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Here’s the other problem with Facebook and Twitter and even The New York Times. When you expose yourself to those things, especially in the constant way that people do now—older people as well as younger people—you are continuously bombarding yourself with a stream of other people’s thoughts. You are marinating yourself in the conventional wisdom. ... See more

The American Scholar • Solitude and Leadership

This is why, with the internet, it’s so easy to stop trying to be decent, or reasonable, or politically engaged—and start trying merely to seem so.

Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

In the absence of time to physically and politically engage with our community the way many of us want to, the internet provides a cheap substitute: it gives us brief moments of pleasure and connection, tied up in the opportunity to constantly listen and speak. Under these circumstances, opinion stops being a first step toward something and starts

Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

On the Internet, We’re Always Famous

Chris Hayes newyorker.com

Social media algorithms identify our politics and then shepherd us into a hermetically sealed bubble, framing our worldview through a window of rage and extremism.

Scott Galloway • No Mercy / No Malice

Kids will not believe me when I say this, but people didn’t always absorb their “content” by way of mysterious algorithmic black magic on endlessly-scrolling crack feeds. We used to type web addresses into our browsers, and actually visit our favorite sites. This, going to “www dot college shitpost dot com” or whatever, was itself considered a radi

To step into the stream of any social network, to become immersed in the news, reactions, rage and hopes, the marketing and psyops, the funny jokes and clever memes, the earnest requests for mutual aid, for sign ups, for jobs, the clap backs and the call outs, the warnings and invitations—it can feel like a kind of madness. It’s unsettling, in the ... See more

Mandy Brown • Coming Home

The internet has moved seamlessly into the interstices of this situation, redistributing our minimum of free time into unsatisfying micro-installments, spread throughout the day. In the absence of time to physically and politically engage with our community the way many of us want to, the internet provides a cheap substitute: it gives us brief mome

Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

You might also be aware that all this is delivered by means of “persuasive design”—an umbrella term for an armory of psychological techniques borrowed directly from the designers of casino slot machines, for the express purpose of encouraging compulsive behavior. One example among hundreds is the ubiquitous drag-down-to-refresh gesture, which keeps... See more

Sublime

The American Scholar • Solitude and Leadership

Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

On the Internet, We’re Always Famous

Scott Galloway • No Mercy / No Malice

Mandy Brown • Coming Home

Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals