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Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Tweet may have been deleted

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Tweet may have been deleted

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for January 22 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: College classes

• Green: Dig this

• Blue: Jobs that require loose, flowy garments

• Purple: Things that involve the word "up"

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Types of Academic Courses

• Green: Results of Some Digging

• Blue: Ones Wearing Robes

• Purple: ___Up

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #591 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Types of Academic Courses: DISCUSSION, LAB, LECTURE, SEMINAR

• Results of Some Digging: DITCH, HOLE, PIT, TRENCH

• Ones Wearing Robes: BOXER, JUDGE, MONK, WIZARD

• ___Up: BATTER, BOTTOMS, CHIN, LAWYER

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 22

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for January 22 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for January 22, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Extend or attain.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter R.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

REACH.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 22

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Wordle.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

Tweet may have been deleted

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

Tweet may have been deleted

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Baseball stat for pitchers

• Green: Ways you might try to score in basketball

• Blue: Sites for winter medaling

• Purple: Teams that share a mascot

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: "WHIP" in baseball

• Green: Basketball offenses

• Blue: North American Winter Olympic hosts

• Purple: Tigers

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #121 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• "WHIP" in baseball - HITS, INNINGS, PITCHED, WALKS

• Basketball offenses - MOTION, PICK AND ROLL, PRINCETON, TRIANGLE

• North American Winter Olympic hosts - LAKE PLACID, SALT LAKE CITY, SQUAW VALLEY, VANCOUVER

• Tigers - AUBURN, DETROIT, MEMPHIS, MISSOURI

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections.

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for January 22 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for January 22 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Pixar this

These words are cartoon films.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

Words are all made by the production company Pixar.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Animation.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for January 22

• Brave

• Ratatouille

• Elemental

• Cars

• Onward

• Soul

• Animation

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Strands.

Ross Ulbricht was serving a life sentence for creating a site in a shady corner of the internet to sell heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances.

At Donald Trump's post-inauguration rally on Monday, presidential adviser, DOGE head and world’s richest human Elon Musk twice made a gesture that many identify with a "seig heil," the infamous Nazi salute.

The X, Tesla and SpaceX CEO thanked the assembled crowd saying, “I just want to say thank you for making it happen,” before biting his lip, dramatically slapping his chest with his right hand and sending his right arm skyward, palm out. Musk turned around and made the gesture again, adding, “My heart goes out to you. It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured.”

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As Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) laid out during Tuesday's confirmation hearings for Trump’s future UN ambassador, it wasn’t just left-wing activists and anti-Musk figures who considered the gesture an ode to the genocidal German leader: “Evan Kilgore, a right-wing political commentator, wrote on X, Holy crap, did Elon Musk just heil Hitler at the Trump inauguration rally? This is incredible. We are so back'…the Proud Boys chapter in Ohio posted the clip on a Telegram channel with the text, ‘Heil Trump.’ A chapter of the white nationalist group White Lives Matter posted it on Telegram, ‘Thanks for hearing us, Elon. The white flame will rise again.”

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's weirdest weekend, explained

For his part, Musk — who recently voiced support for far-right political parties in both the U.K. and Germany — wrote on X that "The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired." He followed that up by reposting right-wing images of Democrats like Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Hillary Clinton making out-of-context motions with their hands that could scarcely be described as similar to his.

Tweet may have been deleted

Andrea Stroppa, a right-wing Italian friend and supporter of Musk, took the discussion in a whole different direction on Monday when she posted on X that Musk’s salute had Italian origins: "Roman Empire is back starting from Roman salute.”

Tweet may have been deleted

Some of Musk’s fans and followers on X hopped on the Roman bandwagon, claiming it absolved the titan of hate-mongering since it was less Hitler and more Nero.

The Roman salute's origins

The problem with claiming Musk was simply showing an appreciation for chariots and gladiators is there is no proof of the gesture being used in ancient Rome, according to historian Martin M. Winkler, who wrote a book about the salute. There is no Roman art, writing, or coins that display the gesture, according to Winkler. "The gesture of the raised right arm or hand in Roman and other ancient cultures that is attested in surviving art and literature had a significantly different function and is never identical with the modern straight-arm salute," Winkler wrote in his book, The Roman Salute.

