Brian Sletten<p>On the one hand, this is a mildly amusing throwaway story published in the first hours of the New Year.</p><p>On the other hand, it is a terrifying ramping up of our collective dystopian reality.</p><p><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14240657/Social-media-scammers-lure-THOUSANDS-people-Birmingham-City-Centre-fireworks.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1</span><span class="invisible">4240657/Social-media-scammers-lure-THOUSANDS-people-Birmingham-City-Centre-fireworks.html</span></a></p><p><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/nye" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nye</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/NYE2025" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NYE2025</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/socialmedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>socialmedia</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/propaganda" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>propaganda</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>technology</span></a></p>