Jia Tolentino on How the Internet Became Its Current Hellscape by yyuan

Internet used to be an interesting and diverse place, but it changes

569920964 — 2024-03-21 02:05:38 UTC

Tolentino met persons in the Internet who were diverse but now, 95% of the Internet users are homogeneous regarding thinking.

From need to desire

569920964 — 2024-03-21 02:11:21 UTC

Before, the Internet met people's needs to socialize and make friends while the Internet now focuses on stimulating people's desire to maximize economic gains. We feel inadequate and want more from the Internet. We want the majority's recognization.

It gets worse after 2012, and will continues to deteriorate

569920964 — 2024-03-21 02:19:18 UTC

Alex Balk's law of Internet: “If you think The Internet is terrible now, just wait a while.” The worst is always the next.

We are forced to put on the idealized mask for ever

569920964 — 2024-03-21 02:26:33 UTC

We have to constantly present ourselves as the best on social media. Irving Goffman points out that we change our performance based on different situations. More importantly, we have a backstage, allowing us to be ourselves. But the internet, driven by capitalism, does not allow us to relax.

Surveillance capitalism turns us into raw material who pursue superficial satisfaction.

569920964 — 2024-03-21 02:39:26 UTC

Companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook are surveilling their customers. The amount of power that these massive tech companies have within these spaces is really scary. And what's worse is that surveillance capitalism finds a way of better marketing and advertising to people, stimulating people's desire for superficial satisfaction.

It is hard to quit social media due to our dopamine incentives

569920964 — 2024-03-21 02:57:58 UTC

Fear of missing out (FOMO) keeps us checking our social media from time to time. It becomes one of the most important channels for us to stay connected with friends and family members.

We are political activists online, but only that

569920964 — 2024-03-21 03:04:10 UTC

People develop opinions, ideas, and beliefs of their own. They assess these ideas and cater to which ones they deem the most important. Social media engages people in politics to the extent of being informed and engaged to the extent of emotion, but no further beyond that. It is not a good way to channel the political thoughts into action.

We are so busy that the internet meets our needs of changing society in our fragmented time.

569920964 — 2024-03-21 03:08:57 UTC

In a fast-paced life society, our daily routines are occupied with work and consumption. It is hard for us to take time to launch reformation. Our need to create a better society is misled by the Internet which equals affirmative statements to real social change.

The internet highlights virtue signaling and reduces the importance of taking actions

569920964 — 2024-03-21 03:13:50 UTC

Civic actions are simply reduced to virtue signaling, leading to nowhere. The internet offers a platform for signaling their good virtues but also limits people to do things beyond that.

Overwhelming information only paralyzes our actions.

569920964 — 2024-03-21 03:19:48 UTC

Social media spreads a lot of false information and contributes to the dilution of meaningful actions. Our engagement becomes superficial.

The pandemic accelerates the worsening of the Internet

569920964 — 2024-03-21 03:29:34 UTC

During the epidemic, many people were forced to quarantine themselves, which made them rely more and more on the Internet to connect with the outside world. This overdependence continued into the post-epidemic era.