About

Platformer is your daily guide to understanding social networks and their relationships with the world. It's the best way to keep up on the events that mattered at Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter, Snap, and TikTok — with regular guest appearances

from Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and the upstart platforms that are challenging them.

New issues arrive at 5PM PT from Monday through Thursday, and on particularly newsy Fridays. It’s written by me, Casey Newton. I spent the past 10 years covering Silicon Valley for The Verge, CNET, and the San Francisco Chronicle. And now I’m reporting directly to you.

In addition to the below, I’ve written a more extensive guide to what Platformer covers, how I do my work, and how I see the world — you can find it here. I also invite you to read my ethics policy and the Platformer posting schedule.

But first, here are some reasons to consider subscribing.
Join the club. Every day at 5PM PT, thousands of top tech executives, journalists, academics and civil society workers read my reporting on — and analysis of — the day's biggest events at the intersection of technology and democracy.

Understand perception. Who's up, who's down, and what will it cost them? Amid a global reckoning over the impact of technology on society, Platformer helps you keep score.

100 percent signal. 0 percent noise. Expertly curated links catch you up on what you missed during the workday, with the relevant data highlighted for you.

No hot takes, ever. Platformer is written for an audience that understands that inventing the future is complicated. Expect plenty of criticism — but also an open mind, too, as well as regular updates on what I've been wrong about.

Reporting with impact. I produced a series of investigative reports about content moderation in America that became a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award for reporting, and helped lead to a $52 million settlement with Facebook moderators who developed PTSD on the job. Platformer will continue in that tradition.

Invest in a healthier democracy. Your subscription to Platformer helps chart a path forward for journalism outside the ad-supported, what-time-is-the-Super-Bowl web. Help me build a more sustainable, replicable model for independent journalists working to hold power to account.

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Additional information

Frequency of publication More than once per week
There is a paid version of the newsletter No
Type of pubilcation Independent
Published since 2020