Aspiring for virality
In the free market there are no winners
Lately, I’m trying to—amongst others—bring about a blog renaissance, But this is undoubtedly the second post in my newly-resurrected blog instigated by the prevailing mood of the end times. Maybe I can ask myself a question like: why don’t I blog during regular times? A dishonest answer would be: I’m out there “hustling”, making every minute correlate to a visible essence of productivity, so these minutes can generate dollars. And blogs don’t generally fall within this purview.
A more honest response? It’s because the marketplace of ideas has shrunk the possibilities around blogging. Short sharp bursts (i.e. the bird program) are fine; there are 24 hours in a day and people need to be validated and entertained. And when a thought can be sold as an op-ed, why bother with blogging for no return? Instead, there’s a Patreon button somewhere on the page.
In these accelerationist times, it’s difficult to wax lyrical about the “old internet” and not have it warp into a vehicle for nostalgia. And as someone who has been riding the online wave since its early days, it’s only too tempting to come across as a protectionistic aging fuck. “Oh, THEY stole what used to be MY catnip????”, etc. You can still spend hours in the Wiki hole, and Reddit does streamline the gratifying aspect of anonymous forums despite its centralisation. Where else would I be able to debate the correct amount of microdose, delve into the history of Uzbekistan or discuss Succession with a demented fervour, away from the prying eyes of known others? And then there is the trove of independent games, and the repository of counter-cultural and sometimes obscure texts, a delight to anyone who enjoys learning.
So it’s not like the current internet is bad. Outside of the Big Four, there are still hundreds of enjoyable alternatives. But it’s undeniable that what Mark Fisher calls “capitalist realism” has devoured a particular iteration of freedom, ensnaring many within the feedback loop of themselves. Byung-Chul Han echoes this in Psychopolitics: “the I is now subjugating itself to internal limitations and self-constraints, which are taking the form of compulsive achievement and optimisation.” Cue the manic monetisation of hobbies and lurid para-political posturing. Han again: “Capital generates needs of its own; mistakenly, we perceive these needs as if they belonged to us.”
When thought processes are framed as pitches that long for virality (pun completely intended), blogs occupy a worthless space—languishing as soon as they’re born. Unless you’re a paid newsletter. After all, I’m about to chuck this link on my Twitter.
Half-hearted jokes aside, these things are wont to warrant the question: what came first, blogs or its co-optation? Under the logic of capitalism, the latter is inevitable. One person’s joy is another’s business opportunity; income brings joy, et al. The self-as-a-work-of-art is now inextricable from its hoped-for value, particularly as calls for “transparency” result in voluntary self-exposure, resulting in more data to be mined. I started this blog because I found the metrics involved in platforms like Tinyletter and Substack too crippling, known numbers and names an impediment to expressing myself unencumbered—perhaps a byproduct of how I came to be online in the first place, but I’d much rather spit it out to the ether. There are still people on the other side, of course, but at least I can delude myself, like how some musicians can only perform in sunglasses.
I guess what I’m trying to ask is: is it possible to conduct yourself online without profit or virality in mind? Post a selfie or a thought for the absolute sake of it? Of course. It’s easy to fall into the arms of corruption when it’s all you’ve known; everything else seems suspect. It’s easy to proselytise your politics or desire validation. We’re not robots, after all.
The interiority of others is still fascinating. Maybe I’m trying to protect myself from shame.
Recommendations for these times:
The Criterion Channel and Crunchy Roll both have a 2-week free trial. Go nuts.
“Tips For The Depressed” – George Scialabba
The Lathe of Heaven (1971), adapted from Ursula Le Guin’s book of the same name
On the same tangent, a new documentary about Ursula’s life and work, The Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (comment with your email address for a direct link)
Create your own crossword, then message them to friends and ask them to do the same