4 ms·

I first got on the Internet in 1993. In the last 23 years, I've seen the Internet evolve from primarily a text based interface, which encouraged long form writ

I first got on the Internet in 1993. In the last 23 years, I've seen the Internet evolve from primarily a text based interface, which encouraged long form writing, and line-by-line-dissection of long form writing, to a medium that is primarily pictorial, and increasingly video based, where close reading of long form stuff is discouraged by code and design. Postman himself declined even to look at the web in 1999, when I started reading his books, and he passed away in 2004. In 1999, I thought the Internet was part of the solution to the problem he was writing about. Today, the Internet is a bigger problem than television and the movies. And the shift towards pictorial communication is rapidly approaching levels where it's a threat to civilization. Fark and Failblog are good amusements, but even the briefest look at 4chan will show you, we're in deep shit. The thing is, the Internet isn't just the Internet. Twitter can be criticized not for how well or how badly the company polices its users, but also in a medium-is-the-message way. Twitter is a cesspool of hate because the 140 character limit makes it useless for more than playground name calling. Facebook is part of the problem not just because of Facebook's policies but because it's an interface that pushes blogging into microblogging. Compare to Livejourbal, Wordpress, or dare I say it, Metafilter, all of which are better by design. (But don't get too smug. There's room for improvement. And it's still all stuff you're looking at with a tabbed browser, and it's always tempting to tab away.) Or compare to Instapaper. I've removed Facebook and Twitter from my phone, and now when I;m out and about and being a phone zombie, I'm at least reading 1000-2000 word essays that I loaded onto the Instapaper app previously. It's made me a lot happier. But I am sad to report that I still have not regained the long form writing ability I had 15 years ago.

striking 9y ago
4chan is a threat to human civilization because of its use of images? I think you'll be happy to hear that one of the most common forms of 4chan post is "greentext", a specific kind of long form story. Some of these break the character count cap by many, many posts. And many of these get sizable reactions from the userbase. 4chan, like life, is what you make of it. If you want to regain your long form writing ability, you could try taking a Moleskine or small pad with you when you travel. You can use it as a way to help create content while you're out and about, as a replacement for your phone. Additionally, if you're tech inclined, setting up a blog has become easier than ever before.
- ocschwar 9y ago
  "4chan, like life, is what you make of it." 4chan is what I make of it. But it's also what the rest of society makes of it. That's why we're in deep shit.
3pt14159 9y ago
This is a bit hyperbolic, but it contains some truth. It's part of a larger trend of well sorting people by capability that started with mainstream adoption of sending kids from their home towns to universities and has continued as the economy evolved along with software and automation. The bubble I'm in discusses topics ranges so many arcane fields, but my addition to the bubble came at the cost of my childhood community loosing one of their more intelligent members. Facebook, Twitter, etc is just another layer on top of that. My hope in the long run is that Gataca will address this problem and we'll get enough intelligent and unaggressive people to handle the exponential power increase that capable individuals have. For now, stability at all costs please.
jandrese 9y ago
It's a double edged sword. The Internet gives voice to the voiceless! followed by: Oh shit, they were voiceless for a reason. The idea of curating the news didn't come about because of some big illuminati conspiracy, it's because loud tactless assholes tend to drown everybody else out given the opportunity. Call it the paradox of free speech. Having your information controlled by someone is bad, but so is having no filter at all, and a middle ground is difficult to achieve and in some ways impossible.

striking 9y ago

4chan is a threat to human civilization because of its use of images? I think you'll be happy to hear that one of the most common forms of 4chan post is "greentext", a specific kind of long form story. Some of these break the character count cap by many, many posts. And many of these get sizable reactions from the userbase. 4chan, like life, is what you make of it. If you want to regain your long form writing ability, you could try taking a Moleskine or small pad with you when you travel. You can use it as a way to help create content while you're out and about, as a replacement for your phone. Additionally, if you're tech inclined, setting up a blog has become easier than ever before.

ocschwar 9y ago
"4chan, like life, is what you make of it." 4chan is what I make of it. But it's also what the rest of society makes of it. That's why we're in deep shit.

3pt14159 9y ago

This is a bit hyperbolic, but it contains some truth. It's part of a larger trend of well sorting people by capability that started with mainstream adoption of sending kids from their home towns to universities and has continued as the economy evolved along with software and automation. The bubble I'm in discusses topics ranges so many arcane fields, but my addition to the bubble came at the cost of my childhood community loosing one of their more intelligent members. Facebook, Twitter, etc is just another layer on top of that. My hope in the long run is that Gataca will address this problem and we'll get enough intelligent and unaggressive people to handle the exponential power increase that capable individuals have. For now, stability at all costs please.

jandrese 9y ago

It's a double edged sword. The Internet gives voice to the voiceless! followed by: Oh shit, they were voiceless for a reason. The idea of curating the news didn't come about because of some big illuminati conspiracy, it's because loud tactless assholes tend to drown everybody else out given the opportunity. Call it the paradox of free speech. Having your information controlled by someone is bad, but so is having no filter at all, and a middle ground is difficult to achieve and in some ways impossible.