Digital Media

Even the language has gone stale. We don’t talk about portfolios or bodies of work or essays anymore. We talk about content. That word... sterilized, corporate, utterly devoid of soul, is the final nail in the coffin. “Content” doesn’t demand you to think or to feel; it demands you to engage. It’s not meant to last. It’s meant to loop.

We post because the algorithm likes it when we appear human. Vulnerability has become content. Even sadness has a brand palette now. Muted tones, diffused light, a caption about burnout. You’re not allowed to have a breakdown anymore unless it’s photogenic.

Art, by nature, is supposed to be reckless. It’s supposed to make you uncomfortable, make you question something, even piss you off a little. But risk doesn’t trend well. Risk doesn’t get saved, shared, or reinterpreted into brand collaborations. So we self-censor. We trim the fat, smooth the flaws, kill the chaos. We sand down the edges until the... See more

The algorithm is like a moody god, it demands sacrifice. You give it your best work, your time, your sleep, your joy, and in return, it offers you a few fleeting seconds of attention. Then it forgets you exist.

The number of likes has become a kind of digital rosary, a way to pray for validation while pretending we’re above it.

Instagram didn’t kill photography. It just franchised it. Turned the quiet craft of seeing into a 24-hour buffet of self-promotion and emotional fast food. Everyone got a camera, a platform, and a craving for attention. What used to be an art of observation became an industry of performance.

I’m haunted by the time I’ve given to this never-ending feed. How many sacred moments have I missed, peering into someone else’s backyard; only to rip up my own seedlings and plant what they had sown?

I have become a graveyard of personas. Restless in the presence of simple pleasures. Always terrified of settling. I used to think I was failing because I hadn’t arrived anywhere, but I’ve simply been lost in the contradiction of different maps, wandering too many paths.