Instead, the hand motion like that used by Musk was popularized in 19th-century books, toga plays and, later, early 20th-century films as a fictional fixture of ancient Rome, the Guardian reports. Through those media depictions, the so-called Roman salute then became a favorite of 20th-century Hitler ally/Italian fascist Benito Mussolini and his political party. "...the salute as a unifier — and as a path to punish those who don't conform by immediately raising their arms — was present before Hitler came to power," according to Forward.

Upon gaining power in the late 1920s, Hitler and his cronies adopted the Italian gesture for themselves, according to to the BBC, and it symbolized fealty to the leader and his racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic principles. Once World War II began in 1939 following Germany's invasion of Poland, pro-Hitler gestures and pronouncements had penetrated daily life. "In public, ordinary Germans were expected to praise Hitler and give the so-called German greeting ("Heil Hitler!")," according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, which is hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

The Roman salute is conditionally allowed in Italy and outright banned in Germany. German chancellor Olaf Scholz responded to Musk's gesture by saying, "We have the freedom of speech in Europe and in Germany," he said, "what we do not accept is if this is supporting extreme right positions."

The president’s Inaugural Address linked landing on the Red Planet with Manifest Destiny, but left many of the specifics unclear.

I come to you bearing bad news: Instagram is showing your friends which Reels you've liked.

It might encourage more engagement on Instagram Reels, but at what personal cost to us all?

At the top right of the Reels, you might see some of your friends' profile photos with little hearts in the corner of their images. Click that, and you'll be taken to the "With friends" tab. Each video will show you which of your friends liked the video, with your friend's image and a heart overlaid on the image in the bottom right.

SEE ALSO: Instagram unveils Edits, a video editing app to rival CapCut

This new feature is intended to get you to stay on the app longer and encourage you to comment, like, and share Reels with your friends like you might with TikTok. And it's not the only effort Instagram is making to keep TikTok users on the app while TikTok is off the app stores (but still working on desktop and your phone if you have it downloaded already). The platform is reportedly paying influencers thousands of dollars to post on Reels before posting on TikTok. It replaced its classic square grids with rectangles to prioritize Reels; released a new video editing tool called Edits, much like TikTok's CapCup; and extended the maximum length of Reels to three minutes.

You can find out which Reels you've been inadvertently sharing with your friends by following a few steps.

Navigate to your profile and click the menu icon in the top right. Select "Your Activity," then select "Likes." This will show all of the posts and Reels you've liked. To only see the Reels you've liked, click the "All content types" dropdown and filter by Reels,

Wanna say something absurd on Facebook without anyone to tell your audience it's wrong? Make it a paid ad, I guess.

In early January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his platform would be getting rid of its fact-checkers in favor of Community Notes. It turns out, those Community Notes meant to keep posts factual and accurate won't apply to paid ads, Reuters reports, citing an anonymous source. The only content that community notes will apply to is "organic content," and fact-checking will still not apply to any content at all. As The Wall Street Journal first reported, aspects of the program might still change.

Meta's decision to move towards Community Notes, a decision that copies Elon Musk's move at X, was met with its fair share of criticism. Free Press Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice and Civil Rights Nora Benavidez said in a press release posted after Zuckerberg's announcement that content moderation isn't a "tool to repress free speech," but is, rather, "a principle that the platforms themselves developed to promote dialogue and protect truth for users."

"While Zuckerberg characterized the platform giant’s new approach as a defence of free speech, its real intentions are twofold: Ditch the technology company’s responsibility to protect its many users and align the company more closely with an incoming president who’s a known enemy of accountability," Benavidez said in the press release.

SEE ALSO: Mark Zuckerberg wants more 'masculine energy' in corporate America

Making paid ads exempt from the scrutiny of Community Notes nods towards something Zuckerberg has been pretty clear about since the beginning of Facebook: profit over people, every time.

When X decided to move towards community notes, it lost a significant amount of money in ad revenue, because community members could leave notes on paid ads that pointed issues such as dropshipping, mobile game ads that don't match the game play, and AI-related copyright issues. Meta, it seems, is working to avoid that type of ad loss by not allowing Community Notes on paid ads at all. It's not yet known if they'll be allowed on paid endorsements from celebrities and influencers.

