Views are the most visible metric on the internet. You can see, in more or less real time, how many views something got on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and most other video platforms. X tracks views for every single thing you post, as does Threads. A view is the universal currency of success — more views, more fun.
Technology
On TikTok, YouTube, X, and everywhere, ‘views’ are lies
But it’s all nonsense. Views are nothing. Views are lies.
You may not need me to remind you of this. We’ve known for years that view counts are meaningless, to the point that Facebook wound up getting sued for aggressively inflating view counts in an effort to convince people to make Facebook videos. Others have written thoughtfully about how stupid view counts are. But we still talk about view counts, view counts are still everywhere, so let’s talk once again about view counts.
A “view,” in reality, is not a universal metric. It’s not really anything. It is whatever a platform wants it to be, which usually has no actual correlation to whether someone actually encountered and experienced a piece of content. You can just make the views whatever you want! And if you don’t like the way the numbers look, make views something else!
Let’s just run through a few of these, shall we? The simplest ones to understand are the social platforms: Instagram, TikTok, and (as of last week) YouTube Shorts all count a view the second a video starts playing. This is objectively absurd. Every time you scroll, even if you immediately jump to the next video, the platform logs that you watched the video the same as if you’d seen the whole thing. That’s like saying, if you’re in a Best Buy and you walk past a TV playing Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, you’ve now technically seen Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Congratulations, you’re a pirate.
In a way, though, that ridiculously easy bar to clear is actually a more accurate measure than some others. On Facebook, for instance, a view is defined as “the number of times a reel or video was played, plus the number of times photos or text were on screen.” Since videos autoplay all over the platform, those two metrics are effectively the same thing. The metric is so unhelpful that Facebook actually offers creators two other numbers: three-second video views, also known as “people who pressed play,” and one-minute video views, which is at least slightly closer to “people who actually watched this thing.” Those numbers aren’t public, though, because they’d be much lower.
The view has been the universal Meta metric since last fall, when Facebook combined all its other performance and engagement metrics into just one. For photos, text posts, and Stories, the company wrote in a blog post, “Views are calculated as the number of times they appear on a person’s screen, including repeat views.” That used to be a different metric — your content being presented to someone was known as an “impression,” but they had to interact with it in some way before it became a view. Now it’s just views.
The idea that everything in your feed counts as a view is pernicious, and it’s everywhere
The idea that everything in your feed counts as a view is pernicious, and it’s everywhere. As you scroll on X, every single post on your feed gets a view as it flows up and off your screen. Posts that appear in search results, on someone’s profile page — anything that shows up on the page appears to be considered “viewed.” X’s documentation on post views is sketchy and vague, but its video rules are pretty straightforward: if the video was playing for at least two seconds, and half of the player was in view on your screen, then that counts as a view. All these videos play automatically, so we’re back to the same thing: if it loaded, you viewed it.
The reason so many companies have embraced such stupid metrics is both simple and self-reinforcing. If you’re the platform that counts views in a way that actually reflects reality, your numbers will be lower. Creators might see that, decide your platform doesn’t have the juice, and start posting somewhere they’ll ostensibly get more eyeballs. Advertisers might worry that they’ll be broadcasting to dead air. On the social web, momentum is everything, and sometimes you have to lie about the size of your party to get the first people in the door.
In this way of defining views, the platforms also have all the control. Think about it: you don’t press play to get the video going, and you don’t have to stick around for it to count. Whatever the platform wants to get views, gets views. There is no step two, no intermediary, no actual matching of content and audience. There are just… views.
Even the Hollywood types are being pulled into the vortex of made-up view counts. Netflix once clocked a view only after you’d completed 70 percent of something — which, I should point out, is the closest thing to actually tracking whether you’ve watched something of any metric we’ve discussed so far. Now, it only takes two minutes for Netflix to decide you’ve watched something. Netflix actually picked two minutes because it’s “long enough to indicate the choice was intentional.” First of all, no it’s not. Second, Netflix knows how much you actually watched! It just wants the numbers to be higher — around 35 percent higher than under the previous metric, Netflix admitted.
Ironically, Netflix is one of the few streamers that explains how it calculates views at all; most keep their metrics quiet, so they can say things like “it was a huge hit!” without having to provide any actual information. Even YouTube is cagey about its calculations: it’s generally accepted wisdom that you have to watch 30 seconds of a standard YouTube video for it to count as a view, but if that’s official policy I sure can’t find it anywhere.
