mid culture
Despite all the crises we face – the cost of living, climate change, AI – any of which should surely be enough material to inspire real and meaningful art, the overwhelm of information paired with exhausting post-capitalist forces has created an atmosphere that is nihilistic and excruciatingly mid.
How Did Everything Get So Mid?
the system will only make the system stronger, the next generation is instead opting for radical hyperstition: constructing alternative futures that abandon
Caroline Busta • The Internet Didn’t Kill Counterculture—you Just Won’t Find It on Instagram
It’s been endlessly argued that algorithms influence too much of what we watch, listen to, read, and even think. Personal taste erodes while decision-making is outsourced to the platform. This globalization, platform persuasion, and general apathy has spilled over into all types of homogenization: the look of our coffee shops, cars, architecture, l
... See moreVigorously participatory curatorial subcultures certainly exist, but in practice, they require too much time and energy to have a broad appeal. People enjoy sharing their discoveries with friends, and they may at least occasionally rate and review items. But most people, most of the time, leave the hard work of curation to others — or to algorithm
... See moreROGERS BRUBAKER • Hyperconnected Culture and Its Discontents
maybe here, we do have an aesthetic counter to the wallflower non-style of Big Tech: a raging messy semiotic meltdown of radicalizing (if absurdist) meme culture where the only ideological no-go zone is the liberal center. Key here is that most of this activity is happening under the guise of avatars, pseudonyms, and collectively run social media a
... See moreCaroline Busta • The Internet Didn’t Kill Counterculture—you Just Won’t Find It on Instagram
The names of these e-deologies tend to be both fantastical and literal. A “post-civilizationist” might focus on what optimal human survival would look like were civilization no longer possible. A “voluntarist post-agrarianist,” meanwhile, might value anarcho-primitivism skills but see them as integral to realizing a civilization sustained through o
... See moreCaroline Busta • The Internet Didn’t Kill Counterculture—you Just Won’t Find It on Instagram
“To be truly countercultural in a time of tech hegemony, one has to, above all, betray the platform which may come in the form of betraying or divesting from your public online self
Caroline Busta • The Internet Didn’t Kill Counterculture—you Just Won’t Find It on Instagram
Both share something that will define the future of our interaction with each other and machines. Algorithmic driven content, interfaces that shift from clicks and pages to a back and forth interactive volley with machines that do more and more to shape and surface deeply customized content, accomplish tasks, automate routines, and step us closer t
... See moreTroy Young • When The Internet Becomes Chat
In the age of social media, personal expression has become the most valuable form of currency, yet we still use the term ‘counterculture’ to describe alternatives to the hegemonic forces of yesteryear, as if dressing middle-class, white, and preppy still aligned with the rules of power today.