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Hey everyone, and welcome to 
Mini Scroll, the daily Internet 

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culture podcast bring you the 
biggest stories from social 

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media, the creator economy and 
the digital space every Monday 

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through Thursday and sometimes 
Fridays. 

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My name is Annabelle and I'm 
your Wednesday Mini Tech Scroll 

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host and also the deputy editor 
of the youth digital media brand

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Centennial World. 
Welcome back to Mini Tech Scroll

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for 2026. 
I really hope everyone had a 

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relaxing fun break. 
If you took a break, my holiday 

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day period was honestly quite a 
flop. 

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I had a quite a tumultuous and 
if not cast and to 2025 and 

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beginning of 2026. 
So I'm really hoping we can only

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go up from here. 
And also my apologies if I sound

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a little bit sick as well. 
I did spend a part of the 

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holiday break a little bit under
the weather and I definitely 

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have a cough lingering so 
hopefully that doesn't impact 

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how I sound. 
But yes, that is enough about me

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and my cast break. 
If you enjoyed this episode, 

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Please remember to rate, review,
and subscribe. 

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And let's just get into the 
stories for this week. 

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The first story we absolutely 
need to talk about is all this 

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discussion around Open AI and 
Pinterest. 

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If you run in tech circles or 
kind of get served up tech based

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content on your social media 
algorithms, you may have seen 

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this. 
But basically everyone is 

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convinced that Open AI is set to
purchase Pinterest. 

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So I did some digging to see 
where this all came from. 

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And I believe the rumor slash 
claim goes back to an article 

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published by The Information, 
which included an array of tech 

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predictions for the coming year.
And it was published on January 

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too, so very recently. 
In the piece, reporter Anne 

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Gehen predicted that Quote Open 
AI will make its biggest 

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acquisition yet when it buys 
Pinterest. 

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So from her perspective, it 
makes sense for both Open AI and

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Pinterest. 
Where she wrote Quote Open AI 

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would be most interested in the 
bones of Pinterest business, 

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like it's trove of image data 
and its existing advertising 

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business, as well as its 
relationship with merchants. 

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Pinterest digital scrapbooking 
features could also complement 

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Open a is image and video 
generation tools. 

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So essentially, the data on the 
platform would be a powerful way

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for Open AI to train its model, 
which would ultimately help it 

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compete with other AI models, 
which we know is a constant 

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concern for these AI companies. 
The reporter also adds that it 

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is quite timely from a financial
point of view, noting that it 

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makes sense for Open AI to cash 
in on Pinterest now. 

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I haven't seen anyone really 
talk about it from this angle 

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though. 
But if Chachi PT or Open AI was 

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to acquire Pinterest, I do think
it could work to maybe lessen 

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the AI gender gap. 
There has been a lot of talk 

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online recently referencing 
various studies and research 

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that show that women tend to use
AI at lower rates than men, 

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specifically in the workplace, 
but also across the board. 

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And with Pinterest user base 
being 70% women, the potential 

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to integrate open AI into this 
kind of platform could be 

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valuable for big tech because 
obviously they are always 

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looking at user data and uptake.
Now I do want to say the The 

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Information is definitely a 
reliable and legitimate source. 

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For example, they were I think 
the first outlet to report on 

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the planned launch of the US run
version of the TikTok app. 

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Obviously this has yet to 
eventuate, but as far as we know

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it does seem to be coming. 
So there is definitely weight to

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what is published by The 
Information where they are 

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definitely Privy to conversation
slash sources that other 

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publications may not be. 
But there does seem to be a 

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missing piece of information 
from many of the TikTok 

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journalists and posts covering 
this story. 

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Most of what I've seen failed to
mention that this information 

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came from a piece predicting 
2026 and tech. 

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It's not necessarily a scoop per
SE, where they are definitely 

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treating it as a solid deal. 
This is not to say that this 

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won't happen, but it's important
to consume this information with

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that piece of context. 
I will say though, that many 

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social media users have had 
quite a strong response to these

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rumors, with many of them upset 
with the prospect of opening AI 

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intertwining itself with another
social media platform. 