It seems these decisions — removing fact-checkers in favor of Community Notes, lifting prohibitions on certain forms of hate speech, scrapping DEI initiatives, removing trans-inclusive features, and more — were made in haste to appease President Trump's administration. So it might take time to see how each of the changes roll out onto each platform.

Other apps from the company behind TikTok, including CapCut and Lemon8, went dark this weekend before flickering back. The federal law banning TikTok also applies to them.

OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank are planning to form a new joint venture called Stargate to invest in data centers, building on major U.S. investments in the technology.

After a quarter of a century in wrestling, John Cena is retiring from in-ring action later this year. However, the longtime WWE superstar (and recent Hollywood mainstay) has no dearth of projects to keep him busy. He's been a part of Vin Diesel's Fast & Furious family for two (going on three) entries. He's hosted several game shows, including Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, Wipeout, and American Grit. He even has a leading role in the superhero series Peacemaker, which returns to Max in August. However, his latest series — Roku reality show What Drives You, which he also executive produced — stands apart.

The show, a combination of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and MTV Cribs, isn't exactly original in format, but with Cena at the helm, it's surprisingly fun. With the snappy editing and thumping soundtrack of mid-2000s VH1, Cena briskly introduces the concept at the start of each 20-minute episode, then picks up his celebrity guest at their home and has them drive him to a place they like to visit. That's it. But the simplicity results in surprising intimacy, much of which is owed to Cena's self-deprecating charm.

As it happens, the first four guests on the show are much like Cena himself: people whose careers have hopped the line between wrestling and other Hollywood ventures. There's YouTube star Logan Paul, who found recent in-ring success as WWE's United States Champion. There's Mike "The Miz" Mizanin, who started out on MTV's The Real World, broke into wrestling through WWE's reality show Tough Enough, and eventually competed in the main event of WrestleMania (against Cena, no less). There are also musical artists like country rapper Jelly Roll and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who have performed on some of WWE's biggest stages.

But does that make What Drives You a wrestling show, or even a wrestling-adjacent one? Not quite. Cena had some interesting opinions on the subject during our chat, many of which he expressed in distinctly automotive metaphors; for instance, wrestling occupying a “parking spot” in people’s brains. (Whether it’s media training or simply Freudian, it’s a delightful quirk.) He also had illuminating thoughts on how the series' camera setup bolsters its authenticity — and what that word even means in the age of reality TV and, as WWE is often called, "sports entertainment." 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Mashable: Wrestling is everywhere, especially with the recent expansion of WWE to Netflix, but it's been everywhere for a while. Your four initial guests on What Drives You all have something or the other to do with wrestling. Was that your intent going in as an executive producer, or is that just how it worked out?

John Cena: It's more the second, I think. WWE, and sports entertainment in general, casts a very wide net and affects a lot of people. Man, I have never met anyone who hasn't had some sort of wrestling story, or sports entertainment story. They might talk about a certain era, like “I remember Hacksaw Jim Duggan, or Hulk Hogan, or the Undertaker.” But it seems like everyone has a parking spot in their brain for sports entertainment. It just reaches a lot of folks, and it's also an environment where we welcome any and all guests to come in and be part of the energy and enthusiasm.

The show uses automobiles as an inroad to people's lives. Do you see cars as an expression of people's personalities, almost in the way that a costume or a theme music might be in wrestling?

You're close to the mark with me. I think we're all human, and in this human part of our brain system lives snap judgment. So you see a car, see someone driving it, and make assumptions about them. And I really like being able to subdue your snap judgment, especially if it's in a case that's nonthreatening to your existence, because you'll end up learning something. You learn if you are absolutely right, or if you were misguided a little, or you didn't get the whole picture. 

I believe a car is like a fashion choice, and it does say something about us. It doesn't mean you have to drive a Hypercar or a pickup truck or, heck, even own a car. You can take a rideshare and you can have people make assumptions. But as long as you don't speak in absolutes, and ask questions, you give your guests a chance to respond. And in that back and forth is where you get to know people, and that's what the show's all about.

