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Precisely - the medium is the message. Books are slow, deliberate, require imagination and attention. Seven second tiktok videos are the opposite. The method by
by Liquix 2y ago
Precisely - the medium is the message. Books are slow, deliberate, require imagination and attention. Seven second tiktok videos are the opposite. The method by which we consume the information impacts us just as much if not more than its content.
- detourdog 2y agoThe issue is spending equal amounts of cumulative time in 7 second disparate chunks. The book could build to a complex insight. The other strange part of video media is that intimate parasocial relationships it builds.
- im3w1l 2y agoBooks also build intimate parasocial relationships. People feel a sense of loss when finishing a book.
- detourdog 2y agoYes, that is true and they feel a loss after a 7 second video. I believe living in an environment that favors short attention spans were usually dangerous. Monitoring constant change is what one does when they are alert. I see the real issue is the duration of the reward cycle without building to a larger idea.
- RandomThoughts3 2y agoBy definition, you can’t build a parasocial relationship with an object. You could argue about parasocial attachment to characters I guess but even then I’m sceptical. I understand what you mean but parasocial is not the correct way to describe it.
- im3w1l 2y agoCambride Dictionary explicitly includes books in its definition "involving or relating to a connection between a person and someone they do not know personally, for example a famous person or a character in a book: " Maybe I should have specified that I meant the characters in a book, I thought that would be clear from the context.
- AStonesThrow 2y agoMy parasocial relationships started over the radio, I suppose, and TV took that to a whole new level (simultaneously) especially with the advent of music video. Now it's Social Media with the Stars, all the time... When I was young, it was a rare thrill to interact with my idols. To accost them for a signature after a concert. To send fan mail and receive a personal postcard in return. Once, there was a surrealist late-night host who I met by chance at a Burger King with my mother. He was subsequently arrested with charges of child endangerment! So now we're on the Internet and it's so easy to become a fan, a patron, a supporter, of "stars" and "influencers" who are so niche that your money and attention make a difference, and they can return that attention with personal comments and reactions, or even commission works for you. In days of yore, it was the Church and State and wealthy aristocrats who commissioned art, and now I could fund a KickStarter or Patreon for next to nothing. You've got private/semiprivate livestreams where they just read your comments and react. And we remain perfect strangers. Thankfully, there are ways to stay connected to the community and maintain healthy relationships too. Since before the pandemic, I've "gone to church" on YouTube and I do see familiar names in the live-chat. You can attend city council meetings and other real stuff of local interest. Your support group can stay connected via Zoom. But these pernicious ideas that a celebrity is your best friend, that your attraction to a woman will be requited or reciprocated, that a personal connection has been made, that's dangerous and a growing threat to our collective safety and sanity.
- api 2y agoI've started reading more books (again) lately and the depth of character development and ideas in long form fiction is striking compared to even most long-form TV and films, let alone short attention span social media slop. (... and the best long-form TV and films are often based on books ...) You can really get deep into characters' heads, their motivations, etc. The more I read the more I feel like it makes me a better person as I absorb empathy and deep insights about consciousness and the human experience.
- watwut 2y agoBack then when people read a lot there was "junk literature". I read it a lot when I was younger. There was no dept of character development nor complex plots. It was formulaic, simple, you got your violence/romance/thrill/whatever fix for the week and moved on. The things people read when they read a lot were not deep masterpieces. They were, basically, shovelware in book form.
- api 2y agoThere is still a boatload of junk literature, but if you dig there is ten lifetimes worth of good stuff. I will never read it all. New good stuff is always being published too, but like music you have to dig. I like to read a mix of new material from good up and coming authors and classics on my backlog.
- rurp 2y agoI strongly second this. When I got back into reading I was also struck by how much deeper the stories and characters are, even compared to excellent TV shows or longform articles.
- mariushn 2y agoCould you please recommend a few such books? Thanks!