the information space

The internet big “lowest-common-denominator battle for attention.” A chaotic maelstrom of consumption, performance, and sensational reaction. Understanding the relationship between information systems and society is the great challenge of our time.

Brandon Marcus

In other words, the rise of social media created a revolution in political discourse. The old-school monopoly of big newspapers and TV stations — already under strain from the Web and from increased entry and competition — was overthrown by a giant mob of wannabe influencers, using divisiveness, partisanship, ideology, tribalism and negative... See more

Save us, Digital Cronkite!

Amy Orben, a psychologist studying technology panics, identifies the ‘Sisyphean cycle’: each generation fears new media will corrupt youth; politicians exploit these fears while deflecting from systemic issues like inequality and educational underfunding; research begins too late; and by the time evidence accumulates showing mixed effects dependent... See more

Vercel Security Checkpoint

Lowering the cost of creating content will undoubtedly redistribute value in media, but lowering the cost of coordinating it could too. In other words, GenAI will not only affect the battle over who makes the content, but who controls how consumers choose.

What If AI Becomes the New Discovery Layer?

The request to “debate the ideas” is, in most cases, not a real request for debate. It is a move in a game whose actual logic runs on a version of Carl Schmitt’s famous, and famously abused, friend-enemy distinction. What matters is not whether the argument is sound but whether the person making it is your ally. This is the defining pathology of... See more

Alright, Let's Debate the Ideas Then

Rotting may have a particular posture, but I think what separates it from other activities that involve horizontal entertainment is its catalyst: avoidance—the avoidance of responsibility, pressure, uncertainty, anxiety, thoughts. Rotting shares this quality with idling, but offers a more comprehensive escape, thus taking on a more sinister edge.

Haley Nahman • #208: What is rotting, if not rest?

Amazon Sign-In

A common challenge for people who are curious and love to learn is that we can fall into the habit of continuously force-feeding ourselves more and more information, but never actually take the next step and apply

Tiago Forte • Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential

Reed Hastings has famously stated that Netflix’s main competition isn’t other media or entertainment companies. It’s sleep .

The Art of (Attention) War

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Power has moved to whoever reduces cognitive load. The Power Law says 80% of value in a market comes from just 20% of its players, and the people that make up that 20% in culture right now are changing. The people with disproportionate influence are the ones who tell us what matters, how to... See more

Jasmine Bina substack.com