Past that snap judgment, the exterior of the car, you have the interior where these intimate conversations take place. What's it like for you to have to create that sense of intimacy? You've hosted shows before, but this is one where you're ceding space for other people's stories. How do you make people feel comfortable enough to open up to you?

The environment does a lot of the work. If we do an in-person press interview for, let's say, a movie junket, there's a camera pointed at me, a camera pointed at you. There's a person behind my camera, there's a person behind your camera. They have us both lit quite brightly. The seat might be comfortable, it might not be comfortable. There's a boom mic hanging over each of us. People don't understand, because they just see the nice shot. But because we filmed this all in a car, the cameras were super small. They're mounted in a place that can't block the driver's vision. The car's mic is deep in the console. We can get sound, but it's not obstructive. And it's an environment that our guests are familiar with.

You just lose yourself in the drive. Honestly, it’s one of the easiest environments, because you forget you're even being filmed. I think that's what led to some great conversation. You don't feel the bright lights because it's not that type of show. I'm not trying to put pressure on [the guests] to do a bit, or entertain the audience. Once you shut the doors of the car, man, it was just us.

It was striking how personal and authentic a lot of it gets. Between your appearances in films, in wrestling, and also what we're doing now, the media sit-downs, there's a need to be authentic. But at the same time, do you ever find there being pressure to put forth a manufactured authenticity? You've come up in wrestling, where there's a very weird blurred line between reality and fiction.

I've been fortunate enough where entertainment has been really good to me. I'm finally retiring from the WWE after almost 25 years. And after that amount of time, if you're putting on a veneer, people eventually see through it. I don't think there is such a thing as manufactured authenticity. I think those things are so juxtaposed that it would either be manufactured or authentic. 

We have a saying in WWE: The people who connect with the audience the most are people whose personalities you get, just kind of turned up to 11. I really think that rings true. I think the people that connect with the audience the most are their most authentic selves. 

Because if you are a success in the WWE, you spend a lot of time with the audience, and our audience is really smart, and they'll be able to see through it. 

I've been lucky enough to be on a long drive, and over that course of time, maybe I've tried out certain facets of a personality, or made some mistakes when I've made choices that weren't exactly authentic. But over the long haul, because it's been such a journey, you kind of get me for who I am.

What Drives You premieres Jan. 21 on the Roku Channel.

Whether you just started dating or you’re practically engaged, shopping for the perfect Valentine's Day gift for your boyfriend can be a surprisingly tricky task. How much should you spend? Are you going for a big romantic gesture or keeping it simple? And what about the classic "we’re not doing gifts this year," but you still "surprise" each other with gifts anyway thing? Seriously, though — what *is* that? If you're stuck in a gift-giving rut, our best advice is to zero in on the items he uses daily and the topics he brings up whenever you hang out — these are easy jumping-off points for Valentine's Day gift ideas that'll make him feel seen. Below, we've rounded up a list of Valentine's Day gift ideas for boyfriends that say "I love you and I get you" without being totally cliché. Spoiler alert: There will be no mention of whiskey stones or beard oil. Need even more ideas? Peep our list of unique gifts for men and check out the best Valentine's Day gifts for dudes.

In the fallout of Elon Musk’s baffling appearance during President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a curious new front in the ongoing online culture war has emerged: a push by Reddit sports mods and users to ban links to X (formerly known as Twitter).

On Tuesday, users in various Reddit sports communities — starting with r/hockey, which has 2.7M members, and spreading to individual Canadian hockey subreddits and then Premier League and NFL forums — began talking about whether it’s time to officially cut X out of their lives, with massive amounts of approval for the action from its users.

The discussions center on a mounting frustration with Musk’s leadership, including the platform’s apparent embrace of hate speech and far-right agitators, its increasingly user-hostile interface changes (such as forcing non-logged-in users to create accounts to view posts), and, of course, Musk himself.

Reddit Reddit Reddit Reddit

If it seems surprising that sports subreddits are leading this charge, it shouldn’t be. These communities thrive on user-posted game highlights, many of which are linked to X posts that a significant number of users can’t access. Sports news also tends to break on X, but with the rise of alternatives like Threads and Bluesky, more Reddit users are voicing their desire to move away from X entirely.

