“My theory is that our current collective obsession with trends is a response to the massive unpredictability of technology, finance, and health over the past two years, and the fact that the world is so different from what it used to look like.”
On the year of garbage internet trends.
“Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, Facebook and many other popular sites operate on similar feedback loops that push more of whatever is being noticed,”
My theory is that the current ultra heavy centralization of computing —two platforms, five apps— and massive usage of algorithms have pushed people to see and tap on the same things more and more.
Which means that there’s less and less serendipity. Less obscure stuff popping out and floating for a while. It goes from 0 to 1 million in a couple days now. Rinse. Repeat with a new video, a new person.
And I think, it exhausts all of us. Because meaning disappears and we still need that mf.