Internet or Real Life?

THE INTERNET AND YOU

How do we reconsider our dependence on technology in an increasingly techno-pessimistic world? This month, I joined a weekly series titled Internet Real Life, which attemped to answer this loaded question.

This meta conversation, held on Zoom with internet strangers, unveiled a slew of perspectives that simultaneously shattered and reaffirmed my beliefs about technological design.

Today, you’ll find some hot takes and deep dives from what I’ve gathered through these thoughtful conversations.

LONELINESS EPIDEMIC

Social Media + Us

In the United States, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 unleashed a “digital free-for-all” that changed the landscape of media forever by spurring competition between companies, bringing schools online, and shielding ISPs (Internet Service Providers) from liability for user-generated content, which later laid the groundwork for social media networks.

Since then, the Internet has become synonymous with “shocking” thanks to all the rabbit holes and amplification of divisive voices it contains. While your social network may be a valuable source of connection and information, it is subject to the same forces at work that create conspiracy theories and hive minds.

Some of these interactions and relationships could be considered parasocial - one-sided emotional bonds formed with media figures. The pandemic exacerbated this phenomenon, especially amongst adolescents. While its effects on mental health, self-esteem, and relationships are still being studied, social media use pre- + post-pandemic may indicate a rise in loneliness and other developmental factors.

The path toward moderation of social media use becomes difficult when the basis of someone’s social circle relies on it. And can we believe everything we see being portrayed on the Internet? Molly Soda, one of the Internet Real Life guest speakers, argues that what we upload doesn’t necessarily lie, but rather curate our lives in new ways.

However, there is a lot that happens once we hit the post button that is out of any one individual’s control.

CASE STUDY

Living without a Smartphone

As someone who got their first smartphone as a teen, I find it hard to imagine going through life without one. However, August Lamm has done just that and more by writing a pamphlet explaining exactly how and why it works.

August recently sold her laptop, too, which she explained in our final gathering. While she is still “online” (checking emails in libraries, using Zoom, writing on Substack), her life is designed much differently with the lack of a computer in her pocket.

ART + MEDIA

The Internet as Folklore

Generative AI has put a wedge into what a typical artist can achieve online. While there are ample ways for artificial intelligence to supercharge a creative’s folklore (topic for a future newsletter?), the line between content and slop becomes ever thinner.

One way to predict the future is to look at the past, particularly the folk art of the Industrial Revolution. This era led to a shift from handmade, artisan goods towards mass-produced products, allowing a modernization of many artistic practices. What is happening with content creation, the influence of algorithms, and the democratization of creative software is not dissimilar.

The attention economy, or the incentives to grab your attention toward one online creation over another, nowadays tends to sway toward content optimized for the first 3 seconds of a video (the attention-grabber) rather than sincerity.

Another perspective from Günseli Yalcinkaya points to the 1960s-70s as another parallel for today’s generative AI art. In that era fueled by political unrest, tech acceleration, and experimentation, the role of art and technology was a basis for “mind expansion and progressive values.”

However, the speed at which we are accelerating is faster than ever, leaving us unable to grasp the extent of its implications. Due to this whiplash, we may turn back to allegories and the mystical origins of the Internet, back to traditional folklore art, or perhaps an entirely new medium, to express our humanity in an age dominated by machines.

OUTLOOK

A Vibe Shift

“The Coolhunt” coined by Malcolm Gladwell in 1997 asked the question: who decides what is cool or not? Ethnographers would argue that you should deploy diffusion research techniques that involve talking to people, understanding media consumption, and their daily lives to understand how ideas are spreading. However, this type of on-the-ground research is not scalable, and so we often turn to metrics gathered by cookies and determined by watch time online.

There is no shame in not keeping up with what is cool or not, argues Sean Monahan, who emphasizes that we all experienced a cognitive dissonance upon ‘waking up’ from the pandemic. However, because many trends, fashion, language, or otherwise, are arising from the Internet, it may become increasingly obvious who is online and who isn’t.

One fascinating effect of the Internet’s speed of disseminating information is its neologism, a linguistic term describing the creation of widely accepted new words. “AI slop” is one example, “vibe coding” is also one that is starting to become popular. Memes tend to be the driving force behind the proliferation of these words.

The fear of everything becoming “mid” or “tasteless” due to things being packaged for mass appeal is one that we are seeing play out in real time. The flattening and gamification of content make it difficult for users to experience different sides of the Internet if they are not intentional about their use.

The fascination with “cool” is not something brought upon by the Internet, but it does become a question of what will define culture and expression in the hyperconnected generation.

FOR YOUR OFFICE

Human-Friendly Computers

Human-centric product design is alive and well in these cool gadgets

☼ For the iPad lovers: Daylight

☼ Downgrade your smartphone: The Light Phone

☼ Dashboard for all: TRMNL

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