Molly

Spiritual chatbot apps have garnered millions of downloads. These AI-powered religious apps, like Bible Chat and Hallow, mimic conversations with clergy and are shaping how people think about deeply existential ideas, like salvation. People are paying up to $70 a year for subscriptions to these platforms to access instant, personalized spiritual... See more

None of this suggests technological revolutions won’t bring more change and that virtual realities won’t encroach further on daily life. Just that there are natural barriers, a rearguard human resistance, slowing and perhaps even capping this advance. The physical world has already shown more staying power than many of us expected.

Either way, the consequences are what people think of you. While that used to be none of our business, now we have numerical, public-facing proof. As Joseph writes, “When author and British Vogue contributor Stephanie Yeboah hard-launched her boyfriend on social media, she lost hundreds of followers.”

personal brand anxiety is something that’s starting to affect more than just the chronically online

“Girl, the boycott” has become such a common comment underneath videos of people who happen to have a Starbucks cup in the background of their shot that it became a meme. To me, and anyone else with similar anxieties, these small but consistent instances are confirmation that not only am I always being watched, but also, I’m always being assessed.

Is getting a little coffee embarrassing now?

When everything is branding, life becomes a performance.

“There’s an inherent theatricality to church,” writes the critic Alissa Wilkinson, “and a furtive spirituality to theater. In form, they’re similar: Everybody crowds into a room, usually sits facing the same direction, and focuses on a central action — at least for a while.” Alissa uses those parallels to explore a number of recent shows that dance

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Even small mistakes can bring heavy costs in a viral world where content can live forever and everyone can see it. Mistakes can be met with intense criticism by multiple individuals with whom one has no underlying bond. Apologies are often mocked, and any signal of re-acceptance can be mixed or vague. Instead of gaining an experience of social

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the idea of “humiliation rituals” becomes less about grand conspiracies and more about structural inevitabilities. It’s not that anyone is forcing us to humiliate ourselves; it’s that we’ve come to equate being known with being exposed.