There have already been multiple pushes for X users to migrate to alternative platforms. After the election, thousands of accounts tied to journalism and politics made the jump to Bluesky. However, sports have remained a major anchor keeping many regular users on X. That said, a shift may be underway — many professional teams and beat writers, both at the national and local levels, have started posting on Bluesky, signaling a potential change in the platform’s utility for sports fans.

Not all communities are on board with the push to ban X links, and some are facing backlash for it. A moderator in the r/Chelsea forum has drawn criticism from users for quickly shutting down any posts advocating for an X ban, sparking frustration among the subreddit’s members. Similarly, subreddits for the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings have been swift to remove posts on the topic, prompting further debate and discontent among their users.

This discourse is still in its early stages, and it remains uncertain how many subreddits will ultimately update their community rules. In nearly every subreddit with posts on the topic, the top pinned comment from moderators mentions "internal discussions" about the future of X links.

However, there has been some movement: A few subreddits, such as the one for Nottingham Forest, have already implemented bans on X links. While this shows progress, the overall momentum remains relatively slow and scattered.

Various pages about LGBTQ rights and lives in the U.S. have been wiped from the official White House site, LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD has reported.

Whitehouse.gov received a makeover on Inauguration Day, and not only in looks. Information shared by the Biden administration has been deleted and replaced with profiles on Trump administration officials and his day one actions. The deleted information includes pages about the LGBTQ community. Various search terms, like "lesbian," "gay," and "bisexual," only contain a single result: a rollback of Biden-era executive orders, including "Advancing Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Individuals" from 2022.

SEE ALSO: Is Instagram blocking the #Democrat hashtag?

"Transgender" turns up two results, the aforementioned and Trump's new executive order stating, among other things, that there are only two genders.

"LGBTQ" turns up no results. Some pages removed, according to GLAAD and confirmed by Mashable, include:

• the White House's equity report (current 404 page)

• fact sheet on expanding HIV medication access (current 404 page)

• the Department of State's LGBTQ Rights page (current 404 page)

• the Department of Labor's page on LGBTQ policy (current 404 page)

Other removed pages Mashable found include a fact sheet on the accomplishments of LGBTQ Americans (current 404 page) and a proclamation on Pride Month 2024 (current 404 page).

This move aligns with actions Trump promised to do during his inaugural speech, including removing diversity programs and creating an official policy that there are only two genders.

"President Trump claims to be a strong proponent of freedom of speech, yet he is clearly committed to censorship of any information containing or related to LGBTQ Americans and issues that we face," GLAAD's president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. Ellis refers to Trump stating yesterday that he will "bring back" free speech.

"This action proves the Trump administration's goal of making it as difficult as possible for LGBTQ Americans to find federal resources or otherwise see ourselves reflected under his presidency," she continued. "Sadly for him, our community is more visible than ever; and this pathetic attempt to diminish and remove us will again prove unsuccessful."

Meta is reportedly on its hands and knees, begging influencers to use Instagram instead of TikTok.

According to a new report from The Information, Instagram is offering creators monthly bonuses ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 for posting their videos on Instagram Reels before posting them on other platforms, including TikTok. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Mashable.

It's unclear what kind of a lasting impact this will have on creators. Meta has attempted to draw creators onto its platform with promises of financial gains before, but those incentives were always temporary. For instance, the platform got rid of its Reels Play bonus program, a similar program to TikTok's Creator Fund, that left creators looking for new ways to find the additional $500-$1,000 they had counted on each month. This newly reported bribe or, whoops, sorry, "incentive" doesn't seem to promise longevity, either.

SEE ALSO: As TikTok faces a ban, creators brace for an uncertain future

It's not the only step Instagram has taken over the past few days to attract users away from TikTok. Square grids have been replaced with rectangles to prioritize short-form videos like Reels in a highly polarizing move that most creators don't like. Instagram also released a new video editing app called Edits, which was seemingly unveiled specifically to rival TikTok's CapCut. The app extended the maximum length of Reels to three minutes.

This comes after Meta gave its all to ensure that TikTok gets banned in the U.S. But, unfortunately for Meta, the payoff of its hard work and lobbying was short-lived. After less than a full day of being offline over the weekend, TikTok returned — for now. It's still absent from U.S. app stores, but if you didn't delete the app from your phone, you can still access new videos, and all users can find what they're looking for on the desktop version of TikTok.

