INFLUENCE

Virtual reality might still be for early adopters, but as headsets get smaller and social norms evolve, more people are meeting, hanging out, having sex, and even getting married in virtual spaces.

Peter Rubin is a VR expert, author, and senior correspondent at Wired, where he covers VR social spaces. And while people have been socializing and getting kinky online for decades, Rubin believes that "embodied presence" (truly feeling that your body is physically next to another person in VR) is a breakthrough that differentiates VR spaces like Rec Room and VRchat, and will change interpersonal communication as the technology gets better and cheaper.

Alli and Jen talk to Rubin about VR platform culture, a couple that got married in VR, emerging tech that will soon let us touch and smell in VR, and the future of virtual sex.

Follow Peter Rubin: https://twitter.com/provenself

Read his book: http://ptrrbn.com/book

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In 2005, Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald traded a red paperclip for a fish-shaped pen. From there, he wanted to see how many times he could "trade up" for something bigger and better. After one year and 14 trades (facilitated by the Internet, of course), he acquired a two-story farmhouse in Saskatchewan. No money changed hands. The barter-only experiment became a viral sensation and presents deep thoughts about the nature of value. Alli and Jen talk to MacDonald about his inspiration for the project, the amazing and strange people he met along the way, how the fame has affected his life, and the businesses who are still trying to cash in on Red Paperclip mania.

Also, here's the Phallus Palace: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/08/tour-phallus-palace/312255/

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Stand-up comedian Mekki Leeper wanted to see if he could convince the Internet to buy a fake wellness product. With some slick branding, fake Instagram followers, and the perfect media outrage hook, Leeper turned a Squarespace website and $1,000 into global demand for $80 used tissues. Vaev tissues claimed to get you sick today, so you'd be inoculated later. And people were willing to pay big bucks for these chic snot rags.

The viral success of this fake health product (akin to Goop and Raw Water) lead to a Comedy Central digital show called Control Room, where Leeper plans to devise future commentary on why we're so gullible online. Alli and Jen talk to Leeper about the experiment, the new show, media literacy, fake news, and why reputable journalistic outlets were fooled into covering a company that doesn't exist.

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Reborns are baby dolls with hyper-realistic features. So real, in fact, that bringing them out in public will often fool strangers into thinking they're flesh and blood, even upon close examination. There's a passionate online community of artists and collectors who fawn over these dolls, which tread right through the Uncanny Valley. Why? Alli and Jen talk with Reborn artist and YouTuber Stephanie Ortiz about the appeal of realistic dolls, her meticulous crafting process, their therapeutic uses, and why the Internet is obsessed with her videos of the dolls in public, one of which has reached nearly 30 million views.

Read more about Reborns on The Daily Dot.

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Amazon's Mechanical Turk service has a mixed reputation. Some see it as a way to turn found time into easy spending money. Others view it as crowd-sourced slave labor.

While the majority of Mechanical Turk workers make very little money doing repetitive tasks like identifying images or taking surveys (and often give up on the platform entirely), there are some who have optimized the process to actually generate decent incomes. By studying the time-to-pay ratios of certain tasks and using basic tech tools to filter through millions of tiny jobs constantly posted to mTurk, so-called "Alpha Turkers" can turn small pockets of spare time into $200-$500 a week, which isn't bad if you also have a full-time income.

Alli and Jen talk to Mike Naab, a longtime mTurker who makes decent money from the platform, and wrote the ebook Side Hustle From Home: How To Make Money Online With Amazon Mechanical Turk to help others do the same. Naab shares his tips, tricks, tools, and philosophies about mTurk, how he's leveraged it to his advantage, and why it's probably not for everyone.

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Can you believe we've been podcasting for a CENTURY? Thanks for sticking with us on this journey of discovery and Internet magic. Here's a look back at our favorite moments.

Your comments, calls, suggestions, emails, and tweets mean the world to us, so please keep them coming.

See you in the next 100 years!

Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1PJoin us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1p

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Anyone in a long distance relationship will tell you how hard it can be. And dating or marrying across countries comes with a huge list of expenses and immigration headaches. While people from different countries meet and fall in love all the time, why would anyone seek out a relationship with these complications from the start?

The "mail order bride" concept has been around for centuries, and the modern equivalent are dating apps that facilitate specific international relationships: ColumbianCupid, JamaicanDating, ChinaLoveCupid.  There's even a hit reality TV show called 90 Day Fiancé that has brought these apps into the zeitgeist. But as journalist Paul Schrodt discovered, while people sign up for these apps under a variety of circumstances, there is a prevailing theme: white American men of means connecting with attractive women from economically disadvantaged countries.

So, are these apps about fetishizing ethnicity and forming transnational relationships? Or is there something deeper to be gleaned from the successful marriages born of international dating apps? Alli and Jen talk to Schrodt about his experience using the apps and connecting with single men and women from around the globe.

Read Schrodt's piece in GQ here: https://www.gq.com/story/90-day-fiance-international-dating-apps

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Welcome to a new episode format we like to call: ASK YOU ANYTHING, where we ask Internet-famous people awkward questions in a sad attempt to embarrass them for your entertainment! (Don't worry, we'll have a regular episode for you next week.)

This week we're joined by Gibi ASMR, a YouTuber and Internet content creator who specializes in ASMR — autonomous sensory meridian response.  Millions of people watch Gibi's videos and use the sounds of her voice and various materials to relax and feel those "tingles" on the back of their neck. Gibi was a 2G1P guest back on episode 10, and has since grown her channel to more than 2 million subscribers. She is among the most popular ASMRtists on the Internet.

So, can we make her blush by prying into her Google search history?

Follow and subscribe to Gibi ASMR:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE6acMV3m35znLcf0JGNn7Q

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GibiOfficial

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/gggibi

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More than 300,000 volunteers are standing by right now, 24/7, ready to listen if you need to talk to about depression, anxiety, self-harm, or just need to vent about a rough day. Texting with a listener who cares has meaningful therapeutic value, according to 7 Cups, a crowdsourced platform for mental health.

But how are these listeners trained, and how should these anonymous conversations about serious topics be moderated? The Internet is full of trolls, after all. And can anonymous texting ever replace face-to-face psychotherapy? Alli and Jen talk with Laura Small, director of community development, about the vision for 7 Cups as a global mental health community for those who may not have access to professionals.

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There's plenty of sexy fan art for any movie, show, or game imaginable, thanks to Rule 34. But there's something about Sonic the Hedgehog that lends the character to very specific and often extreme fetish art, in limitless quantities. Why Sonic? Writer and weird Internet excavator  K. Thor Jensen walks Alli and Jen through the invention of the Internet's favorite blue speed demon, and the unique way he was positioned by his creators that set him up as a conduit for porn of all stripes.

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Talk to Alli and Jen:

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