"A friend told me he’d “recently signed up for a bunch of Substacks” and then held up his phone to show me the email folder he routed them all into, which contained thousands of unread messages."
I'm reminded this person exists every time I get a notice that says something like "so-and-so subscribes to On Repeat, Kneeling Bus, and 946 other Substacks." They're not signing up for something new or interesting; they're creating a pile of digital artifacts on a server somewhere. My question is, why? Is it aspirational? Habit?
great read in the era of endless paywalls in legacy media sites as well. also, I started using a new VPN that worked for a couple days but now makes me do an image-recognition captcha every time I open a new tab. it claims "malicious traffic" -- the very reason I use it in the first place. so your piece really hit for me, lol
Depressing and freeing all at once.
wait … *I* am traffic??
As Brazilian that subscribes to too many substacks, I loved this post.
"A friend told me he’d “recently signed up for a bunch of Substacks” and then held up his phone to show me the email folder he routed them all into, which contained thousands of unread messages."
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I'm reminded this person exists every time I get a notice that says something like "so-and-so subscribes to On Repeat, Kneeling Bus, and 946 other Substacks." They're not signing up for something new or interesting; they're creating a pile of digital artifacts on a server somewhere. My question is, why? Is it aspirational? Habit?
it seems like poets have always been in this situation, consoling ourselves that engagement with form is / must be its own reward
Phenomenal. For someone whose ability to make a living is tied to being online, this is just haunting.
great read in the era of endless paywalls in legacy media sites as well. also, I started using a new VPN that worked for a couple days but now makes me do an image-recognition captcha every time I open a new tab. it claims "malicious traffic" -- the very reason I use it in the first place. so your piece really hit for me, lol
A bleak but necessary read.
> Talking to no one is the near future of social media
Why might one repeatedly discuss the present in the future tense? 3 of many possible reasons:
* One knows consciously or otherwise that the present is repugnant and chooses denial
* One lives in a bubble where the present has not arrived and refuses to see that the phenomenon is already endemic
* One wants to be able to claim to have predicted something despite it already having happened, such that he can be considered a forecaster
Things to consider