Sean Massa
sean-massa.bsky.social
Sean Massa
@sean-massa.bsky.social
ex-Team Lead at ▲ Vercel
ex-CTO of FlashRecruit (Acquired)

software engineer by trade
technical leader by practice
community/conference organizer by chance

aka: https://social.massalabs.com/@sean

https://massalabs.com/
Reposted by Sean Massa
But my most memorable moment in reporting in 2025 was seeing a longtime sex trafficker forced to face his victims, and watching a judge send him to prison for a long time.

After following GDP for ~6 years, being present for this sentencing felt important: www.404media.co/michael-prat...
Michael Pratt, GirlsDoPorn Ringleader, Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison
Michael James Pratt was sentenced to federal prison on charges of sex trafficking connected to the GirlsDoPorn crime ring. “He turned my pain into profit, my life into currency,” said one victim.
www.404media.co
December 23, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.

And trans lives are grounded in reality.

We see y'all. No matter what.

www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
People are not upset because they think every single member of the American elite is a mass rapist. They're upset because elites downplay and excuse mass rape while obscuring their ties to the rapists — *precisely the thing Brooks did in his column.*
December 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
there sure are a lot of rich assholes that need some ghost muppets to haunt them on Christmas
December 18, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Been on a mandated vibe code trend and I've rapidly gone from thinking I'd have no problem with people electing to use this on their own at a company I ran to "Nope. Outright ban."

If you think you hire FT software engineers just for their code output get out of engineering leadership immediately.
December 17, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Merriam's word of the year is slop: "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence."
2025 Word of the Year: Slop
Plus 'gerrymander', 'touch grass', 'performative', and other words that defined the year
www.merriam-webster.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
also by the the talented @usagiboots.bsky.social
December 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Sam Altman: hey I made a machine that stole literally all your stuff in order to make CSAM of your child actors, sometimes it encourages people to kill themselves

Disney: Holy shit here's a billion dollars

Altman: the machine loses more than that each week but thank you. Soon it will become god.
December 12, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
"I'm not in denial, I'm in open rebellion" damn that quote goes hard
“I am so bored by AI. One of the things I love about the theatre is AI can’t do it.”

Ethan Hawke is a dude 👌🏻
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
404 Media is making a print zine about the surveillance tactics used by ICE, and how people are resisting this tech.

Why? Print media is cool. Also, 404 Media has watched ICE grow from an already horrifying organization into a deportation force that is better funded than most militaries.
404 Media Is Making a Zine
We are publishing a risograph-printed zine about the surveillance technologies used by ICE.
www.404media.co
December 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Really love how this guy posted this on TikTok thinking the woman who broke his Meta glasses would come off as the villain, as opposed to him, the guy recording her without her consent for social media content via a surveillance device made by one of the worst companies on earth
Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man's Meta Smart Glasses on Subway
A New York subway rider has accused a woman of breaking his Meta smart glasses. She was later hailed as a hero.
futurism.com
December 5, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
The author is a GREAT example of someone who should have taken (and learned from) anthropology classes rather than reading Jared Diamond. Happily, @michaelhobbes.bsky.social and @notalawyer.bsky.social learn from anthropologists and historians and then rip this bullshit to shreds.
Episode 46: Sapiens

It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Republicans want to be Nazis.

Democrats want to be Republicans.
This is a straightforward Republican attack line, what the fuck is he doing
November 15, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
For years I've reported on the tech and tools that bounty hunters have access to. I think people would be shocked it is often essentially what cops can have too, w/ less accountability
- license plate reader databases
- credit header data
- smartphone location data
www.404media.co/ice-plans-to...
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
this is the future that liberals want etc.
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative

electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Newsletter: Faced with blowback over his pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, President Trump has offered a curious defense: he doesn’t even know the guy.
Trump says he has “no idea” who he just pardoned
President Trump reacts to condemnations of his recent pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao by claiming he doesn’t know who he is.
www.citationneeded.news
November 3, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
We are speedrunning "the worst, most dangerous technologies trickle down from military to feds to local police"

www.404media.co/cbp-quietly-...
CBP Quietly Launches Face Scanning App for Local Cops To Do Immigration Enforcement
The app, called Mobile Identify and available on the Google Play Store, is specifically for local and regional law enforcement agencies working with ICE on immigration enforcement.
www.404media.co
November 4, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
You want to democratize "going to therapy"? Make it "free" as in paid by socialized healthcare. You want to democratize "making art"? Give people money and free time to express themselves.
October 28, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Grokipedia is not a 'Wikipedia Competitor.' It is the antithesis of Wikipedia in every possible way, and it is not going to work:

www.404media.co/grokipedia-i...
Grokipedia Is the Antithesis of Everything That Makes Wikipedia Good, Useful, and Human
Grokipedia is not a 'Wikipedia competitor.' It is a fully robotic regurgitation machine designed to protect the ego of the world’s wealthiest man.
www.404media.co
October 28, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
October 28, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
fixed that for you
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
It's Science.
October 23, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Newsletter: Anatomy of a crypto meltdown

October 2025 brought the most dramatic crypto flash crash of all time, but it was only a dress rehearsal for the systemic crisis the industry is building toward.

www.citationneeded.news/anatomy-of-a...
Anatomy of a crypto meltdown
October 2025 brought the most dramatic crypto flash crash of all time, but it was only a dress rehearsal for the systemic crisis the industry is building toward.
www.citationneeded.news
October 17, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Every now and then I go back and read the Citizens United ruling to see if it is as unhinged as I thought, and every time I do that I see it is actually far more deranged than I remembered.

levernews.com/book
October 21, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Reposted by Sean Massa
Legendary Final Fantasy Composer Nobuo Uematsu says he’s never used generative AI, and never will.

"I think it still feels more rewarding to go through the hardships of creating something myself."

automaton-media.com/en/news/fina...
October 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM