www-404media-co-3wvica.txt (17976B)
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If anything, it’s exactly what they want. 54 55 Trump’s second presidential term has arrived amidst a new golden age for 56 internet grifters, propagandists, and bad-faith hucksters of all stripes. The 57 contours of this era of untruth have been flashing like neon signs for the past 58 decade, constantly enticing us to engage with its impenetrable nonsense. 59 Whether it’s gaslighting everyone who saw Elon Musk give two Nazi salutes [36] 60 during the inauguration or blaming the Los Angeles wildfires [37]on the racist 61 dog whistle of “DEI,” lies and absurdities now regularly flood our senses, 62 having long outpaced the media’s capacity to filter them. 63 64 Many of my journalist colleagues have attempted to beat back the tide under 65 banners like “fighting disinformation” and “accountability.” While these 66 efforts are admirable, the past few years have changed my own internal 67 calculus. Thinkers like[38] Jean-Paul Sartre and[39] Hannah Arendt warned us 68 that the point of this deluge is not to persuade, but to overwhelm and paralyze 69 our capacity to act. More recently, researchers have found that the viral 70 outrage disseminated on social media in response to these ridiculous claims 71 actually [40]reduces the effectiveness of collective action. The result is a 72 media environment that keeps us in a state of debilitating fear and anger, 73 endlessly reacting to our oppressors instead of organizing against them. 74 75 To that end, the age of corporate social media has been a roaring success. 76 77 “The reality is you are oxygenating the things these people are saying even as 78 you purport to debunk them,” Katherine Cross, a sociologist and author of Log 79 Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix, told 404 Media. “Whether it’s 80 [New York Times columnist] Ross Douthat providing [41]a sane-washing gloss on 81 Trump’s mania or people on social media vehemently disagreeing and dunking on 82 it, they’re legitimizing it as part of the discourse.” 83 84 Cross’ book contains a meticulous catalog of social media sins which many 85 people who follow and care about current events are probably guilty of—myself 86 very much included. She documents how tech platforms encourage us, through 87 their design affordances, to post and seethe and doomscroll into the void, 88 always reacting and never acting. 89 90 But perhaps the greatest of these sins is convincing ourselves that posting is 91 a form of political activism, when it is at best a coping mechanism—an 92 individualist solution to problems that can only be solved by collective 93 action. This, says Cross, is the primary way tech platforms atomize and 94 alienate us, creating “a solipsism that says you are the main protagonist in a 95 sea of NPCs.” 96 97 “Everything on social media is designed to make you think like that,” said 98 Cross. “It’s all about you—your feed, your network, your friends.” 99 100 In the days since the inauguration, I’ve watched people on Bluesky and 101 Instagram fall into these same old traps. My timeline is full of reactive hot 102 takes and gotchas by people who still seem to think they can quote-dunk their 103 way out of fascism—or who know they can’t, but simply can’t resist taking the 104 bait. The media is more than willing to work up their appetites. Legacy news 105 outlets cynically chase clicks (and ad dollars) by disseminating whatever 106 sensational nonsense those in power are spewing. 107 108 "For most people, social media gives you this sense that unless you care 109 about everything, you care about nothing. You must try to swallow the world 110 while it’s on fire" 111 112 This in turn fuels yet another round of online outrage, edgy takes, and 113 screenshots exposing the “hypocrisy” of people who never cared about being seen 114 as hypocrites, because that’s not the point. Even violent fantasies about 115 putting billionaires to the guillotine are rendered inept in these online 116 spaces—just another pressure release valve to harmlessly dissipate our rage 117 instead of compelling ourselves to organize and act. 118 119 This is the opposite of what media, social or otherwise, is supposed to do. Of 120 course it’s important to stay informed, and journalists can still provide the 121 valuable information we need to take action. But this process has been 122 short-circuited by tech platforms and a media environment built around seeking 123 reaction for its own sake. Many Twitter refugees made a good choice in 124 migrating from Musk’s X to Bluesky, carving out a new online space that is 125 inhospitable to bigoted debate bros and time-wasting trolls. But in their 126 enemies’ absence, many of these Left-leaning posters have just reverted to 127 dunking on each other, preferring the catharsis of sectarian conflict over the 128 hard work of organizing. 129 130 Under this status quo, everything becomes a myopic contest of who can best 131 exploit peoples’ anxieties to command their attention and energy. If we don’t 132 learn how to extract ourselves from this loop, none of the information we gain 133 will manifest as tangible action—and the people in charge prefer it that way. 134 135 It’s no surprise that tech billionaires like Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark 136 Zuckerberg have rushed to kiss the ring of the twice-ascendent Trump. The 137 marriage of big tech and Trumpworld should make clear that Silicon Valley and 138 authoritarians share the same goal: to crush dissent by keeping their would-be 139 opponents spinning on an endless hamster wheel of reactive anger. And just like 140 in the classic 1983 thriller WarGames, the only winning move is not to play. 141 142 That can be a tough pill to swallow when the internet is our main window into 143 the world, and that world seems to be rapidly falling apart. We gaze into our 144 phone-portals, paralyzed by the trance of the doomscroll, reacting and swiping 145 from one news article and hot take to another. Authoritarians issue frightening 146 proclamations that may or may not be legally enforceable, seizing our attention 147 and energy and ensuring that the process will repeat, ad infinitum. 