Internet as Practice

“The internet, as we have known it, has evolved from a quaint, quirky place to a social utopia, and then to an algorithmic reality. In this reality, the primary task of these platforms is not about idealism or even entertainment — it is about extracting as much revenue as possible from human vanity, avarice, and narcissism.”

I suspect we humans do better with constraints; the Internet stripped away the constraint of physical distribution, and now AI is removing the constraint of needing to actually produce content. That this is spoiling the Internet is perhaps the best hope for finding our way back to what is real. Let the virtual world be one of customized content for... See more

The Internet and its extensions become a realm of imaginings, visions and fictionings of self. As we traverse the clarinet (the web available to us), we start seeing the digital ether littered with new species. Sure, for many these might be aesthetics, TikTok trends or waves of escapism. However, with individuals creating, embodying and manifesting... See more

Lately I have been reading a lot about The Internet and what it’s doing to us. I find it funny, if a little tedious. Because of course there’s no canonical experience of Being Online. Other than being followed around by mystifying ads because you clicked on something or, as they say, “fit a demographic,” there is no “us.” Everyone’s time here is di

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The illusion persists because there’s so much money in it. Back in 2016, Ben Thompson wrote that Google’s AI efforts were at odds with its business model: “If a user doesn’t have to choose from search results, said user also doesn’t have the opportunity to click an ad, thus choosing the winner of the competition Google created between its advertise... See more