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As we know, they famously made a
deal with Reddit, and I think 

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this is only worsened by the 
fact that there's definitely 

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been an uptick of Pinterest 
users complaining about the 

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increasing amount of AI 
generated content on the 

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platform. 
And to combat this, Pinterest 

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has also added controls that let
users limit the amount of AI 

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that they see in their feeds. 
But this isn't perfect yet and I

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think AI continues to sneak on 
through. 

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So with many users upset with 
the amount of AI on Pinterest, 

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it makes sense that they 
wouldn't want open AI to acquire

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the platform as well. 
That brings us to my next story 

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for today and I wanted to talk 
about everything going on with 

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Annas Archive. 
This is a little bit more niche,

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but obviously that is what we 
love here on Mini Tech and Mini 

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Scroll. 
So if you're unfamiliar with 

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Anna's archive, it's a search 
engine for quote UN quote shadow

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libraries, which are essentially
repositories of media ranging 

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from books, music to films that 
are not readily available. 

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For example, they may be behind 
a paywall or copyrighted or 

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whatever. 
So one of the most famous 

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examples of this is Z Library or
Z Library, however you want to 

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say it, which hosted a lot of 
academic articles and textbooks 

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and even just more general 
books. 

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At one point it had become the 
world's largest e-book library. 

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I feel like when I was at 
university, I had heard of Z 

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Library. 
I have heard of people using it 

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and it has repeatedly been shut 
down or blocked or kind of just 

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faced constant legal battles 
over the years because of the 

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copyright issue. 
So Anna's Archive emerged out of

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the backlash to Z Library and it
was launched in 2022. 

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According to the blog on Anna's 
archive, the goal is to quote 

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contribute to the preservation 
and liberal preparation of human

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knowledge. 
So it essentially operates as a 

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search engine that helps users 
find certain pirated material 

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elsewhere. 
As the blog continues, quote, we

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focus on preservation, not on 
making books easily searchable 

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and downloadable are fostering a
big community of people who 

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contribute new books. 
In terms of the archives 

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preservation efforts, they did 
make headlines quite recently 

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after allegedly scraping 86 
million music files from 

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Spotify. 
But that brings us to the story 

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that I wanted to discuss today, 
and that is that the Anna's 

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archives.org domain name has 
reportedly been suspended. 

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The operator, Anna archivist on 
Reddit shared a post to the R 

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slash Anna under score archive 
subreddit to explain the 

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situation. 
As it reads, quotethe.org domain

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apparently has been suspended. 
Our other domains work fine, and

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we've added some more. 
This unfortunately happens to 

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shadow libraries on a regular 
basis. 

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We don't believe this has to do 
with our Spotify backup. 

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So even though Anna's archive is
still working on other domains 

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names, I have seen an array of 
tik toks including people who 

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are very upset thatthe.org 
domain name has been suspended. 

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So onset that now. 
And now because some of you 

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people don't know how to fucking
not post every single thing you 

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goddamn do online, especially 
under Reddit, we lost Anna's 

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archives. 
Now I don't get free books 

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anymore. 
I literally got my free version 

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of the constitution from Anna's 
archives. 

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OK, all The Hunger Games books. 
While these suspensions and 

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blocks definitely happen often, 
I thought this was an 

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interesting story to cover 
because of the conversations 

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that we are having online at the
moment, all about the return to 

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physical media and how important
it is to actually own your own 

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content and media, whether that 
be through physical books, CDs 

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or whatever. 
There is definitely growing 

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discontent among Internet users 
when it comes to being at the 

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whims of big tech or streaming 
platforms, especially when it 

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comes to consuming content. 
And archival tools like Anna's 

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Archive kind of share a similar 
sentiment. 

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I think in that these shadow 
libraries want to democratize 

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knowledge, ensure access to 
knowledge and also ownership of 

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content in some degree. 
This is also one side of the 

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Internet that we don't talk 
about super often. 

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We have covered something 
similar in an infinite scroll 

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episode when we spoke about the 
Internet Archive. 

