June 5, 2021

one day, the internet will forget us (but that day is not today)

Howdy friend, thanks for opening! This week’s entry is about an internet that does not forget, former journalists, and a couple of gay things. Hope you find something interesting, relatable or useful here. -K

Imagine this: One day, the Internet will forget us.

Does that prospect thrill you or depress you? For me, it’s wishful thinking. Sure, the internet may be full of dead links, but when it comes to information on social media and those embarrassing photos, the internet is forever. Of course, it’s a bad thing.

“Today, people enter adulthood with much of their childhood and adolescence still up for scrutiny. But as past identities and mistakes become stickier, it’s not just individuals who might suffer. Something much larger—the potential for social change and transformation—may also be at risk,” says the MIT Technology Review, pointing to an entire generation whose early footprints on the internet will come to haunt them forever, costing them slots in universities and even professional careers.

(Related via NYT in 2019: How photos of your kids are powering surveillance technology)

I am so thankful I barely missed the opportunity to be hyper-active in any form of social media when I was in college. Back then, I’d been invited to only one social media network: Friendster. At the time, I’d been busy doing what most people who were already creators on the internet at the time were doing: Writing blogs and making websites.

It was a crazy time. My original blog–whose first entry is turning TWENTY YEARS OLD this November–was once hosted on Blogger and has long been shuttered. Remnants of it–or at least, what I think is worth still keeping public–is still out there somewhere. I call that space a depository for all my past selves.

I can only imagine (insert terrified shuddering here) how much of a mess I (and my friends!) would have made, had we been armed with smartphones with cameras and mobile internet in the early to mid-00s: my (locked) finsta would have been full of cigarettes and beer, and my twitter would have been full of passive aggressive subtweets directed at a girl who probably followed me back (ha!) along with her friends who probably already knew anyway we were getting into another fight (double ha!)

And man, all that bad poetry. Oh god.

But yes, those years were full of mistakes I do have recorded somewhere–I have always been an avid journaler–but I am so thankful their contents were not sold to any of my then-future employers when I was looking for employment. I’m grateful that I still managed to enjoy a time when I could learn from my mistakes without an entire world looking over my shoulder through a screen.

Something to chew on before we move on:

Research on youth and media practices indicates that as young people lose their ability to explore new ideas and identities and mess up without consequence, there are two critical dangers:

First, some are already becoming so risk-averse that they may be missing out on at least some of the experimentation that has long defined adolescence.

The second potential danger is more troubling: in a world where the past haunts the present, young people may calcify their identities, perspectives, and political positions at an increasingly young age.

Should one’s past define one’s future? The risk is that young people who hold extreme views as teenagers may feel there’s no use changing their minds if a negative perception of them sticks regardless. Simply put, in the future, geeky kids remain geeky, dumb jocks remain dumb, and bigots remain bigots. Identities and political perspectives will be hardened in place, not because people are resistant to change but because they won’t be allowed to shed their past. In a world where partisan politics and extremism continue to gain ground, this may be the most dangerous consequence of coming of age in an era when one has nothing left to hide. 

---

Speaking of past selves, a former colleague shared this on Facebook and I couldn’t stop thinking about it: There’s no such thing as a former journalist via Poynter. And here’s the most-shared portion of it:

But the motives of many individual journalists are less pure than they would admit. Reporters want scoops and kick-ass investigations that will advance their careers. They work for businesses that will keep lots of secrets when it is in their corporate interests.

Here is what I see: The curse is a blessing in disguise. The migration of good journalists into other fields expands interest in the well-being of important institutions. I know many of these “former journalists,” and they have not left their skills and values behind. They use them every day for the public good.

I’m part of this exodus, though I probably was not a journalist but more of a media worker. At the time, I truly believed it was time to move on. But I like this notion of a bigger tribe of Public Writers–not all of whom are journalists and media workers. When I was still with Research, we relied heavily on primary sources–reports from institutions, government offices, companies. Who consolidates information and prepares these materials for release? Information officers, public relations writers and staff. True, there are practitioners out there who are into… well, less-than-ideal practices (e.g. surveys with dubious methodologies), but I have met many who are, like the article points out, making the best use of their skills for the public good. I think the better narrative is to think we’re allies rather than competition, or worse, enemies.

---

Recs from around the Internet

• Via NYT Modern Love: She put her unspent love in a cardboard box. Oh wow, I had to pause for a bit while reading this, misty-eyed and all. A couple of friends shared this to me on socmed, and it felt like my mother saying hello. She did not have time to make similar future gifts for us, but her voice is still the loudest one in my head, and that’s a gift enough.

• Via CNN Philippines: New Filipino anthology shines light on stories by women loving women. Now it can be told, I guess! A couple of years ago, I wrote something for an anthology of wlw stories. It was supposed to get published last year, but the pandemic happened, and now it looks like the publication is pushing through this June–Pride Month! What a great way to celebrate. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy finally :) It will carry two stories I wrote–one old, one new–or so the latest TOC says. Let’s see!

A new Filipino anthology shines light on stories by women loving women

“Tingle,” named for the homonym of the Tagalog word for “clitoris,” was conceptualized in 2015 and will finally be published this month, just in time for Pride.

• Sharing a couple of memes from the Internet because jfc this week needs them:

I really believe in Balitang Ina supremacy sksksksks

Tinapos ko siya. Like many of you lmao.

Thanks for making it this far! Hope you have a good weekend ♥

XO,

K