All posts tagged: forums

Cybercriminals Are Complaining About AI Slop Flooding Their Forums

Cybercriminals Are Complaining About AI Slop Flooding Their Forums

The complaint sounds familiar. “I’m disappointed that you are working to incorporate AI garbage into the site,” one annoyed person, posting anonymously, said in an online message. “No-one is asking for this—we want you to improve the site, stop charging for new features.” Only, this is not a regular internet user moaning about AI being forced into their favorite app. Instead, they are complaining about a cybercrime forum’s plans to introduce more generative AI. Like millions of others, scammers, grifters, and low-level hackers are getting annoyed about AI encroaching into their lives and the rise of low-quality AI slop being posted in their online communities. “People don’t like it,” says Ben Collier, a security researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. As part of a recent study into how low-level cybercriminals are using AI, Collier and fellow researchers spotted an increasing pushback over the use of generative AI in underground cybercrime forums and hacking groups. During the generative AI boom and hype cycles of the past couple of years, some people posting on …

Digital Detox: When Fertility Forums Become Compulsion

Digital Detox: When Fertility Forums Become Compulsion

For many people who go through infertility, the internet and social media can feel like a lifeline. Fertility forums, social media groups, and online communities offer something that can be hard to find elsewhere: being understood without having to explain yourself. In these spaces, you don’t have to translate medical acronyms, justify your feelings, or pretend you’re fine (when you’re not). For many, these online communities are the first place they feel truly seen. Research shows that they can ease loneliness, help make sense of grief, and offer reassurance during what is often an incredibly stressful time. In essence, it can be comforting to be able to connect anonymously on your own schedule, without fear of judgment. But there is another side to this kind of support that is rarely discussed. Over time, these same spaces that bring comfort can start to fuel anxiety, comparison, and emotional overload. What begins as connection can slowly turn into something harder to step away from. When scrolling stops being soothing Many people start by checking fertility forums looking …

Even the quilting forums are protesting ICE now

Even the quilting forums are protesting ICE now

At the Golden Globes on Jan. 11, allegedly progressive Hollywood barely mentioned the Immigration and Customs Enforcement siege taking place in Minneapolis. Most didn’t gesture to the Trump administration’s war on free speech, particularly in the media. (In fairness, there were some who spoke out on the red carpet, and others wore pins indicating their support for Renee Good, who had been killed four days before by an ICE agent, but it was a very small contingent.)  The reluctance shouldn’t have been too surprising. America’s elite institutions and wealthy individuals have been among the most cowardly of all stakeholders in the country since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025. Still, of all of them, Hollywood should have been out there saying something. The film industry has experience with blacklists and government witch hunts, and they should have realized what’s at stake — and how much they could stand to lose.  But Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care unit nurse at a local Veterans Affairs hospital, by Border Patrol officers in …