How to Leave an Internet That’s Always in Crisis

With Twitter especially, like during COVID, it was my attachment to society and community. But Twitter really flattens everything. Like, a tweet from a real, expert doctor about a COVID study would come after a tweet from somebody who doesn’t know anything and was making a glib joke about COVID case rates. Now, I can tell myself rationally that one... See more

I think it’s just that we don’t talk about this stuff out loud very much. I feel the same way describing the kind of social anxiety I get from performative parts of social media—to detail it out loud feels unhinged. But I think most people are feeling similar stuff. It’s bleeding into everyone’s behaviors.

With Instagram there was the idea that my life is constantly available for perception and evaluation by other people. I had these thoughts: I’d upload a photo and then I’d view my Instagram story and try to pretend to be somebody else—a stranger—and imagine how they’d see me. I’d be trying to present myself to be legible in a certain way to complet... See more

I just don’t think people have adapted to being in touch with so many humans at every moment and getting this much information. Now, I imagine people will adapt. But we are in this generation where it wasn’t like this fully when we were growing up.

I do think the internet used to be a lot weirder. Certainly more specific. It used to be a place you’d go for a specific interest. Now it is just the context of life and the way you communicate.

everyone is a creator and influencer to their own small communities. And there’s this expectation that’s trickled down to everyone with an account that you need to acknowledge all kinds of potential audiences if you choose to post. Even if you’re just sharing about your own life, you need to take it into account. Posting is much more complex.

I always feel very curmudgeonly saying this, but I think that mid-to-late Millennials and very young Gen Xers are this weird straddle generation. Like, one of my earliest memories is playing with a working rotary phone my parents had in the kitchen of our house. But, also, I was online for the first time at like 7 or 8 and very much was raised onli... See more

the internet used to be a place! Or at least it was for me. I love how the internet exposes the weird and funny things about being a person alive in the world.

if your authentic impulse is not to post, these apps make you feel like this antisocial piece of shit.

going back to that idea of awareness of algorithms, I think one thing that really separates people online generationally is the divide between who has really tried to create stuff online. The savviest older-generation users are usually people who work in media, and they are exposed to how online content is made and travels. It’s not that they can’t... See more