304 - processed food and processed thoughts 🍔💭
twitter is maccas for the brain...or something like that
Hey there, !
I'm a consummate doomscroller, and as such, I come across not only waves of brainrot, but also, gold.
This was one of those golden finds: GhostInTheSam - ultra-processed media and the waning importance of primary sources.
The core idea is that: we don't understand media on its own from its primary source anymore, we are presented them in the context of all the reactions and opinions that surround them.
I was instantly impressed by how clear the explanation was. I've noticed this for so long, mainly because I get confused about so much on the internet with people who are even more termianlly online than I am, and trying to keep up is really hard.
Take Twitter, for example. The algorithm tries to show you things that popular people are tweeting about, and the assumption is that the news is usually going to be the thing that would be quote-tweeted or re-tweeted the most. But, in actual fact, the things that are presented to you are the replies and the commentary on it, rather than the primary source itself.
Like look at this:
First off, it's damn funny. So already, I know the algorithm has shown me something pretty good from an engagement standpoint.
But at the same time, I feel like I would have liked to read the original tweet first. Like wouldn't it be great to have seen that and worked out for myself how good that was? Before I've even gotten to the meat of what the original claim was, it's already been chewed up, digested, and shown to me in a form that...well, I guess I like?
Sure, sure, I could spend the time to go and curate a bunch of primary sources on Twitter (and I will try to do this) but it's still so much effort and then I'd be inundated with everything they post, rather than the stuff that is relevant to me.
There's effort in sifting through all the crap of the world, and that would be the cost of making sure I could get the news straight to me, make up my own decisions about things and come to my own conclusions.
Effort.
That cost is what I think makes it so similar to processed food.
I feel like its pretty well established that it's better to buy your foods in as natural a form as possible and cook 'em with your own two hands with as little processing and chemicals from factories or distribution as possible.
But...you know...a cheeseburger is like $5, and I can get it without putting in any effort at all. Guys, KFC has a Wicked Wings lunch deal (usually) that is 6 wings + chips for $7.99!!
It's so INCREDIBLY cheap it's almost silly not to be eating it all the time, right?
One costs effort, and the other costs money.
For the purposes of Twitter it's attention / engagement, which is also money in its own way. And the algorithm on Twitter - wow, it's just the easiest, most low-effort thing you can imagine. Everything served to you on a plate. Same with Instagram, same with Facebook, same with Reddit.
A conveyer belt of algorithm-optimised posts, processed for your enjoyment, optimised for your entertainment.
So, okay, it's kinda shit that all this media is so over-processed and it's chewed up and digested before being shown to you.
But at the same time...well, movies.
I do a lot of research on movies before I go watch 'em because you only have so many movies you're going to watch in your life. But without fail AS SOON as I finish the movie I'm going home to read what others think about it, go straight on to reddit or letterboxd, start laughing at the best takes, and have that colour my perception of it - straight away.
I love reading what others think. The sharing of all our different views is kinda like bringing our own food to a potluck, and I love that. It's so social, and I think by engaging in it, inevitably, you'll change how you think about that thing.
That's not always a bad thing, but for some reason when it comes to how I engage with the media, there's something different about it. Is it the big company part of it? Perhaps I hate the black box algorithm? Or maybe more simply, it's that I'm being shown something before I've had a chance to think about it myself?
Well, I guess as much as I try to cook my own food, I should probably put some effort into my social media habits too, huh?
And anyway, I guess I do the same to you guys, hey?
Chat soon :)
(P.S. If you've got any feedback for the newsletter, just hit the reply button!)
✔️Real Life Recommendations
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The Long Walk - 4.5 stars - I read this when I was young, and I was excited to see it got a movie adaptation. It was the first 'big boy' book that I had found in the library for myself by a 'Richard Bachmann' which the librarian told me was actually the great Stephen King and was the first time I learnt what a pseudonym was. It tells the story of a dystopian USA future where the country is in financial ruin and has created an annual event called 'The Long Walk'. 50 young men (one from each state) compete to be granted one wish for whatever they want if they win, but the catch is that they have to keep a certain pace (3 miles per hour / 4.8 km per hour) - winner is the last one standing. It's a well-paced film (hurhurhur) and is a very 'talky' film. I mean, they're literally just walking and walking and talking and talking - honestly I think it's just a more grown up and dystopian version of 'Stand By Me'. But I love that - the characters have secrets, they have hopes, they share their dreams of their future, but are swiftly cut off as this death march rolls on. When Stephen King wrote it it was an allegory for the Vietnam War, but I feel like it's pretty relevant in a society where capitalism forces you towards certain paths, and what might happen if we're pushed to the brink. I love walkies, I love talkies - highly HIGHLY recommended for a good movie.
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The Complete Peanuts - I found one of these volumes just the other day while cleaning. What a great comic strip! I used to inhale these, and Garfield - grandma used to have these everywhere around the house. Such good memories with Snoopy, Linus, Lucy, and of course, Charlie Brown.
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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I Miss Using Em Dashes - seriously, so many punctuation marks that become 'AI markers'!! I been using em dashes forever and now it makes me look like I'm AI generating everything :(
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Doomsday Scoreboard - I love the idea of this scoreboard because on the face of it, it looks like it's a big smackdown about doomsday predictions. On the other hand, the site's never going to be useful because if there IS a doomsday then we won't have the internet anymore so? Anyway, 277 failed apocalyptic predictions so far.
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Spending time with the material - the format of the material changes our thinking, doesn't it? Books are such a fantastic invention, and the internet...maybe less so?