It is incredibly obvious, by the way, that all the companies peddling these fake numbers know what they’re doing. If they thought public-facing view counts were legit, they’d offer those same numbers to creators and advertisers. Creators typically get to see non-public data like watch time and actual interactions, but even they are consistently being given less and less to work with. Advertisers, though, have the run of the place: YouTube and other platforms still track impressions separately from views, but only for ads. (YouTube may count every Shorts scroll as a view publicly, but it only pays creators for what it calls “Engaged views.”) Many platforms even tell advertisers how many people watched a quarter, half, three-quarters, or all of a video. The platforms themselves are collecting all this data and more, of course, in an effort to better tune the algorithm. They know the answers! But they’ll never show them to you.
We’ve been doing this whole internet thing for a while now, and it’s pretty clear that just about all the metrics are bad. They’ve turned the internet into a game to be won, a system to be gamed, a race to the biggest numbers even when the numbers don’t mean anything. Maybe we’d all be better off without the numbers, but they’re not going anywhere. So all we can do is remember: “views” are not views. Views are lies.
Honda revealed prototypes of two new hybrid models, an Accord sedan and the Acura RDX SUV, during its annual business briefing this week, built on a platform that it says will begin launching next year. The RDX was announced earlier this year as Honda’s first SUV to feature the next-gen version of its two-motor hybrid system.
In March, Honda announced it would take a writedown of up to 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion) on its EV investments. Now Honda says its EV-related losses will be “resolved” by 2029, and that it will reevaluate its EV plans in 2030.
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Chemotherapy can save lives, but anyone who has watched a loved one go through it knows how hard it can be. The nausea. The exhaustion. The infections. The days when even getting off the couch feels like too much.
That happens because standard chemotherapy travels through the bloodstream. It attacks cancer cells but can also harm healthy cells along the way. For some pancreatic cancer patients, that approach may be changing.
A targeted drug-delivery system from RenovoRx is designed to send chemotherapy directly near the tumor instead of through the entire body. The system, called Trans-Arterial Micro-Perfusion, or TAMP, is being studied in a Phase III clinical trial for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
For 83-year-old Hernando Salcedo, who had been left weak, nauseous and overwhelmed by standard chemotherapy, the trial offered something he desperately needed: a reason to hope. He enrolled at Miami Cancer Institute and soon began to feel the shift in his own body. His appetite started coming back. His energy improved. He felt more like himself. “The difference was tremendous,” Hernando said. “I completed eight sessions, one every 15 days, and I felt dramatically better than I did with the original chemotherapy.”
HIDDEN FACTOR IN CANCER TREATMENT TIMING MAY AFFECT SURVIVAL, RESEARCHERS SAY
Cancer patient Hernando Salcedo attended a family wedding after RenovoRx’s Trans-Arterial Micro-Perfusion system delivered chemotherapy directly near his tumor, helping him feel stronger during treatment. (Hernando Salcedo)
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How the RenovoRx drug-delivery device works
RenovoRx’s platform uses the FDA-cleared RenovoCath device to deliver chemotherapy through a catheter placed in an artery near the tumor. A physician guides the catheter into position using X-ray imaging.
Shaun Bagai, CEO of RenovoRx, said the platform is designed to localize chemotherapy delivery near the tumor instead of relying on the drug to travel through the whole body.
“Once in position, two small balloons on the catheter are inflated, and the system is adjusted to isolate a targeted segment of artery adjacent to a tumor,” Bagai said. “The chemotherapy drug is then infused between the balloons, creating pressure to push the drug across the vessel wall and near the tumor, directly bathing the target tumor.”
That setup allows doctors to focus treatment in a specific area rather than exposing more of the body to chemotherapy. “The procedure itself is minimally invasive and is typically performed in an outpatient setting without the need for patients to be put under general anesthesia,” Bagai said.
For patients already dealing with pain, fatigue and fear, that outpatient approach may feel less overwhelming than a major hospital procedure.
How targeted chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer works
To understand why this approach matters, it helps to start with the problem doctors are trying to solve. Dr. Ripal Gandhi, a vascular interventional radiologist and interventional oncologist at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute and Miami Cancer Institute, explained why standard chemotherapy can be so hard on the body.
“With IV chemotherapy, the drug travels through the bloodstream, affecting both cancerous and healthy cells, which can lead to side effects,” Dr. Gandhi said. TAMP takes a more targeted route. A doctor places a catheter in an artery near the tumor, then delivers chemotherapy into that area instead of relying on the drug to circulate throughout the body.
