The widespread TikTok-ification of all social apps is quite striking (and sad!) Literally, all apps (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc) have become one click away to an infinite stream of viral videos, playing non-stop. The ratio of mindless consumption to building something meaningful on computing devices now likely exceeds 10:1, and ma... See more

The internet doesn’t have to demand our presence the way it currently does. It shouldn’t be something we have to look at all time. If it wasn’t, maybe we’d finally be free to hang out. The first time I ever heard about Facebook, back in 2004, was from someone proudly declaring that she had just spent four hours using it. At the time, it was outrage... See more

Our modest goal with Substack is to help accelerate and amplify the advent of the culture future through a better media system. Culture is not just about getting what you want; it is about learning what to want. It shapes our values, beliefs, identity, taste, and how we relate to other people. And in turn, we shape it, when we choose what to pay at... See more

Search engines — the window into the web for many people — top their results with pages containing thousands of words of auto-generated nothingness, perfectly optimized for search engine prominence and to pull in money via ads and affiliate links while simultaneously devoid of any useful information.

Social networks have become “the web” for many pe... See more

instead of seeking to maximize status — which some of us still do — more of us find ourselves seeking safety and context online instead.

for nearly fourteen years afterwards, I stared at a smartphone every single day. Five thousand days, all in all. I can’t think of anything else I’ve done with the same level of commitment. There have been days where I’ve had nothing to eat or drink and there have been nights when I didn’t sleep. But until very recently, I never once went twenty-fou... See more

The URL bar is perhaps the most fundamental part of browsing the internet, and yet it’s something I haven’t thought about in at least five years. That’s because I’m often just going to one of four sites that autocomplete the moment I type the first letter, and because I’m a Chrome user, the URL bar is interchangeable with the search bar, so when I ... See more

We need ritual technology. Technology designed for ritual use.

Why? Most of the software we use daily is designed to engagement-max. Social media feeds, loot boxes, compulsion loops, gang gang yes yes yes ice cream so good. You’re caught in a feedback loop with the algorithm, and you are the squishiest part of that loop.

Ritual technology operates on... See more

My default feed on Twitter is filled with too much snark, fear porn, and negativity. Is that a reflection of me, all of you, or a business trying to make ever increasing amounts of revenue with this product? I would literally pay for a more positive experience. And I think it… Show more