n-o-t-h-i-n-g of significance

Friends, I am homeless. Not physically. I mean this in a virtual sense. I *write* about Internet culture, and I feel like I have no home base on the web. I tweeted about this last week in the context of Twitter, which I haven't been on too much since. (Trust me, when you're off Twitter, you miss n-o-t-h-i-n-g of significance.) But it also applies to Facebook, which I've never been too active on because it creeps me out. And Instagram, which I've tired of since the ads hit my account. Even Pinterest, which I unironically love and have long considered a form of relaxation on par with watching HGTV, is drowning in bad ads and "promoted" pins and other crap that ruins it for me.

I dunno, guys -- am I getting old? Am I the world's least-suited Internet writer? There has to be a place for people like me, but maybe it's not yet on "THE CYBER." I like Snapchat alright. Reddit is good. Idk, I have Goodreads? Like are the mainstream social networks all terrible now, or is this just me?! 😭😭😭

yep, just me (link)

1&2. Experience your online self as an avatar, distinct from the off-screen. This was the theme of not one but TWO essays I really loved this week. In NYT Mag, Jenna Wortham advises we tweet like Beyonce, whose digital presence is a manicured thing that doesn't try to rep her "real" life. And at How We Get to Next, Leigh Alexander contemplates the "Instagram eyebrow" -- a very physical, embodied beauty trend that exists solely to look good online.

3. The "first great Instagram artist" is not really pregnant. Or ditsy, or high-powered, or newly enlightened. But those are all roles Amalia Ulman has played on her shape-shifting Insta account -- where memes, surrealities and pigeons (??) abound.

4. Maybe anonymous social networking just isn't meant to be. Two years after the trend blew up, it's died almost entirely. The culprit could be trolls, or abuse, or a wave of apps that flooded the market -- but more likely, humans just aren't wired for faceless, "loose tie" connections

5. If you're not currently doing yoga, you might start after reading this. Constant screen-time tightens muscles, strains tendons and stiffens joints, per a growing body of evidence. :(

Still working on an ebook solution ... but here's a Pocket link in the interim!

(link)

Postscripts: Women's mag tweets as surreal poetry. Novelist tweets as literal art. It would appear the Internet has lost its taste for ASMR. Who decides when a protest becomes a "disaster" and what it looks like when algorithms write TV. A fun project to try this weekend: Confront your digital legacy! The first debate of the Twitter election; the unseen networks behind its trends. The best apps for living like a rich, tech-savvy jerk and the best apps for making friends. "The Cyber" sounds like an '80s sci-fi romp relegated to the bottom of the used bookstore's bargain bin. The secret to the Uber economy and the true price of connection.

Data is the ultimate luxury good. "Grinding" is the ultimate joy. The true intentions telegraphed by Snapchat's strange Spectacles ploy. AI doesn't get Black Twitter and government lawyers don't get the Internet. Where Hollywood gets its old-school computers and how Siri kills regional accents. "If you have a Yahoo account, you will need to find a new mother." Wikipedia's unexpected forebear and Internet porn's precursor. An individual's personal history, as seen through the Yahoo weather app. How to separate "trolling" from legit harassment. Last but not least, and on that note, er -- exactly how racist is the alt-right? Thanks to the magic of data science, even Twitter grossness can be quantified.

Until next week!
@caitlindewey

Do you like this newsletter? Please send it to a friend! If you don't like this newsletter, please send it to an enemy. If you have questions or feedback, hit "reply" to talk to me.