The Digital Narcissus

[sufi]

I get your points and even agree to some degree in some broader general terms, but I guess I just don't see damage being done on the same massive scale as you do. thinking about things in relative terms, some arguments on this thread are based on a small number of actors/incidences which then get extrapolated and elevated to being representative of the state of our times. context is still important: some people are annoying or stir up shit on facebook and twitter, but the vast (vast, vast) number of users don't, so it's unfair to demonize technology for the sins of the few.

Thanks Leo, I don't use FB, and find twitter generally an obnoxious space, though it's compulsive, and the mass media is similarly twisted.

what is it that's become "so powerful" that it needs to be fixed? who decides what to fix, and how to fix it? it all seems too vague.

"so powerful" is how we now depend on electronic media for our experiences of personal and public life, and how it is dominated by corporates who are farming us using increasingly addictive and idiotising messages and gadgetry.

But the internet is a tool that can connect folk as never before in human history, so i hope there's still an opportunity to use it to achieve a positive social revolution, 🔥

 

[luka]

What do you think of this picture Corpsey?

Corpsey can you answer my question please ?

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

Me too, i was wondering how many online images are equivalent to striking a match for instance

None.

 

[Leo]

yeah, valid points Sufi. Just saying there are people who aren't sucked into that world, hopefully there are lots of them out there.

 

[Corpsey]

Corpsey can you answer my question please ?

Its okay. Interesting growth mid shaft. But I'm a purist.

 

[luka]

I like that it incorporates the boils in the wall surface itself.

 

[Corpsey]

Oh i didn't notice that. Very clever.

Someone should go around tate modern drawing cocks on the wall and putting captions by it.

Mind you banksy has probably already done this.

 

[luka]

As you come into London Bridge station from the south there is a cock and balls signed wanksy. That's pretty funny.

 

[firefinga]

Thanks Leo, I don't use FB, and find twitter generally an obnoxious space, though it's compulsive, and the mass media is similarly twisted.

"so powerful" is how we now depend on electronic media for our experiences of personal and public life, and how it is dominated by corporates who are farming us using increasingly addictive and idiotising messages and gadgetry.

But the internet is a tool that can connect folk as never before in human history, so i hope there's still an opportunity to use it to achieve a positive social revolution, 🔥

It's irreversible. Todays kids don't even know a life without smartphone and social media.

 

[yyaldrin]

As you come into London Bridge station from the south there is a cock and balls signed wanksy. That's pretty funny.

these are the kind of things you don't read in travel guides or what to do in london and it's why i love this site. bookmarking this for my next visit.

 

[Leo]

It's irreversible. Todays kids don't even know a life without smartphone and social media.

is that inherently a bad thing? we assume it is because we can compare, but it will just be part of life for them. I'll bet parents had the same concerns when television first appeared. perhaps digital natives will find the natural balance, use it for it's advantages but keep it in check (like, for example, drinking).

as you say, we can't stop the future or reverse time, so deal with it. assume the worst but hope for the best.

 

[mvuent]

what a bunch of gloomy whiners! photography is interesting and enjoyable, who cares if you don't look at the images very often. So what? It entirely possible to take phone photos AND ENJOY THE REAL WORLD AROUND YOU, THE TWO ARE NOT MUTUALLY FUCKING EXCLUSIVE! I love taking shots and love going back through my photo library or Instagram and recalling the times and places.

You're all too fucking intellectually serious and important to allow yourself to enjoy life, maybe THAT's what you should be examining in your lives instead of your fucking phones and hard drives! Makes me what to go over there and kick you all in the collective ass, grab you by the shoulders and give you a good shaking. Quit being such a bunch of fucking navel-gazing sad sacks!!

haha, I feel like this post was a long time coming and the talk about photography was just the last straw!

 

[mvuent]

for the record I agree w/ version that taking photos can feel like a chore or even distraction, even though its very valuable in some ways too

 

[version]

I don't mind actual photography, it's the taking a photo of every meal you have, selfies and so on that I'm on about.

 

[Leo]

...it's the taking a photo of every meal you have, selfies and so on that I'm on about.

and my point is: so don't do that, and don't pay attention to/get annoyed by people who do.

easy peasy!

 

[Leo]

reminds me of the (I believe) Groucho Marx skit where he's a doctor: a patient comes in, lifts his arm and says "doc, it hurts when I do that." doctor says "then don't do that".

 

[mvuent]

and tbf even the more prosaic photos can be interesting down the line. granted, probably not remotely close to the volume people take them in. but a lot of the time when I'm looking at old photos it's the ones that capture everyday life that are really fascinating. for example taking photos of food is really boring in the present, but decades later it is interesting to see those disgusting jello concoctions that were standard in the 50s

 

[version]

and my point is: so don't do that, and don't pay attention to/get annoyed by people who do.

easy peasy!

I don't do it.

 

[sufi]

and my point is: so don't do that, and don't pay attention to/get annoyed by people who do.

easy peasy!

well, selfies, i don't really care either,
but the bigger phenomenon of online is a new thing for us humans, & we need to keep struggling to prevent it from being dominated by tech that cultivates nastiness in us, and consequently irl.

(so that we can use it to destroy the system :crylarf

 

[version]

I don't quite get how a thread about a uniquely internet-based thing of taking photos of everything has turned into an argument over whether anyone should ever take a photo of anything at all. They're two different arguments. I don't think anyone in here is spending all day every day obsessing over other people taking photos, this is just a thread about that in particular so that's what's being discussed.