit. But it’s getting wild out there.
That one and this one: www.theverge.com/column/84640...
I’m currently in the middle of reporting out wtf is in this bottle of gray market peptide
In my research, the comments on socials for these influencers pushing peptides gave me hives; there are legitimately ppl talking about adverse reactions at injection sites, improper storage, and asking advice from influencers who are always like “hmmm. You must not be doing it right.”
Um…
The influencers teaching ppl how to reconstitute stuff while not washing their hands or disinfecting all surfaces before injections sent me.
I keep screaming about this in my newsletter. But a lot of it is influencers seeding distrust in institutions and saying “here’s a simpler, less corrupt solution that they don’t want you to know.”
It’s always this shit and supplements.
The wellness to MAHA pipeline is real and brain breaking.
i feel like i've walked in on a ritual. amazing.
so snug. i love.
BABIES
what a tum!
powerful
Mooch is purrfect
That’s a prime loaf
Bokeh kitties 💕
Cow-cow is diabolically cute
What a nugget