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Rec'd on 🗒️ 11/12: ARTICLE RECOMMENDATIONS
true-ish grit
this article really captivated me about 8 years ago when it came out. i was still in college on my sociology bullshit and was extremely interested in the tactile changes the internet was bringing, especially to cities (i was also in the midst of a rust belt obsession so really couldn't have been more tailored to me).
a lot of what is in this article has been discussed to death in the time since, but i re-read it recently after a visit to troy new york (the main subject) and found it a really interesting relic of the 2016 internet landscape AND a worthwhile reflection of what the author was predicting and how much of it came true. and all of it is still very relevant, just swap instagram with tiktok
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@maitai
Nov 12, 2024
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@royallmonarch
LOVE what it says here: "To consume the spectacle of our own lives in authentic urban environments—and be free to leave them when they become played out—we need to do away with much of our portable property: furniture, appliances, decor, keepsakes, and the like. We need to be ready to abandon any social ties that bind us to a place. We also need to be able to work wherever we move." this is the experience that is being marketed as the "work from home nomad," to have the freedom to live everywhere but without ever requiring the investment in planting roots and establishing social ties and actually doing life in the place one lives. to take up space but never inhabit a place.
Nov 12, 2024
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the life and death of online platforms
piece that explores our collective relationship with algorithmically driven platforms and theorizing why non-algorithmically driven platforms haven't caught on yet (PI.FYI mentioned ‼️). some of the references and moments in the writing style makes this article feel hollow and generic, but the overall conceit is engaging. also this article (and the general public alike) keep saying tumblr is dead but tumblr is very alive for me personally.
"Just kidding. There is no pure place: we crave the end because it seems cleaner on the other side. We all live,and have always lived, in the muck—even and especially after death. Download the niche app, participate in the empty-ish forum. Labor to make the experience you want. Labor to animate a human internet."
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this incredibly depressing vox article on everything wrong with social media and hustle culture
anyone on pi.fyi will likely feel seen and heard when reading this. it basically accentuates all the redundancies and senseless aspects of social media and how it’s disrupted every industry and how we are all dominated by the algorithm and have to be our own hype person. i always feel like an idiot after i finish a record or a book that i'm really excited to share with the world, but then have to think about “content“ to promote the art itself. obviously pi.fyi feels likes a refreshing beacon of hope because artists can share their work here in a far more simple and wholesome manner. the article also addresses non-creative jobs like accountants and other professions that are all being forced to become an “influencer” of some sort or build a brand. it’s spooky, yet we’re all feeling the fatigue so hopefully we can see a less algorithmic future soon…
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@dakotablue
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WHY IS EVERYONE SO SIMILAR?
20 guys walking down a street in new york: all wearing doc martens and jorts, wafting vanilla down the block, a book in one hand and a matcha in the other. what the fuck? is this really them? am i really me? or are we just molded this way?
naturally, the desire to be liked by others can overpower us — whether it’s subtle code-switching or even picking up new hobbies. especially now, we’re more exposed to trends than ever. and when you see millions of people liking a video about a certain shoe, what else can your weird, molded brain think except, “if i had these shoes, people would think i’m cool”?
but while i’m sifting through microtrends, the same little brain worm burrows into my noggin and asks me: “what would i have been like, if i wasn’t exposed to any social media? to any outside opinions?”
this question scares me. i really love writing — but would i have started if i hadn’t been shown videos about it? where, and who, would i be without the influence of these algorithms? but i think that’s unrealistic to imagine. we’re well into the age of technology, and it’s hard to avoid.
so what can we do?
what if we just put the phone down for a few months?
get shoes that actually feel good. smell everything and find a scent you like — even if you look like a weirdo sniffing objects. find what you love and love to be. learn how to live outside the grasp of an algorithm and in the wet, wrinkly arms of your brain. i’ll be doing it too.
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