Full episode of "The Last Year of Television" from Australian streaming service Binge.

https://youtu.be/0a7l_nJjLXs?si=dEnSmksqI2akyFJ8

​

​

Charlie's work has been an inspiration for me for over a decade. I used to work in media, but now I'm a co-owner of a small creative agency.

https://preview.redd.it/obz4islpudmb1.png?width=3072&format=png&auto=webp&s=d1798e589fd6c42b52e2f585e91fc7c88907fd91

Last week we introduced a campaign influenced by Brooker: Scroll more, sleep less. A Black Mirror-inspired truck in Warsaw advertises a disturbing social network... that doesn’t exist:

Here you can check te video with English subs: https://youtu.be/quA_gvIUqMs?si=di3RZTbvfk6Ljg3A

“Our algorithm will suck you in”, “Scroll more, sleep less”. These are slogans from a “new, revolutionary social platform” Vlop!, being advertised on a mysterious, Black Mirror**-like LED truck, cruising the Polish capital city. In reality, the platform does not exist, and was made up as part of a social campaign highlighting the actual harmful effects of BigTech companies that operate today.**

The truck is big, black, with huge LED screens, like the one from Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror first season. It is circling Warsaw’s main streets and neighbourhoods, broadcasting an ad for a “new, revolutionary social media app” – Vlop!, along with disturbing, provocative slogans such as: “You will want more and more and more”, “We know you better than you know yourself”.

In reality, the Vlop! application does not exist, and was fabricated for a campaign by Panoptykon, a Polish civil society organization protecting human rights in the context of modern technologies and surveillance. The name “Vlop!” is a reference to Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) – a term used by the EU’s new legislation, Digital Services Act (DSA), with respect to the biggest platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and X (previously Twitter).

Panoptykon’s campaign is being launched after the DSA has become fully effective with regard to VLOPs on the 25th of August. To comply with the new regulation, cybergiants must, among other things, introduce changes concerning their additive algorithms which they use to personalise users’ feeds. They must now explain how those algorithms work and offer at least one recommender system not based on tracking users’ personal data.

Panoptykon, along with other European digital rights NGOs, are trying to raise awareness about the new law and monitor its implementation on the platforms. The organisation focuses in particular on countering the harms related to the addictive nature of newsfeeds’ algorithms and their influence on our mental wellbeing.

Vlop! – the fake “new, revolutionary platform” created as part of Panoptykon’s “Better newsfeed is possible” campaign is set to draw our attention to the problems related to already existing applications we happily use everyday. Facebook and TikTok (and the likes) algorithms are built with one aim only: to maximize our engagement and time spent on the platform, often leading to amplifying clickbait or harmful content. For some users, especially among young people, compulsive scrolling and over-exposure to toxic content may exacerbate depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health issues. What the fake Vlop! advertises in Panoptykon’s campaign, in reality has already been present in our phones for a long time.

Along with the campaign, Panoptykon has launched the www.vlop.me website, explaining the mechanisms and risks behind big platforms’ algorithms, as well as advocating for change and social pressure on the cybergiants.

My Estonian housemate shared this with me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ6Mzvh3XCc. A beautiful piece of music.

I felt sure it was used liberally throughout Charlie Brooker's work. But having dipped through a few eps of this and that I can't find it.

Can anyone tell me where and in which programme it appears? Or if it doesn't! Thanks!

I was watching John Oliver's show talking about the queue to see the queen and they showed a clip from talktv. It sounded like Charlie was doing the voice over and it was a joke in his style. Is he working at talktv?

Hi all, I’m trying to find a cartoon which Charlie Brooker recommended in one of his ‘wipe’ shows, it was like 5 animations he recommends and one of them is a cowboy in Tom and Jerry style, he looks down an empty, long road both ways and crosses, then immediately gets hit by a car. Does anyone know the name of this cartoon?

This quote intrigues me:

"Brooker “was happy — now the format is established — to take the time back on ‘Death to 2021’ to work on other shows which are demanding his time,” "

Is a Jetsons reboot from Brooker/BM in the style of Riverdale (Dark AF) but more campy with accurate costumes.

Since the disappointing "Death to 2020" almost a year ago, Charlie has been largely silent. Aside from a piece with he and Adam Curtis last spring, and a recent brief interview in The Guardian ("'Succession' made me furious with envy'"), he's gone quiet. There was the recent "Attack of the Hollywood Cliches" from his and Annabel's new production house, but he didn't write it, only exec produced it. He hasn't tweeted anything in a year either; he's been suspiciously quiet.

I like to assume he's working on something. When the pandemic started, he famously said he wasn't (at the time) working on a new Black Mirror as he figured there'd be no stomach for dystopian stuff right then. He said he was keen on returning to his comedy roots. I saw him allude to 'A Touch of Cloth' at that time.

So, what do you think we might see next from Charlie?

View Poll

Charlie Brooker: ‘Succession made me furious with envy’ | Television & radio | The Guardian

1. Kiddywink
2. Pants (for underwear)
3. Bum
4. Yeah?
5. Joe Swash

Comments?

View Poll

"Charlie Brooker: ‘There’s a certain release in laughing into the abyss’ | Television | The Guardian" https://amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/26/netflix-death-to-2020-charlie-brooker

I have many of Charlie's shows on my YT channel. All of: Screenwipe, Newswipe, Weekly Wipe, Annual Wipes (2011-2016), Gameswipe, Nathan Barley, How Videogames Changed The World, How To Watch Television, TV Go Home, and How TV Ruined Your Life.

Anyway, all this stuff is scattered around Youtube anyway, but I've got it in one place if you want it.

Johnny O - YouTube