KOKOBOT - The Airbnb-Owned Tech Startup - Data Mining Tumblr Users’ Mental Health Crises for “Content”
I got this message from a bot, and honestly? If I was a bit younger and not such a jaded bitch with a career in tech, I might have given it an honest try. I spent plenty of time in a tough situation without access to any mental health resources as a teen, and would have been sucked right in.
Chatting right from your phone, and being connected with people who can help you? Sounds nice. Especially if you believe the testimonials they spam you with (tw suicide / self harm mention in below images)
But I was getting a weird feeling, so I went to read the legalese.
I couldn’t even get through the fine-print it asked me to read and agree to, without it spamming the hell out of me. Almost like they expect people to just hit Yes? But I’m glad I stopped to read, because:
What you say on there won’t be confidential. (And for context, I tried it out and the things people were looking for help with? I didn’t even feel comfortable sharing here as examples, it was all so deeply personal and painful)
Also, what you say on there? Is now…
Koko’s intellectual property - giving them the right to use it in any way they see fit, including
Publicly performing or displaying your “content” (also known as your mental health crisis) in any media format and in any media channel without limitation
Do this indefinitely after you end your account with them
Sell / share this “content” with other businesses
Any harm you come to using Koko? That’s on you.
And Koko won’t take responsibility for anything someone says to you on there (which is bleak when people are using it to spread Christianity to people in crisis)
They also use the data they gather from users to conduct research and publish papers. I didn’t find them too interesting - other than as a good case study of “People tend to find what they are financially incentivized to find”. Predictably, Koko found that Kokobot was beneficial to its users.
So yeah, being a dumbass with too much curiosity, I decided to use the Airbnb-owned Data-Mining Mental Health Chatline anyway. And if you thought it was dangerous sounding from the disclaimers? Somehow it got worse.
(trigger warning / discussions of child abuse / sexual abuse / suicide / violence below the cut - please don’t read if you’re not in a good place to hear about negligence around pretty horrific topics.)
There are young people on tumblr that actively seek support from KokoBot right now, if you check the tag for recent posts. Those people did not get paid to promote it, so do not harrass them. If you can, direct them towards resources about Kokobot (like this post) that are more transparent about what this company is up to.
Do you guys think Julian’s parents had a bad relationship, which lead to his negative views on the concept of marriage? Or was he just a professional slut and hater
BARBIE (2023) dir. Greta Gerwig +⭐letterboxd reviews by men
I knew the mediocre pissbabies would have a tantrum about this no matter what, but I was not prepared for how hilarious their mewling would be, and that it would significantly increase my enjoyment of the entire thing.
Ruby Bridges is 68. This is not ancient history. Not even close.
I know Ruby. She’s a really nice person. The idea that they would try and write what she did as a girl out of history is shocking to me on so many levels, the simplest of which is just, but don’t they know how lovely she is?
I’m glad it wasn’t bait and that their story is clearly going to be romantic. But I really hate that it’s up in the air now. There’s a possibility that we won’t get season 3, and this is how it ends.
The worst part is Gabe and Beez. The lesbians don’t get together, the gays don’t get together, but the abusive straights do. They get a happy ending where they might’ve gone to fucking Alpha Centauri, and ineffable husbands are left heartbroken with Aziraphale diving headfirst back into his abusive relationship with Heaven, and Crowley is probably just going to continue with his “what’s the point of everything” loser depression era.
Idk. I guess I’m just exhausted and worn out by all gay stories ending like this. So rarely do we get happy endings. Straights always do—Anathema and Newt, Tracy and Shadwell, Beez and Gabe. But the gays get “I’m not ready yet” and…whatever the fuck happened with the husbands. I guess the goal is for them to have a happy ending, but like…sometimes I don’t want to have to wait for that happy ending after being put through all this pain. They already had their break up in the bandstand, they don’t need another one. Especially when Beez and Gabe were a thing for like, 4 years and got to have their happy ending with zero break ups.
I’m still not over First Kill ending like this and then getting cancelled, so I’m terrified I’m going to be burned again.
I enjoyed season 2. I really did. But the end hurts.
Anyone who watches the show is going to see a straight couple. Homophobic viewers who are bothered by Nina/Maggie and ineffable husbands, won’t be bothered by Gabriel/Beelzebub. Any character who encounters them is going to see a straight couple.
Tbh, it’s absolutely ridiculous to pretend they’re not straight just because of a set of pronouns—because the entire world, both real and fictional, will treat them as a straight couple. Which is important to acknowledge, because it will shape their experience as a couple. In my opinion, it’s part of why they were so quick to get together compared to A/C, who on top of all the fear and religious trauma, also likely had centuries of experiencing/fearing homophobia.
To sum all that up, a straight couple can’t hide from straight privilege just because one party uses they/them pronouns. This applies to fictional characters, too.
But even if we do say that pronouns determine if a relationship is straight or not…Beelzebub and Gabriel have different gender identities and different pronouns, right? So that’s straight. Straight = different, gay = same.
ah good, haven’t blocked someone on here in a long time!
if you watched s2 and thought “yeah beez is totally a straight woman!” then you pretty much missed the entire context of the show and you’re a fake fan. glad to clear that up!
