Category: The Internet & Media
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Really, It’s OK to Do Nothing Sometimes
The latest episode of Douglas Rushkoff’s Team Human podcast is pretty good. The guest, Tiffany Shlain, has written about about unplugging from screens one day a week in a practice that is sort of a modern day throwback to the notion of a weekly ‘sabbath’ or ‘Shabbat’. Some really interesting discussion ensues. https://teamhuman.fm/episodes/ep-139-tiffany-shlain-unplugging-one-day-a-week-tribute-to-paul-krassner They talk…
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The Internet Is Rotting, Let’s Embrace It
Posted in: The Internet & MediaInteresting article on the nature of memory and it’s relationship to digital media/storage. The mind forgets what is no longer relevant to our present. Human memory is constantly reconstructed—it isn’t preserved in pristine condition, but becomes altered over time, helping people overcome cognitive dissonances. Think about your photos, your tweets, your documents. Our digital systems…
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“Addiction is actually the point.”
Posted in: The Internet & MediaIt would seem more people are getting it. Via Cal Newport’s blog post, Senator Hawley on Social Media: “addiction is actually the point.” “Social media only works as a business model if it consumes users’ time and attention day after day after day. It needs to replace the various activities we did perfectly well without social media, for…
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Scholarship By Metrics
Interesting article by Justin E.H. Smith on How Social Media Imperils Scholarship. It’s a long article, but well worth reading. A few highlights: Eventually, those who do research simply out of love of knowledge might find it preferable to present their findings anonymously and gratuitously as Wikipedia editors rather than as members of the afflicted…
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The Dark Forests of the Internet
Posted in: The Internet & MediaYancey Strickler, cofounder of Kickstarter, has written an interesting piece on Medium about how the Internet is becoming segmented into different channels primarily out of people’s desire to feel safer to express themselves honestly while being free from the barrage of advertising and tracking. I can relate to much of what he says there. I…
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Digital Contributing to Climate Crisis
Gerry McGovern writes in his latest newsletter: Digital Contributing to Climate Crisis: According to “The Cost of Music,” a joint study penned by the University of Glasgow and the University of Oslo, greenhouse gases were recorded at 140-million kilograms in 1977 for music production activities (vinyl; plastic packaging). Moreover, they were at 136 million kilograms…