Meanwhile, many creators are uninterested in pivoting their attention to Meta-owned platforms after CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a new decision to bend at the knee of President Donald Trump's administration. The company has eliminated fact-checkers in favor of Community Notes, lifted prohibitions on certain forms of hate speech, scrapped DEI initiatives, removed trans-inclusive features on its apps, and reinstated political content recommendations.

SAVE $430: As of Jan. 21, get the HP Victus gaming laptop for just $449.99, down from its normal price of $879.99. That's a 52% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Best Buy HP Victus Gaming Laptop (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 512GB SSD) $449.99 at Best Buy
$879.99 Save $430.00 Get Deal

There are a ton of great games out right now, and even more to come now that it's officially 2025. If you're glued to your desktop right now for gaming sessions, you might want to consider getting a gaming laptop to help make things decidedly more mobile. Right now, you can snag a great price on one at Best Buy.

As of Jan. 21, get the HP Victus gaming laptop at Best Buy for just $449.99, down from its usual price of $879.99. That's $430 off and a 52% discount.

SEE ALSO: Razer’s Basilisk V3 X gaming mouse is $20 off — and it’s worth every click

This laptop is an excellent option for gaming on the go. It boasts a 15.6-inch full HD display, an Intel Core i5 processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB of memory, and 512GB SSD to store all your games and documents. It has a lengthy battery life and fast charging that can get you from 0% to 50% in just 30 minutes. Plus, it comes with an extremely thin bezel for the display, if that's something you're into.

This particular laptop also comes with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass for PC for free, so you can try out a ton of free games without having to spend a dime. That'll come in handy when you're trying to figure out what to play.

Whether you're looking for an entry-level machine or you just want something new to tote around so you can get your game on, this is an awesome deal. It's on for a limited time, so make sure you grab yours soon.

SAVE $900: As of Jan. 21, the 65-inch Samsung S85D OLED 4K TV from 2024 is on sale for $999.99 — its first time below $1,000 after a more than 50% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung 65-inch S85D OLED 4K TV $999.99 at Samsung
$2,099.99 Save $1,100.00 Get Deal

Samsung is once again proving the theory that Black Friday might not always be the best time to buy some flagship TVs on sale. Often, it's actually a few months later — right after CES.

Usually, we see the previous year's TVs match their Black Friday prices right after a brand announces the latest version of a certain model at CES, like we did in early January with The Frame. But the post-CES deal we found today is the rarity that beats Black Friday pricing: The 65-inch Samsung S85D OLED 4K TV has dropped below $1,000 for the first time ever according to Amazon price tracker Camelcamelcamel, shaving more than 50% off of its original price of $2,099.99. (Amazon's price of $997.99 on the same TV technically beats Samsung's by $2, but note that that one is from a third party seller.)

Samsung hasn't given much detail on its 2025 OLEDs past a name for the fanciest one (S95F), so clowning Black Friday prices like this is kind of a bold move. We'll take it, though.

SEE ALSO: Top 3 best robot vacuums from CES 2025, from coolest to most practical

Even as the entry level model from the 2024 OLED line, Samsung's S85D doesn't skimp on too many specs. It upscales with the same zippy NQ4 AI Gen 2 processor as the more premium 2024 OLEDs, and still has Object Tracking sound as well as Dolby Atmos. It doesn't officially have Samsung's glare-free technology, but it's still said to rock at handling glare in bright rooms. (Its pricier sibling, the 2024 S95D, was Samsung's first glare-free OLED.)

Adding to its watchability in the daytime is better-than-usual SDR brightness (compared to other budget OLEDs) — and for nighttime, its black levels and vast contrast ratio are chef's kiss for watching movies or gaming in a dark room. Other features to note include a 120Hz refresh rate (compared to 144Hz on more expensive models), Pantone-validated color, and quick phone-to-TV casting.

OpenAI could release its agentic AI tool that could, in theory, autonomously do tasks for you by taking control of your device.