148 149 So what is the alternative? If we log off, what exactly are we supposed to do 150 instead? How are we supposed to get information without constantly raising our 151 antennae into the noxious cumulonimbus cloud of social media? 152 153 It isn’t quite as simple as “touch grass,” but it also sort of is. 154 155 Trusted information networks have existed since long before the internet and 156 mass media. These networks are in every town and city, and at their core are 157 real relationships between neighbors—not their online, parasocial simulacra. 158 159 Here in New York City, in the week since the inauguration, I’ve seen large 160 groups mobilize to[42] defend migrants from anticipated ICE raids and provide 161 warm food and winter clothes for the unhoused after[43] the city closed 162 shelters and abandoned people in sub-freezing temperatures. Similar efforts are 163 underway in Chicago, where [44]ICE reportedly arrested more than 100 people, 164 and in other cities where ICE has planned or attempted raids, with volunteers 165 assigned to keep watch over key locations where migrants are most vulnerable. 166 167 A few weeks earlier, residents created [45]ad-hoc mutual aid distros in Los 168 Angeles to provide food and essentials for those displaced by the wildfires. 169 The coordinated efforts gave Angelenos a lifeline during the crisis, cutting 170 through the [46]false claims spreading on social media about looting and 171 out-of-state [47]fire trucks being stopped for “emissions testing.” Many mutual 172 aid groups in Los Angeles have not just been helping people affected by the 173 fires but have also focused on distributing information about how to learn 174 about and resist ICE raids in Los Angeles. It is no surprise that some of the 175 [48]largest and most coordinated protests in the early days of Trump’s term 176 have happened in Los Angeles, where thousands of anti-ICE protesters shut down 177 the 101 highway and several streets in downtown Los Angeles Sunday. 178 179 Some of these efforts were coordinated online over Discord and secure messaging 180 apps, but all of them arose from existing networks of neighbors and community 181 organizers, some of whom have been organizing for decades. 182 183 “For most people, social media gives you this sense that unless you care about 184 everything, you care about nothing. You must try to swallow the world while 185 it’s on fire,” said Cross. “But [49]we didn’t evolve to be able to absorb this 186 much info. It makes you devalue the work you can do in your community.” 187 188 It’s not that social media is fundamentally evil or bereft of any good 189 qualities. Some of my best post-Twitter moments have been spent goofing around 190 with mutuals on Bluesky, or waxing romantic about the joys of human creativity 191 and art-making in an increasingly AI-infested world. But when it comes to 192 addressing the problems we face, no amount of posting or passive info 193 consumption is going to substitute the hard, unsexy work of organizing. 194 195 It’s a lesson the Extremely Online Left still hasn’t fully learned, failing 196 where its political enemies succeed. Reactionary right-wing groups like the 197 homophobic and transphobic [50]Moms for Liberty—which seeks to ban books from 198 LGBTQ and BIPOC authors under the guise of “parental rights”—have claimed 199 political victories by seizing power one public school board and small town at 200 a time. Other reactionaries have similarly managed to take their pet grievances 201 about diversity and wokeness to the national level by moving from online 202 outrage to on-the-ground community organizing. 203 204 You can discourse and quote-dunk and fact-check until you’re blue in the face, 205 but at a certain point, you have to stop and decide what truth you believe in. 206 The internet has conditioned us to constantly seek new information, as if 207 becoming a sponge of bad news will eventually yield the final piece of a 208 puzzle. But there is also such a thing as having enough information. As the[51] 209 internet continues to enshittify, maybe what we really need is to start 210 trusting each other and our own collective sense of what is true and good. 211 212 We don’t need any more irony-poisoned hot takes or cathartic, irreverent snark. 213 We need to collectively decide what kind of world we actually do want, and what 214 we’re willing to do to achieve it. 215 216 Janus Rose is New York City-based journalist, educator and artist whose work 217 explores the impacts of A.I. and technology on activists and marginalized 218 communities. Previously a senior editor at VICE, she has been published in 219 digital and print outlets including e-Flux Journal, DAZED Magazine, The New 220 Yorker, and Al Jazeera. 221 222 More like this 223 224 [52] The Dude Whose Brain Turned to Glass 225 [53]The Dude Whose Brain Turned to Glass 226 He was hanging out in an ancient Roman port town 2,000 years ago, when 227 something struck him (a deadly volcanic eruption). 228 [54] Becky Ferreira Becky Ferreira 229 · Mar 1, 2025 230 [55] Behind the Blog: Stunt Blogging and the 'Fuck It' Paradigm 231 [56]Behind the Blog: Stunt Blogging and the 'Fuck It' Paradigm 232 This week, we discuss stunt blogging, Signal pains, and murderous Reels. 233 [57] Samantha Cole Samantha Cole , 234 [58] Joseph Cox Joseph Cox , 235 [59] Emanuel Maiberg Emanuel Maiberg 236 · Feb 28, 2025 237 [60] The Digital Packrat Manifesto 238 [61]The Digital Packrat Manifesto 239 DRM and big tech's war on ownership has led me to make my own media libraries, 240 and you should too. 241 [62] Janus Rose 242 · Feb 28, 2025 243 Advertisement 244 • 245 [63]Go ad free 246 Advertisement 247 • 248 [64]Go ad free 249 • 250 Hide 251 252 Unparalleled access to hidden worlds both online and IRL. 253 254 404 Media is a new independent media company founded by technology journalists 255 Jason Koebler, Emanuel Maiberg, Samantha Cole, and Joseph Cox. 256 257 • [65]About 258 • [66]RSS 259 • [67]Support/FAQ 260 • [68]Podcast 261 • [69]FOIA Forum Archive 262 • [70]Merch 263 • [71]Advertise 264 • [72]Thanks 265 • [73]Privacy 266 267 [74]Twitter [75]Bluesky [76]Mastodon [77]Instagram [78]TikTok [79]Facebook [80] 268 RSS 269 Join the newsletter to get the latest updates. 270 [81][ ] 271 Success 272 Great! 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