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Firstly, there are many tiny subcultures that by definition you will not know about if you are not part of them. Secondly, I think that there is a hidden assump

by drdrek 2y ago

Firstly, there are many tiny subcultures that by definition you will not know about if you are not part of them. Secondly, I think that there is a hidden assumption in western audience that sub\counter culture are universally good, So when we see negative ones they do not register as counter cultures. The Man-o-sphere, N-th level gender advocates, Fascists, National Purity, Marxists, Libertarians. If anything there is so much fragmentation that we have fractured to endless stream of sub cultures that can no longer talk to each other. There is no longer any cultural center to even deviate from when everyone lives in a personalized media landscape.

brodouevencode 2y ago
I started to downvote this comment but when you finished with > There is no longer any cultural center to even deviate from when everyone lives in a personalized media landscape. I realized you hit the nail no the head. Everyone needs to feel special in their own little world. As far as I can tell this is not turning out to be a good thing. Humans are social creatures: we must learn to cohabitate without denigrating one another. The personalized media landscape has done nothing but lead to fracturing.
pbronez 2y ago
I think this is the crux of the matter. We lack a baseline cultural context. Turns out you miss it when it's gone.
forgetfreeman 2y ago
What's wild to me is Stephenson nailed this potential threat back in 1995. There's a tight couple paragraphs in Diamond Age that rather presciently detailed the shit outcomes expected from a fractured media landscape.
zeroCalories 2y ago
Many of these subcultures are almost fully compromised by commodification. There aren't serious Marxist or Libertarian movements in the U.S, despite there being a seemingly endless stream of loser influencers for these movements. The only exception might be fascism, but these movements have also been compromised by corporate interests. The reason is because people in these subcultures don't actually want or care for them, they're just in it for the entertainment. Political hobbyism. Their favorite pundit feeds them culture war slop and lazy analysis to keep the ad revenue flowing.

by drdrek 2y ago

brodouevencode 2y ago

I started to downvote this comment but when you finished with > There is no longer any cultural center to even deviate from when everyone lives in a personalized media landscape. I realized you hit the nail no the head. Everyone needs to feel special in their own little world. As far as I can tell this is not turning out to be a good thing. Humans are social creatures: we must learn to cohabitate without denigrating one another. The personalized media landscape has done nothing but lead to fracturing.

pbronez 2y ago

I think this is the crux of the matter. We lack a baseline cultural context. Turns out you miss it when it's gone.

forgetfreeman 2y ago

What's wild to me is Stephenson nailed this potential threat back in 1995. There's a tight couple paragraphs in Diamond Age that rather presciently detailed the shit outcomes expected from a fractured media landscape.

zeroCalories 2y ago

Many of these subcultures are almost fully compromised by commodification. There aren't serious Marxist or Libertarian movements in the U.S, despite there being a seemingly endless stream of loser influencers for these movements. The only exception might be fascism, but these movements have also been compromised by corporate interests. The reason is because people in these subcultures don't actually want or care for them, they're just in it for the entertainment. Political hobbyism. Their favorite pundit feeds them culture war slop and lazy analysis to keep the ad revenue flowing.