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But I think the conversations 
around piracy, copyright, as 

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well as ensuring access to 
information are really 

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interesting and important, and 
I'm definitely curious to hear 

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what you guys make of all this. 
I have two more stories and they

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are both slightly shorter. 
I think the first one I wanted 

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to mention is UK specific, but I
thought it was noteworthy for 

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today's episode. 
So according to a recent report,

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Reddit has officially overtaken 
TikTok in terms of site visits 

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in the UK. 
According to a report published 

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by the UK Office of 
Communications, it was revealed 

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that Reddit is the fourth most 
visited social media media 

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service. 
As the 2025 report reads, quote 

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Reddit experience double figures
year on year growth in their 

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monthly audiences for the second
year in a row, now reaching 60% 

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of UK Internet users, up from 
48% in May 2024. 

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This marks an 88% increase in 
two years, placing it ahead of 

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TikTok as the fourth most 
visited social media service. 

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While this obviously is UK 
specific, I do always think it's

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quite interesting to look at how
other people in other countries 

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around the world are consuming 
media and using social media 

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because I think it can be an 
interesting way to kind of maybe

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see what's coming or things to 
kind of look out for in 

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different media landscapes 
around the world. 

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As for why Reddit is gaining 
popularity, there are definitely

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a few reasons. 
Michael Savage for The Guardian 

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makes the claim that has a lot 
to do with Google's changing 

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search algorithm, which I can 
definitely see and I agree with.

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He notes that Google's move to 
prioritize content from Russian 

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forums definitely benefits 
Reddit. 

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And this is something I've 
actually only noticed recently. 

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Maybe it was only rolled out to 
me recently or I just don't pay 

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attention when I Google search 
things these days, but 

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underneath the search bar there 
was an option to click forms so 

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you're only directed to certain 
forms instead of just websites. 

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On top of this, Reddit has also 
struck a deal with Google for 

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its AI, which I think we have 
spoken about before, but that 

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could have also helped the 
platform gain popularity and 

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site visits. 
As Michael Savage continues 

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quote, A recent deal with Google
that allows the company to train

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its AI model on Reddit's content
also appears to have provided a 

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boost. 
Reddit is the most cited source 

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for Google AI overviews, which 
is likely to see more people 

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directed to its forums. 
I think the increase in AI 

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online also benefits Reddit, not
just because of the fact that it

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is popping up in AI overviews, 
but because I think people who 

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are tired of AI or distrustful 
of it might want to turn to 

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platforms that highlight human 
experiences, communities, and 

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stories. 
And I'm sure over the years, 

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many of us have just become 
accustomed to adding Reddit at 

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the end of the search query on 
Google to hear from real people.

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So I think that also plays into 
Reddit's growth here. 

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And from a youth perspective or 
Gen. 

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Z perspective, since obviously 
we are Centennial World, we know

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that Gen. 
Z are drawn to platforms like 

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Reddit because of the anonymity 
that it offers growing up in a 

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time when literally everything 
is publicized or shared online. 

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Gen. 
Z have more of a tendency to be 

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private and mysterious online, 
at least compared to millennials

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where Reddit definitely fits 
neatly into this category. 

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I do think Reddit has also 
become less manosphere focused 

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since like the mid twenty 10s so
that also helps expand its user 

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base. 
But going back to the popularity

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of Reddit, I should also add 
that the time spent on Reddit 

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per day is significantly lower 
than the other platforms in the 

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top five according to this UK 
based report. 

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For example, YouTube, Facebook 
slash Messenger, Instagram and 

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TikTok are all between 20 and 
like 50 minutes where Reddit is 

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full. 
So that just tells me people 

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aren't necessarily passively 
scrolling through Reddit where 

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they're on the platform for a 
really specific reason. 

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And of course, that does make it
quite a powerful tool for brands

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who are like seeking to answer a
specific question or solve a 

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particular problem or say 
influencers who are part of a 

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specific niche to kind of build 
awareness. 

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But as we know, credit has 
always struggled to monetize 

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through these kind of 
partnerships, which is why the 

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deals with AI giants are so 
significant. 

