Saturday roundup

People who couldn't understand why I recoiled against RM would do well to read this:

acts that might best be described as “sexual microaggressions”—small acts of boundary-pushing and coercion that might be easy enough to brush off in isolation, but in aggregate teach women that their bodily autonomy is revocable, and that violations of their boundaries and sense of safety aren’t just tolerable, but utterly and completely normal.

and

Women get socialized to put their needs second and make other people happy, and too many men get socialized to ignore rejections and relentlessly pursue whatever it is that they desire. 

And also, "The Gift of Fear."

This story of loss ends on an ironically light note, but the take-away is real: the internet would do well to quit stalking us. I don't want Google automatically uploading all my photos (which is why I can't even access my own Google photos on my own iPad; I refuse to log in and grant Google permission to my photos). I have no choice on my Android, and I'm horrified to find my pictures automatically uploaded, even if they're not shared.

I don't want Shutterfly guessing at what I did last year, or proposing a photobook for me. I mean, who do they think they are?

These are all minor cases that don't compare to the intrusion of being reminded of a miscarriage (there was also last year's story of a man whose daughter's death was made light by an unsolicited Facebook attempt at a calendar). There were the Google April Fools mic drops that intruded into people's obviously complicated lives. Why didn't Google think about that? That not everyone would appreciate a mic drop? That some people might be planning funerals or recovering from miscarriages, or applying for jobs or emailing about sensitive issues? That a mic drop may not be appreciated? Is it really such a stretch?

There's the ethical issue of social media respecting our privacy, but also the audacity in overtrusting in algorithms. Our lives are complicated; you can try to guess at a pregnancy or an event or whatever, but I doubt anyone would appreciate it (I'd find it creepy). Maybe back off?