this is something i’ve been silently bubbling about recently. i tend to dislike podcasts because they ought be engaged with critically (unless it’s some gossip/drama program, i guess) but people listen to them passively. too much of the information we absorb is taken as is without much thought.
hell, even taking pictures has become focused on where it’s getting posted as opposed to capturing a moment or scene. like you pointed out, it could be argued that the photograph itself impels the viewer to associate with the camera, the scene set and lighting utilized, to alienate one step from the base material. we’re moving further into this false reality, which would be fine if it was honest in its fictitious presentation, but it attempts to pass as reality itself, and coupling with helpless addiction, subsumes reality itself for many.
It's a constant fight to avoid interaction with glossy, shiny TikTok. But it can be done.
My FYP is full of intellectual dopamine hits. TikTok basically replaced my desire to play Wikipedia roulette, or read encyclopedias for fun. However, rather than have faceless editors, it's nice to experience the passions and hyper fixations of other people, as they emote passion for their interests.
respectfully, every video you get online is a performance either engineered to hook your attention, or inadvertently achieving the same thing. regardless of whether the video is "intellectual," you're still ignoring the algorithmic gaze
A few years ago I forced myself to try to "train" the much-celebrated algorithm and find something to like, since I was constantly told I was "missing out".
300 videos later, I blocked some 297 creators while skipping just 3. I hated all 300 videos: just attention-thirsting exhibitionist amateur hour that used to pass for public access television.
the principle still applies!! you still receive advertisements and new content as the algorithm experiments on you. even the 3 creators you liked still passed through a filter of algorithmic consent
Not to be a stickler, but since your Stack is about words and their meanings, I hope you’ll indulge me: technically speaking our phones make us cyborgs, not androids.
An android is a robot designed to resemble and mimic human appearance and behaviour (example: Bishop, in Aliens). A cyborg is a being that integrates technology into the human body (e.g. Johnny Silverhand / Keanu Reeves, in Cyberpunk 2077).
"our phones become a functional extension of our minds. We feel naked when we go anywhere without them, and to use them is to project our consciousness into the delicate haptic experience of thumb on screen. As such, we feel much closer to our phones than we do our computers or TVs"
Holy shit we are so cooked
This is something ive been feeling more and more any time i try to put my phone away for a bit to focus on something important or after ive been doomscrolling and just want to get away from it, but seeing it put in such a terrifying way? God, this is depressing.
Just set Libby to know notify me when Algospeak comes out so I can check it out forthwith. It also helps the collection development or purchasing librarians at the libraries I have cards for to know there is interest and makes them more likely to buy a copy or two.
Super lovely essay! I subconsciously spotted this not long after I first installed TikTok all the way back when it came out, when I (like many others) used it for purely ironic reasons, in that early era of "ironic TikToks", which was admittedly capitalized on impressively well. As a result, I have to this day successfully avoided getting absorbed in it, despite definitely fighting every day to stay away from my phone and other algorithms at large, without ever really even trying. While I constantly witnessed people close to me having to uninstall it in order to so much as live a normal day, I've had it sitting in the "mental illness fuel" folder on my phone's homepage with the other social media just to check the occasional sent piece of content from a friend (a whole other can of worms which would warrant its own lengthy essays and discussions) or post a song cover, without ever opening it otherwise. I think something that is important to stress is that we are far from powerless in this algorithmic absorption (alliteration, yay). Recognizing their sleazyness and implementing the "ya ain't slick, bud" mindset is incredibly powerful. I feel blessed and grateful to my past self for recognizing that.
That said, that optimism IS fighting a hard battle against the daily reconfirmation of just how predatory, for example, YouTube Shorts are. I'm sure you've noticed how often the YouTube app directly opens onto a short. At least Vanced was able to remove them entirely. Clinging onto ReVanced was nice and all, but the second you own a Smart TV you are no less than cooked without Premium.
Short Short tangent aside, I've followed you for years, and as a fellow big time multilingual Linguistics and Etymology nerd, finding out that you also had a SubStack has been great. (though mine is still a barren wasteland, begging for drops of water in the form of unpublished things rotting away in old folders and Google Drive)
I'm looking forward to catching—and keeping—up, and to reading Algospeak (which is the only thing I've ever preordered in my life)
yes!!! this a million times over!!! i have watched good friends refuse my advice and comfort but then swallow down the exact same words by the spoonful when it’s shoved down their throats through tiktok clips. it’s so frustrating and it genuinely makes me feel like a “it’s those damn phones” boomer but like…it is those damn phones!!!
this is something i’ve been silently bubbling about recently. i tend to dislike podcasts because they ought be engaged with critically (unless it’s some gossip/drama program, i guess) but people listen to them passively. too much of the information we absorb is taken as is without much thought.
hell, even taking pictures has become focused on where it’s getting posted as opposed to capturing a moment or scene. like you pointed out, it could be argued that the photograph itself impels the viewer to associate with the camera, the scene set and lighting utilized, to alienate one step from the base material. we’re moving further into this false reality, which would be fine if it was honest in its fictitious presentation, but it attempts to pass as reality itself, and coupling with helpless addiction, subsumes reality itself for many.
