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[off topic] dead internet theory

Jonathan McHugh indieterminacy at libre.brussels

Wed Sep 8 08:41:41 BST 2021

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Hi Marc,

Thanks for the posting.

I feel a link mentioned in your Atlantic bookmark feels more measured=

https://warzel.substack.com/p/its-not-cancel-culture-its-a-platform We Need To Get Rid Of Twitter Trending Topics

I used to love btl comments on certain forums but I found that that the better (irreverent, nuanced and progressive) commentators got pushed out by targetted modding campaigns (perhaps automated) and stressed out by trolling. The growing feel of Web 2.0 behaviour also made conversations more shallow and circular (everybody seemed to be permutating the same concepts rather than adding nuance). Scrolling increasingly felt like work, which could ironically detract from me visiting fringes.

I feel a good metric for a cogent commentator is providing a third party uri, with a citation and ones own interpretation. This means that they can identify relevant material, personalise it and provide directions for greater understanding. Getting that as a metric would provide me a glimpse of how valuable my experience would be.

FYI, in September as part of Constant ASBL's Bueaucracksy initiaite they shall be publishing some pieces by me concerning social bookmarking in the age of Delicious. It will provide:* An old training document I made during the period* A historical lookback on the technology* Impressionist poetry

The stub is below, Ill repost it again once its up.=

https://constantvzw.org/site/Bureaucracktic-Bedtime-Stories,3474.html

Kind regards,

====================Jonathan McHughindieterminacy at libre.brussels

September 8, 2021 12:41 AM, "marc" <marcx2 at welz.org.za> wrote:

Hi
I came across this, err, rather creative line of
reasoning at
https://forum.agoraroad.com/index.php?threads/dead-internet-theory-most-of-the-internet-is-fake.3011
via
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/08/dead-internet-theory-wrong-but-feels-true/619
37
Maybe start with the second link, especially if you are easily
weirded out.
I suppose not everybody has an appetite for this topic,
given that wild fringe theories are by definition by and
for outsiders...
But I don't think it is necessary to believe it - it
remains a useful story regardless - something like a
fable (you know, like the one involving the
fox, the raven and the grapes - the one that gives
us the concept "sour grapes").
Here the useful observation is that the internet (or
at least the shallow web) has changed, and not
only in obvious technological ways, but also in
the way people interact with it - that people
are now holding back from posting longer, thoughtful
ideas, and that what is put on line is more "staged",
"click-baity" and "recycled". Famously the top N
subreddits are all managed by the same pool of moderators...
So it would be neat to hear from people here
if you also think the web has (almost) emptied of
real conversations with real people and what
explanations you might have for it.
I can come up with some:
- That enthusiasm just wanes as the internet is no
longer something new and people just get older...
- That saying something controversial (nevermind
offensive) online now has real-life consequences
and sometimes completely disproportionate ones
- That the effort to monetise or content-pad
a site means that the same bland tips, jokes
or memes are recycled
- That SEO has elbowed the small, personal site out of
the way, and the spammers have poison the its comments
section.
- That the internet has turned ever more into TV, and
people have turned into passive consumers, the kind
that the content industry wants
- That the real humans have just disappeared
(I want to say raptured :-) into the nooks and crannies
of the internet, including mailing lists and... gemini
capsules ?
- And, just maybe, there is a better internet that
we don't know about, because it has a rule that you
don't talk about it
regards
marc