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TESS GROSSMAN

Welcome to my digital cabinet of tchotchkes!

About Work
August 21, 2026

YouTube's new master plan: you pay creators yourself.

YouTube rolled out a slew of changes over the past few months, most notably the change in how creators get monetised, and the view counter now counting after 1-second of watch …

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social media
YouTube's new master plan: you pay creators yourself.
August 15, 2026

My brother called our dad a narcissist. I don't think he's that interesting.

My brother called our dad a narcissist. I was having dinner with him when he said it. We were reflecting on our relationship with dad, and why we're no-contact when he dropped dad …

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personal
My brother called our dad a narcissist. I don't think he's that interesting.
August 6, 2026

Social media is advertising hell now

I made this mistake the first year in my career: I treated social media like it was marketing. Watching the company follower count grow was exciting, especially once it crossed …

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social media marketing
Social media is advertising hell now
July 31, 2026

Steal my email marketing template (for free!)

I worked with Chris Hanney on Gameplainer (which, if you didn't know is a 10-in-1 platform for game community managers to consolidate their community sentiments, reviews, and …

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marketing freebie
Steal my email marketing template (for free!)
July 28, 2026

Chat, is the internet even real anymore?

In June we officially crossed the threshold from a predominantly human internet to a 'dead internet', a popular theory that purports the internet is mostly bots, and fewer humans. …

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research ai social media
Chat, is the internet even real anymore?
July 11, 2026

I quit Google. Here's what it cost me.

For a quick overview of what I replaced each thing with and the cost, scroll to Cost Breakdown! I care a lot about privacy, especially in the aftermath of the Edward Snowden files …

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personal tech
I quit Google. Here's what it cost me.
July 9, 2026

AEO/GEO is just astrology with a dashboard.

Your AEO/GEO strategy has the same level of accuracy as a horoscope (sorry guys!) Both AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) focus on …

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games research
AEO/GEO is just astrology with a dashboard.
July 3, 2026

I came for a history quiz. I left thinking about colonial looting.

I consider myself a history nerd. I've lost countless evenings to Wikipedia rabbit holes reading about everything from the people of Rotmistrivka to how Oxford University's …

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games personal essay
I came for a history quiz. I left thinking about colonial looting.