Reports have suggested the tool is getting close to being released. Techcrunch wrote, for instance, that the tool dubbed Operator looks to be "nearing release," citing, in part, Tibor Blaho, a software engineer who often leaks or uncovers AI news. Blaho wrote on X that he noticed "ChatGPT macOS desktop app has hidden options to define shortcuts for the desktop launcher to 'Toggle Operator' and 'Force Quit Operator.'"

Tweet may have been deleted

The Information has reported that OpenAI targeted January as a release date for Operator. It would reportedly first release a research preview and developer tool. The exact release date remains unknown. 

The idea behind the tool is that it can act autonomously to make your life easier — in other words, it could take over your computer and do tasks on your behalf. That means it could things like book flights or write code. Of course, it could also make mistakes on your behalf, which is a bit worrying.

Still, for better or worse, it may be here soon.

SAVE UP TO 89%: This week, shop the best deals on Kindle books. Save up to 89% on bestsellers including Beartown by Fredrik Backman, or Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, both of which are down to $1.99.

Best Kindle book deals Best fiction deal 'Beartown' by Fredrik Backman $1.99 at Amazon (Save $15.01) Get Deal Best non-fiction deal 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer $1.99 at Amazon (Save $16.01) Get Deal Best fantasy deal 'Six of Crows' by Leigh Bardugo $2.99 at Amazon (Save $9) Get Deal Best romance deal 'Getaway Girl' by Tessa Bailey $1.99 at Amazon (Save $11) Get Deal

In the thick of winter, the farthest we're looking to travel is from the bed to the couch. With the frigid temperatures outside, we're focusing on indoor-only activities, whether that be bingeing all the best TV shows or catching up on the awards season movies that just hit streaming.

However, if one of your 2025 resolutions is to keep your screen time down, then it's time to curl up with a good book. If you're racing through your stack of TBR books and looking for your next read, do it on a budget. For Kindle users, there are deals to be had on ebooks to stock your library.

Shop all the best ebook deals for as low as $1.99.

Best fiction book deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon 'Beartown' by Fredrik Backman $1.99 at Amazon
$17.00 Save $15.01 Get Deal Why we like it

In Fredrik Backman's Beartown, a shock is sent through the small town and all who inhabit it. The heart of the town lies in the ice rink, where the junior ice hockey team is preparing for the semi-final game. But when a violent act is committed, the whole town finds itself in turmoil, dealing with accusations that test friendships and loyalties.

Right now, you can find this compelling drama for just $1.99 in the Kindle shop. That's down $15.01 from its print price for 88% savings.

More fiction deals

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan — $1.99 $18 ($16.01)

• The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware —$2.99 $18.99 (save $16)

• Getaway Girl by Tessa Bailey — $1.99 $12.99 (save $11)

• The Lord of the Rings (Illustrated) by J.R.R. Tolkien — $1.99 $35 (save $33.01)

• The Memory of Babel by Christelle Dabos — $1.99 $11.99 (save $10)

• The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell — $2.99 $17.99 (save $15)

• One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle — $2.99 $17 (save $14.01)

• The Patron Saint Of Liars by Ann Patchett — $1.99 $19 (save $17.01)

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)

• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang — $1.99 $18 (save $16.01)

• We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry — $1.99 $18 (save $16.01)

• Can't and Won't: Stories by Lydia Davis — $2.99 $17.99 (save $15)

Best non-fiction book deal Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer $1.99 at Amazon
$18.00 Save $16.01 Get Deal Why we like it

The prolific writer Jon Krakauer is best known for is harrowing account of his climb on Mount Everest that resulted in five lives loss and many more altered. Into Thin Air explores Krakauer's deadly climb as he hopes to make sense of the tragedy and his role in it.

Right now, you can find Krakauer's memoir for just $1.99 at Amazon, saving you $16.01 for 89% off.

More non-fiction deals

• The Answer Is... by Alex Trebek — $2.99 $17.99 (save $15)

• Being Henry: The Fonz...and Beyond by Henry Winkler — $2.99 $11.99 (save $9)

• Better by Atul Gawande — $2.99 $18.99 (save $16)

• Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays) by Rebecca Solnit — $2.99 $17.99 (save $15)

• Making It So by Patrick Stewart — $1.99 $16.99 (save $15)

• Quietly Hostile: Essays by Samantha Irby — $2.99 $17 (save $14.01)