It's a constant fight to avoid interaction with glossy, shiny TikTok. But it can be done.
My FYP is full of intellectual dopamine hits. TikTok basically replaced my desire to play Wikipedia roulette, or read encyclopedias for fun. However, rather than have faceless editors, it's nice to experience the passions and hyper fixations of other people, as they emote passion for their interests.
respectfully, every video you get online is a performance either engineered to hook your attention, or inadvertently achieving the same thing. regardless of whether the video is "intellectual," you're still ignoring the algorithmic gaze
It isn't a constant fight.
A few years ago I forced myself to try to "train" the much-celebrated algorithm and find something to like, since I was constantly told I was "missing out".
300 videos later, I blocked some 297 creators while skipping just 3. I hated all 300 videos: just attention-thirsting exhibitionist amateur hour that used to pass for public access television.
the principle still applies!! you still receive advertisements and new content as the algorithm experiments on you. even the 3 creators you liked still passed through a filter of algorithmic consent
The flow state on TikTok is so addictive and so well worded and so weaponised against consumers
Not to be a stickler, but since your Stack is about words and their meanings, I hope you’ll indulge me: technically speaking our phones make us cyborgs, not androids.
An android is a robot designed to resemble and mimic human appearance and behaviour (example: Bishop, in Aliens). A cyborg is a being that integrates technology into the human body (e.g. Johnny Silverhand / Keanu Reeves, in Cyberpunk 2077).
thanks, updated
I love this small thread so much. Very telling in the best of ways.
"our phones become a functional extension of our minds. We feel naked when we go anywhere without them, and to use them is to project our consciousness into the delicate haptic experience of thumb on screen. As such, we feel much closer to our phones than we do our computers or TVs"
Holy shit we are so cooked
This is something ive been feeling more and more any time i try to put my phone away for a bit to focus on something important or after ive been doomscrolling and just want to get away from it, but seeing it put in such a terrifying way? God, this is depressing.
Just set Libby to know notify me when Algospeak comes out so I can check it out forthwith. It also helps the collection development or purchasing librarians at the libraries I have cards for to know there is interest and makes them more likely to buy a copy or two.
Super lovely essay! I subconsciously spotted this not long after I first installed TikTok all the way back when it came out, when I (like many others) used it for purely ironic reasons, in that early era of "ironic TikToks", which was admittedly capitalized on impressively well. As a result, I have to this day successfully avoided getting absorbed in it, despite definitely fighting every day to stay away from my phone and other algorithms at large, without ever really even trying. While I constantly witnessed people close to me having to uninstall it in order to so much as live a normal day, I've had it sitting in the "mental illness fuel" folder on my phone's homepage with the other social media just to check the occasional sent piece of content from a friend (a whole other can of worms which would warrant its own lengthy essays and discussions) or post a song cover, without ever opening it otherwise. I think something that is important to stress is that we are far from powerless in this algorithmic absorption (alliteration, yay). Recognizing their sleazyness and implementing the "ya ain't slick, bud" mindset is incredibly powerful. I feel blessed and grateful to my past self for recognizing that.
That said, that optimism IS fighting a hard battle against the daily reconfirmation of just how predatory, for example, YouTube Shorts are. I'm sure you've noticed how often the YouTube app directly opens onto a short. At least Vanced was able to remove them entirely. Clinging onto ReVanced was nice and all, but the second you own a Smart TV you are no less than cooked without Premium.
Short Short tangent aside, I've followed you for years, and as a fellow big time multilingual Linguistics and Etymology nerd, finding out that you also had a SubStack has been great. (though mine is still a barren wasteland, begging for drops of water in the form of unpublished things rotting away in old folders and Google Drive)
I'm looking forward to catching—and keeping—up, and to reading Algospeak (which is the only thing I've ever preordered in my life)
yes!!! this a million times over!!! i have watched good friends refuse my advice and comfort but then swallow down the exact same words by the spoonful when it’s shoved down their throats through tiktok clips. it’s so frustrating and it genuinely makes me feel like a “it’s those damn phones” boomer but like…it is those damn phones!!!
Love this essay. Reminds me of the Treachery of Images by Magritte… treachery of the algorithm?