Ordinary Things

Satirist, documentarian

Twitter: @ordinarytings
YouTube: @OrdinaryThings

Ordinary Things is a semi-anonymous satirist obsessed with how the internet is warping our minds.

Why you should listen

Ordinary Things is a satirist, writer and documentarian who makes YouTube videos about the surprising and sinister stories behind everyday things. He is also the author of This Sweet Cesspool, a climate-disaster prison comedy comic series. His writing explores what the past can tell us about the future and how the internet affects us all.

Ordinary Things’ TED Talks

Ordinary Things
How to save the internet
17 minutes 32 seconds
Over the last few years, the digital world has accelerated its invasion of the material one. Our time is monopolised by the same four mega-platforms while data-driven mass surveillance and state-funded troll farms threaten the free internet. What kind of internet are we building for the future, and how can we prepare for the worst?
Posted Jan 2022
Ordinary Things
Who owns the internet of the future?
17 minutes 21 seconds
The emergence of data-driven mass surveillance "is threatening to turn privacy into a relic of the 20th century," says the anonymous YouTube creator known as Ordinary Things. Meanwhile, state-funded troll farms are spreading disinformation and curating chaos on platforms meant to connect us and revolutionize the way we live. Ordinary Things gives an enlightening account of the internet's strengths and weaknesses, warning that the fight for a free internet is a fight for our collective future.
Posted Mar 2023