Dr. Gandhi compared it to “a drip irrigation system for individual plants instead of watering an entire lawn.” For patients, that means doctors are trying to focus more of the treatment near the cancer while reducing how much chemotherapy reaches the rest of the body.
Why pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat
Pancreatic cancer has a reputation for being one of the hardest cancers to fight, partly because the tumor itself can block treatment from working the way doctors want it to.
Dr. Gandhi said that creates a major challenge for standard IV chemotherapy. “Studies have shown that less than 10% of chemotherapy administered intravenously actually reaches tumor cells due to the few blood vessels in the tumor as well as dense fibrous stroma, which serves as a physical barrier in the tumor microenvironment,” Dr. Gandhi said.
That helps explain why targeted delivery could play an important role. TAMP sends the drug closer to the tumor rather than depending on the bloodstream to do all the work.
“This targeted approach via TAMP does not rely on chemotherapy circulating through the body to carry the drug to the tumor via tumor feeder vessels,” Dr. Gandhi said. “Trans-arterial micro-perfusion is a drug-delivery platform that delivers chemotherapy directly near the target tumor where it is needed most.”
NEW CANCER THERAPY HUNTS AND DESTROYS DEADLY TUMORS IN MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH STUDY
Chase McCann, associate director of the cell therapy lab core, demonstrates how cancerous T-cells from a child are used to develop an autoimmune treatment to fight cancer at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 26, 2025. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Patient says targeted chemotherapy gave him hope
Hernando’s cancer journey began after he went to the doctor with a swollen stomach and hip pain. Doctors diagnosed him with locally advanced pancreatic cancer. When he started standard chemotherapy in August 2025, the side effects hit hard. “My body was going through an incredible amount of stress,” Hernando said. “My stomach was inflamed, I had persistent pain in my head, and I had almost no energy.”
He was also receiving chemotherapy and radiation at the same time. “It was a very difficult period, both physically and emotionally,” he said. “I remember feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and unsure of what the future would look like.”
When doctors presented the targeted treatment option, Hernando saw it as more than another medical procedure. “To me, it felt like a new opportunity to live,” he said. “It gave me hope at a time when my family and I really needed it.”
He credits Dr. Gandhi and the team at Miami Cancer Institute with helping him through it all. “From the beginning, he was honest, supportive and clear with my wife, my family and me,” Hernando said. “That meant everything.”
Fewer chemotherapy side effects changed daily life
“Before, I was losing weight, had no appetite and felt drained,” Hernando said. “After switching treatments, things began to change. I stopped losing weight, my appetite came back, my color improved and I had more energy.”
Cancer treatment can sometimes take over everyday life. When side effects ease, patients can get pieces of their normal life back. “After about eight weeks, we could see real progress,” Hernando said. “I was eating more, moving more and feeling excited about life again.”
One moment still stands out. Hernando was able to attend a family wedding and dance the entire night. “That moment meant everything to me,” he said. “After everything I had been through, being able to celebrate with my family in that way felt like a gift.” For Hernando, it was a chance to feel like himself again. “That night at the wedding, I was not thinking only about cancer or treatment,” Hernando said. “I was living.”
Early trial results show survival and quality-of-life signals
The early data from RenovoRx’s Phase III TIGeR-PaC trial suggest the targeted approach may offer both survival and tolerability benefits for some patients.
Dr. Gandhi said completed clinical studies with TAMP in pancreatic cancer showed “a potential for better outcomes and less side effects for patients.”
“In the initial interim analysis of the TIGeR-PaC clinical trial, there was a trend towards improved overall survival by 6 months and improvement in the progression free survival by 8.1 months with 65% fewer adverse events in the TAMP arm of the study,” Dr. Gandhi said.
Who may benefit from targeted chemotherapy delivery?
This approach isn’t for every pancreatic cancer patient. Doctors still need to look at the cancer stage, tumor location, treatment history and whether the cancer has spread.
Dr. Gandhi said Hernando was the kind of patient who could be a strong fit. “He is precisely the type of patient who would benefit best from this approach because he has a tumor which is too far advanced to be treated surgically, but it has not spread to other organs,” Dr. Gandhi said.
He also pointed to clinical trials as an important option for pancreatic cancer patients.”I discussed with him that the recommendation of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network is that the best management for pancreatic cancer patients is participation in a clinical trial whenever possible and he was an ideal candidate,” Dr. Gandhi said.
He went on to say that TAMP may be an option for patients who are not candidates for surgery, patients who have failed chemotherapy or patients who no longer want to continue IV chemotherapy because of side effects.
“TAMP can be used at any point within the treatment landscape, before, during or after other treatment modalities such as IV chemotherapy or radiation,” he said.
