My Internet: Max Tani
The Semafor media reporter says the industry is in for some turbulence.
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, by Kate Lindsay and Nick Catucci.
Most weeks, we quiz a “very online” person for their essential guide to what’s good on the internet.
Today we welcome Max Tani, a media reporter at Semafor, where he has already published scoops on Jake Tapper’s future at CNN and a coming reorganization at Insider. (Sign up here for Semafor’s Sunday media newsletter with Ben Smith.) Max once had Tony Hawk come for his ass on Twitter, still has homies absolutely going off at 5 a.m. on Instagram, and retains the right to be a little rude online sometimes. —Nick
EMBEDDED: What types of videos do you watch on YouTube?
MAX TANI: I think 95 percent of my YouTube consumption is basketball highlights and HÖR and Boiler Room DJ sets (I account for like 20 of the 3+million views on this Yung Singh set). I watch a lot of YouTube clips of interviews for work, but that’s boring.
EMBEDDED: Do you use TikTok? What shows up on your For You page?
MAX TANI: I think of social media algorithms like fun-house mirror reflections: They take our weird features, distort them, and show them back to us in ways that are familiar and horrifying.
TikTok (where I am purely a lurker and do not post) has figured out that I have on occasion paused to watch stuff about men’s clothing and NYC restaurants. As a result, my feed is an endless scroll of dudes showing me the 5 Essential Pants For Fire Fall Fits and some 20-something marketing person talking at 1.5 speed about this new restaurant in “Lower East Side” that has the BEST $23 martini.
Generally it’s pretty humiliating, but I keep going back, so I deserve it.
EMBEDDED: What do you use Instagram for?
MAX TANI: Seeing what everyone is up to. I’m not really a poster, not sure what I would post these days. I’m at the age where a good chunk of my Instagram is weddings and friends who have babies, the other chunk is homies absolutely going off at 5 a.m. It’s all nice to see, but I don’t have much to contribute.
I used to buy clothes on Instagram but I realized everything I got was awful and I never wore it. No more of that.
EMBEDDED: Do you tweet? Why?
MAX TANI: I really started using Twitter when I got my first media job in 2014, and went through a period where I would try and dunk on people and attempt to be funny and constantly refresh my mentions for validation. Sometimes it was good and I had something interesting to say, other times I was just contributing to an atmosphere of misery.
I’m trying to be a little chiller these days. My feed is pretty professional and dweeby, I’m just sharing my articles and keeping my head down. Though I’m not making any promises, and I retain the right to be a little rude online sometimes.
EMBEDDED: What change would Elon Musk have to make for you to quit Twitter?
MAX TANI: For me, Twitter is only good for finding stuff that I can drop into Slack or a group chat with an accompanying “lol” or “you guys see this?” It’s also good for promoting my own work. And I guess I use it to connect with sources and find information for my job. And I check it every day regardless of what’s going on in my life or my state of mind (just did it now). So he’d probably have to change a lot for me to quit.
EMBEDDED: Have you ever had a post go viral? What was that experience like?
MAX TANI: I’ve had a few really dumb tweets go nuts. It’s never the stuff I’m proud of, but it’s mostly fun because it brings people out of the woodwork.
A few years ago, I did the Today show. It was my first TV hit and I was really proud of myself, but no one in my life noticed because none of them watch morning TV. Around the same time, I had a tweet get reposted on FuckJerry (is that still around?), and I had people from middle school I hadn’t heard from in years hitting me up to, like, congratulate me on my successful tweet.
EMBEDDED: Who’s the coolest person who follows you?
MAX TANI: A few years ago when I was working at Business Insider, I looked up from my desk and saw Tony Hawk was giving an interview on CNBC. He was on to promote something random, and the hosts kept asking him all of these unrelated topical questions about business stories of the day that he didn’t have the answer to. I thought the whole arrangement was funny, and fired off a few tweets about it, as one does. Mr. Hawk saw my tweets and thought I was making fun of him, so he absolutely came for my ass on Twitter, and I had to do some damage control.
Anyway, he followed me after that and I’ve DMed with him once or twice. Seems nice.
EMBEDDED: Where do you tend to get your news?
MAX TANI: Twitter, morning and evening newsletters, the boys basketball group chat, work Slack, posts my girlfriend sends me throughout the day. Sometimes Ben Smith says stuff at the Semafor office and I’m like “Oh wow, I didn’t know that,” I suppose that also counts.
EMBEDDED: What’s one positive trend you see in media right now? What’s one negative trend?
