Top Comment
The story behind your social media feed, from BBC correspondent Marianna Spring and investigative journalist Matt Shea. Top Comment investigates what's blowing up online. From global events that go viral across social media, to bizarre moments that spill into real life, Marianna and Matt unpack the trends, theories and digital chaos shaping our world. You can also hear Marianna's previous series for the BBC in this feed, including Marianna in Conspiracyland, Why Do You Hate Me?, Disaster Trolls, Death by Conspiracy? and War on Truth.
Episodes
With the advent of OnlyFans, pornographic content has become a fixture of mainstream social media. But the influence of the adult entertainment industry on internet culture arguably began decades ago. On this episode, Matt and Marianna are joined by journalist Patricia Nilsson who has reported extensively on the secretive personalities who control 'Big Porn' and the business model behind it. We discuss the revolutionary data tracki...
Why are we seeing more death on our feeds? From footage of an Ecuadorean priest being killed by a crucifix to the man who was attacked by a tiger on camera, snuff content appears to be making a comeback. On this episode, Marianna and Matt examine how various platforms' responses to so-called trauma porn have evolved since an initial tightening of restrictions following the livestreamed Christchurch shootings in 2019.
Also this week,...
From shadowboxing Parisians to chihuahuas fronting rap videos, the acceleration in generative AI capability is now impossible to miss on our feeds. On this episode, Matt and Marianna explain how new software allows users to 'reskin' video content to make anyone say or do literally anything they like. They discuss the resulting shift from realism to absurdism online, the existential threat to any type of IP ownership, and why indepe...
As The Social Reckoning hits cinemas, the whistleblower who inspired the movie joins Top Comment to discuss what's changed since she leaked tens of thousands of internal Facebook documents in 2021. Considered by many to be the primary catalyst for much of the legislation and litigation currently targeting social media giants, Frances Haugen's revelations have nonetheless been followed by an apparent acceleration by those same compa...
An alleged case of gang rape at a Cornell frat house has caused widespread outrage after new details emerged in a civil suit brought by the purported victim. Evidence including a Snapchat screenshot advertising a "free" sexual encounter has seen anger online directed not only towards those men accused of being involved, but others who apparently failed to step in. As a criminal investigation is reopened, Marianna and Matt explain h...
After years spent sheltering from the public gaze, Hunter Biden re-entered the mainstream consciousness last summer via a surprise YouTube appearance alongside prominent alternative media figure Andrew Callaghan. The interview went viral, and ever since the embattled son of former president Joe Biden has seen his online reputation soar. On this episode, Matt and Marianna track Biden Jr's journey from ridicule to redemption, and ask...
Sexualised deepfakes by commission - until administrators shut down a popular request forum earlier this year, self-styled 'wizards' were offering this service at scale via the imageboard site 4chan. The domain's closure followed new legislation in multiple countries targeting the creation of what are known as 'non-consensual illicit images'. But despite tighter on-platform regulation of chatbots (most notably X's Grok) this type o...
A year since the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, social media users are marking what has controversially become known as the 'Kirkiversary'. Far from the enduring political legacy many predicted, he has rather been immortalised as an icon of the internet, his image utterly ubiquitous in meme culture. On this episode, Marianna and Matt discuss how Kirk's life and death paved the way for an online resurrection fe...
It's the latest example of an influencer's digital persona disintegrating before our eyes. For several years, Angel Victoria Murdock has been portraying a life of self-made success, from real estate deals to a watchalong student experience at Duke University. She curated hundreds of thousands of followers and even appeared on reality show Temptation Island - only, the majority of her online life appears to have been fabricated. Aft...
A Massachusetts jury are deliberating in the shocking case of Lindsay Clancy, a mother who admits to killing her three young children amid suffering, her lawyers argue, extreme post-partum psychosis. Online sleuths have been streaming the trial, and aggregating clips online to advance unfounded and defamatory conspiracies in the name of activism and awareness. Matt and Marianna explain how these creators operate, and consider the b...
How did a 16-year-old girl with no prior online presence manage to gain more than 700k TikTok followers within a week of her first post? On this episode, we discuss the theories behind Ellie Ellis' unlikely explosion, ask whether her multimillion-view debut video could have gone viral organically, and consider how platforms profit from the aspirational lottery underpinning their algorithms.
Also this week, a growing number of ...
After roughly 78,000 migrants made the journey from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in a matter of hours at the end of July, reporters across the world were quick to identify the role of social media. Capitalising on misinformation about a Spanish Supreme Court ruling, millions of posts appeared over several weeks portraying the territory as a viable path to a new life in Europe. On this episode of Top Comment we take a det...
The manosphere is just the tip of the iceberg - that's the premise of a new report, shared exclusively with Top Comment, about the so-called male grievance industry. Its author, Kristina Wilfore, has spent years investigating state information warfare, a playbook she says is now being followed by influencers weaponising economic anxiety, body dysmorphia, and political disenfranchisement. We've also been given access to brand new da...
From chasing pickpockets to unmasking predators, vigilantism has become one of the biggest trends on social media. On this episode Matt and Marianna discuss how the age of streaming has added a new layer of risk to content like this, with the potential for devastating consequences including reputational damage and even legal repercussions.
Also this week, as national media fangirls over Andy Burnham's TikTok persona, we ask what the...
Manosphere kingpin Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested in the US over the weekend after British authorities announced dozens of new charges against the pair, including rape and sex trafficking, which they deny. On this episode, we unpack the allegations being made against the influencers, and what it could mean for those associated with them. Matt, who has reported extensively on the Tate empire, describes the social ...
You may already think crypto is overexposed online, but is what we're experiencing just the tip of the iceberg? On this episode, Matt talks about his new BBC documentary in which he meets some of the tech billionaires who believe blockchain can be used to transform the fabric of society. From micronations to corporate monarchies, we outline their radical vision for the future.
Also this week, why psychologists are worried about the...
Marianna is joined by guest host Rachel Connolly to journey into the lives of femcels, tradwives, and so-called loneliness influencers. As the merits of social isolation are preached on our feeds, why has solo-maxxing gone from a cheap Gen Z life hack to a dedicated philosophy for many users? How is the femosphere shifting conversations around gender dynamics and heteropessimism? And what does the tradwife trend tell us about the p...
One year on from the BBC's investigation into the death of 23-year-old Paloma Shemirani - and two years since it happened - this episode of Top Comment explores what the case tells us about the dangers of medical misinformation.
Last June, Marianna revealed how Paloma’s brothers blamed their mother - the prominent anti-medicine conspiracy theorist Kate Shemirani - for Paloma’s decision to reject chemotherapy. She de...
After achieving 7% of the vote in last week's Makerfield by-election, the social-led strategy of emerging right-wing party Restore Britain has come under the spotlight. Various anecdotal reports have concluded that their relative success feels disproportionate to their presence on the ground, but their growing prominence online is inarguable - leader Rupert Lowe has over 2m followers across X and Facebook, and Elon Musk has repeate...
The BookTok community has erupted after creator AllieRoseCo announced she had trademarked merchandise featuring the phrase 'Hot Girls Read'. User backlash was instantaneous, with many accusing her of attacking small businesses and even betraying her own followers. On this episode, Marianna explains why BookTok is such an influential marketing demographic on TikTok, and what this controversy tells us about the fragility of influence...
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