PANCREATIC CANCER PATIENT SURVIVAL DOUBLED WITH HIGH DOSE OF COMMON VITAMIN, STUDY FINDS
The RenovoCath device uses a catheter-based system to deliver chemotherapy near the tumor instead of through the whole body. (RenovoRx)
What comes next for RenovoRx’s cancer treatment platform
RenovoRx says the RenovoCath catheter is already FDA-cleared for general therapy and chemotherapy delivery. The company is also nearing the end of enrollment in its Phase III TIGeR-PaC trial.
That trial is evaluating intra-arterial gemcitabine (IAG) delivered through RenovoCath for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Bagai said enrollment is expected to be completed in mid-2026, with final results expected in 2027.
“If positive, data generated from this trial could potentially support a new drug application for this combination product to the FDA for IAG,” Bagai said. RenovoRx also sees potential beyond pancreatic cancer. “The challenge we are addressing is not unique to pancreatic cancer,” Bagai said.
He said the platform could apply to other solid tumors with limited blood supply, including bile duct cancer, certain lung cancers and sarcomas. “The platform is designed to work with different types of therapies, not just one drug,” Bagai said. “That opens the door to future combinations and potential partnerships, with the goal of expanding options for patients who have limited treatment choices.”
What this means to you
If you or someone you love has pancreatic cancer, this story is worth paying attention to. Clinical trials can open up options when standard treatment feels too hard to tolerate or stops working.
Drug delivery matters, too. The medicine itself is only part of the story. Where it goes inside the body can affect side effects, energy levels and quality of life. Targeted chemotherapy delivery remains a specialized treatment approach. Some cancer centers may not offer it, and every diagnosis will not be a fit. Your care team can review imaging, staging, prior treatments and overall health to see whether it makes sense.
Start with direct questions. Ask whether a clinical trial makes sense. You can also ask about targeted delivery options or a second opinion from a pancreatic cancer specialist. Hernando’s advice to other patients is simple. “I would tell them not to lose hope and not to wait to ask questions,” he said.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
Pancreatic cancer has a way of turning normal life upside down fast. One day, a family is making plans. The next, they are trying to understand scans, treatment choices and side effects that no one feels ready for. That is what makes Hernando’s story so powerful. The part that stays with you isn’t only the technology. It is the fact that he started eating again. He had more energy. He felt more like himself. And he got to dance at a wedding after wondering what the future would look like. The final Phase III trial results will be important. Doctors still need to see how widely this approach could help patients. But the promise is easy to understand. If chemotherapy can get closer to the tumor while taking less of a toll on the rest of the body, patients may get something that matters just as much as treatment itself: more good days.
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When Oregon resident Isabelle Reksopuro heard Google was gobbling up public land to fuel its data centers in her home state, she didn’t initially know what to believe. “There’s a lot of misinformation about data centers,” she said. “Google has denied taking that land.”
Technically, she explains, The Dalles, a city near the Washington state border, sought to reclaim that land, “and Google is just a big, unnamed power user.” The city had in fact asked for ownership of a 150-acre portion of Mount Hood National Forest, claiming it needs access to Mount Hood’s watershed to meet municipal needs as its population — 16,010 as of the 2020 census — grows. But critics, including environmentalists, say the city is trying to secure more water for Google, which has a sprawling data center campus in The Dalles that already consumes about one-third of the city’s water supply.
This controversy made Reksopuro curious about the backlash to data centers being built in other communities. So Reksopuro, a student at the University of Washington who studies the connections between tech and public policy, decided to map it out. Using information collected by Epoch AI and data scraped from legislation on data centers, she built an interactive map tracking AI policy around the world. She designed it to be simple enough for anyone to use. “I wanted it to be something that my younger sisters could play through and explore to understand what are the data centers in the area and what’s actually being done about it,” Reksopuro said. She hoped to shift their opinions that way, “instead of like, through TikTok.”
Four times a day, the map searches for new sources and checks them against the existing database Reksopuro built out. “Once it does that, it will write a new summary, add it to the news feed, and populate it on the sidebar,” she said. “I wanted it to be self-updating, since I’m also a student.”
Reksopuro isn’t against data centers, but she thinks tech giants benefit from a lack of transparency around data center policies. “Right now, it’s this really opaque thing — and all of a sudden, there’s a facility,” she said. “I think that if people knew about data centers beforehand, it would give them leverage. They would be able to negotiate: ask for job training programs, tax revenue, environmental monitoring, things to improve their community.”
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