MAX TANI: Seems like we’re in for some media turbulence once again. Just in the last few weeks, we’ve seen news organizations make cuts as it becomes clear that the ad market is becoming weaker due to recession fears. Advertisers are spooked, and there are signs that the industry can’t support endless subscription products and endless podcasts.
The positive trends are cliche, but seem true to me: If what you’re making is good, people will pay for it. Many great independent podcasts and newsletters have proven to be sustainable for years just based on support from their audiences. If you’re doing something genuinely compelling or cool, or at least something that people like, they’ll fork over a few bucks to keep you going.
EMBEDDED: Do you subscribe to any Substacks or other independent newsletters? What are your favorites?
MAX TANI: I like Max Read’s newsletter Read Max. I read Maya Kosoff’s Substack, and I always enjoy Blackbird Spyplane. I read The Ankler. It’s not on Substack, but Matt Belloni’s Hollywood newsletter is the model of a great reported newsletter: It’s a mix of scoops and analysis, it’s insider-y but doesn’t talk down to people who aren’t “in the biz,” and you know you’re probably reading it at the same time that Bob Iger is.
I also read Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s Substack, but mostly because I find it fascinating that one of America’s greatest athletes is now a guy who blogs multiple times a week about the news and pop culture, and honestly, he’s pretty GOATed in that arena as well…
EMBEDDED: Are you into any podcasts right now? How and when do you usually listen?
MAX TANI: An examination of my media diet will show that I am a basic-ass bro. In my previous job, I was traveling back and forth between D.C. and New York, so I was listening to a lot of podcasts. I do the whole slate of ESPN basketball podcasts and Throwing Fits most weeks. I do the Recode Media podcast, which is the best weekly pod on the media business by far. I listen to Odd Lots, but I don’t always understand or care about what they’re discussing. I was an intern on the Slate Political Gabfest, so I still try to listen when I can. If I’ve got the stamina, I’ll listen to Know Your Enemy and Time To Say Goodbye.
I will admit that I also listen to The Daily during my morning commute.
EMBEDDED: Do you text people voice notes? If not, how do you feel about getting them?
MAX TANI: I really like voice notes. I feel like I caught the tail end of the answering machine era, and the voice note obviously has a bit of that DNA. I enjoy that it’s less precise than a text, and takes less effort, but has more emotion and personality.
But there’s a limit: If you’re sending multiple voice notes back and forth, just pick up the phone, gimme a break.
EMBEDDED: If you could only keep Netflix, Disney, HBO Max, or one other streaming service, which would it be, and why?
MAX TANI: I have the lawful-evil answer to this question: YouTube TV. It has what I need for work (cable news), and some incredible programs I watch with my girlfriend (Jeopardy and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills). Tack the NBA League Pass and HBO Max extensions on, and you have a ridiculously expensive monthly bill but also some good things to watch.
EMBEDDED: What’s your favorite non-social media app?
MAX TANI: This is cheating but Strava. If I’m feeling weird about my personal fitness, it’s reassuring to see that I’m not an absolutely worthless slug who has never gotten off the couch in his entire life and I have indeed done some exercising. And even if you run like one mile, the homies will give you kudos. It’s an extremely positive environment as long as you don’t let weird people follow you and see where you’re running/biking.
EMBEDDED: Who’s someone more people should be following?
MAX TANI: If you’re an NBA fan, there’s this photographer/sports personality Vic Jacobi. She seems to be some sort of amorphous professional basketball brand person, not sure what exactly her job is, but she takes amazing behind-the-scenes photos of players during the offseason, and does some cool sideline stuff.
EMBEDDED: What’s the most basic internet thing that you love?
MAX TANI: Did you read how I answered any of the questions above?
EMBEDDED: Do you regularly use eBay, Depop, or other shopping platforms? What’s a recent thing you’ve bought or sold?
MAX TANI: I got a new job recently and I wanted to treat myself, so I copped the black/white Nike x Comme des Garçons Air Max Sunders on StockX, which will sometimes make you feel like an item is reasonably affordable until they tack on $50 worth of fees at the end.
Anyway, these were the most expensive sneakers I’ve ever purchased by far, so I will be wearing them every single day to get my money’s worth.
EMBEDDED: What’s the last thing that brought you joy online?
MAX TANI: Heidi Klum worm interview.
Thanks Max! Sign up for the Semafor media newsletter and follow him on Twitter.
More My Internet Morgan Sung ∙ Michael Idov ∙ Jessica DeFino∙ Rawiya Kameir∙ Jamie Brooks∙ Joe Coscarelli ∙ Amina Akhtar ∙ Kofie Yeboah ∙ A.J. Daulerio ∙ Annie Rauwerda ∙ Luke O’Neil ∙ Edith Zimmerman∙ All