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Our last story for today is 
unfortunate, and it's probably 

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one of the biggest stories in 
social media tech this week. 

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And that is everything happening
with Grok. 

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So Grok, which is obviously X's 
AI as we've spoken about before,

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has come under fire after the 
rollout of a new feature a 

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couple weeks ago. 
Basically, this feature allows a

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user to ask the bot to edit a 
photo, any photo, without the 

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permission of the owner, or if 
the photo includes a person, it 

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doesn't need the permission of 
the person in the photo. 

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Unfortunately, this feature was 
quickly used for nefarious and 

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frankly disgusting reasons. 
Users started asking the AI to 

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remove clothing from people 
featured in various images. 

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According to The Verge, AI 
authentication company Copy 

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Leaks reported that quote, the 
trend to remove clothing from 

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images began with adult content 
creators asking Gruck for sexy 

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images of themselves. 
After the release of the new 

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image editing feature, users 
then began applying similar 

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prompts to photos of other 
users, predominantly women, who 

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did not consent to the edits. 
Gruck was not only allowing for 

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clothing to be removed from 
these photos, but these edits 

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also included putting people in 
these pictures in sexual or 

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degrading positions and 
situations. 

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And of course, it was often 
women and girls. 

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At the time of reassuring this 
episode, there's been no 

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apology, statement or comment 
from Elon Musk or XAI about this

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quote UN quote trend. 
In fact, Elon Musk has continued

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to go on and promote the feature
slash tool further. 

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And allegedly, the only 
statement that has been made by 

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XAI is 1 and that is automated. 
Various media outlets have 

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reported that they have received
an automatic response when 

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reaching out for comment, one 
that read quote legacy media 

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lies. 
Aside from this, there has been 

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a lot of coverage from certain 
publications talking about how 

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the AI bot has allegedly 
apologized itself. 

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Taylor Lorenz, in a recent issue
of Usamad, collated a number of 

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headlines as she writes Quote 
Musk's AI chatbot Grok 

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apologizes after generating 
sexualized image of young girls,

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1 local NBC affiliate Headline 
read CBS News Local affiliates 

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published headlines with similar
phrasing, including Elon Musk's 

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AI chatbot Grok apologized. 
The Hill, Newsweek, The 

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Guardian, and a slew of other 
outlets have similarly quoted 

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Grok as apologizing. 
She goes on to make the claim 

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that Grok cannot quote UN quote 
apologize, where any kind of 

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conciliatory or apologetic 
responses is simply pattern 

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recognition. 
And I do think this is an 

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important point, because it 
allows for the appearance of 

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accountability from X, but it's 
likely not going to lead to any 

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true changes to the feature. 
Of course, this isn't the first 

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time, and probably won't be the 
last time that Grok has 

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generated something of this 
nature. 

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But every time I am reporting on
A, a story like this, I'm 

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reminded of a book by Laura 
Bates, the New Age of Sexism. 

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I cite this book all the time. 
I promise you it's not the only 

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book I've ever read. 
It's just super interesting. 

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And one of the main takeaways 
from this book is that we are 

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living in such an early stage of
AI. 

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And while this tech is 
developing and we are at kind of

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the ground floor quote, UN 
quote, we are watching misogyny 

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be baked into the very fabric of
this kind of generative 

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technology. 
That is why it's so important to

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continue obviously bring light 
to these stories and also 

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challenge the patriarchy slash 
misogyny in real life, not just 

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in tech. 
Because at the end of the day, 

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this tech is reflecting our 
current society, desires, 

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beliefs, ideals, whatever. 
And that is why I will probably 

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never stop referencing this 
book. 

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But yes, that brings us to the 
end of the first mini tech 

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scroll for 2026. 
I really hope you guys found the

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stories interesting and I am 
excited to be back. 

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I'm feeling way less nervous 
than I felt in the first episode

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of 2025, obviously, because now 
I have a year of this under my 

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belt. 
But yeah, I'm looking forward to

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it. 
I will speak to you next week. 

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Lauren will speak to you guys 
tomorrow. 

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And thank you so much for 
listening. 

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Bye.