The in-game social media system, Chirper, is likely a reference to Twitter. They both use a blue bird motif, short sentences and hashtags.

The in-game social media, Chirper, has a chance of making a Blade Runner reference by saying
"Human #replicants excellent for physical labor. Tyrell Corporation to ship them to the Moon.
#Voight-Kampff"

During development, a bug was discovered where the citizens of a city would turn into "Lovecraftian-esc monsters" after developing elongated arms and gathering in groups. This scared the developers.