flâneur

The blessing and the thirst

ystrickler.com · 3,203 words · saved by 1 readers

A year into the pandemic, how we relate to the internet is different. Not just how internet companies made themselves the new defaults for basic human interactions (Zoom = talking and/or working, Amazon = shopping, etc.), but also who we are online. During the first few weeks of lockdown the world came together online, even just to collectively hate self-important celebrity videos. But as the situation and US political climate wore on, and then George Floyd was brutally murdered across newsfeeds, the nature of the conversation changed. As some people struggled with the pandemic and others thrived, many people pulled further back from showing their real thoughts and selves online. Major life events like moving became something you did as quietly as possible. Better not to draw attention or make waves. While this was happening, the power of social media in our lives got stronger. The daily moods and stories that filled our timelines shaped how we saw the world. To listen to social media

A year into the pandemic, how we relate to the internet is different. Not just how internet companies made themselves the new defaults for basic human interactions (Zoom = talking and/or working, Amazon = shopping, etc.), but also who we are online. During the first few weeks of lockdown the world came together online, even just to collectively hate self-important celebrity videos. But as the situation and US political climate wore on, and then George Floyd was brutally murdered across newsfeeds, the nature of the conversation changed. As some people struggled with the pandemic and others thri

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