You're so boring
The repetitive nature of online content in social networks has reached a saturation point, leaving little room for originality amidst the endless scroll of sameness.
It's Paris Fashion Week! But between shows, there's a strange feeling of déjà vu on social media.
70% of young people externalize their emotions by posting content online (WGSN). If the expression of emotions and mental health issues is becoming normalized both online and offline, we still need to find liberating spaces for expression.
Conservatism and herd mentality: that’s what sometimes comes to mind when I open my social media. According to Kyle Chaika (The New Yorker), "we attempt to counteract the overflow of content by putting out an overflow of our own".
This explains the surprising tension towards social media: emancipating for some, toxic for others. They amplify our deepest selves.
An infernal machine driven by platforms: Instagram has encouraged sharing up to 20-photo carousels since last August, while TikTok allows up to 35 photos. That’s equivalent to an entire roll of analog film in the pre-internet era. A constant search for the fix rather than for endorphins.
The Banal, Posted with Nonchalance
This is the era of the banal and conformity: photo dumps, for example, although often charming, give the impression of an unconfessed stylistic exercise. Dozens of photos meant to narrate the past month. But obviously fantasized for others’ eyes, following a specific editorial line, a certain tone. You need to appear cool, but not too much. You have to convey a feeling, but by romanticizing it. In fact, you mustn’t take (too much) risk to continue serving the algorithm, generating scrolling to the last image, while existing enough to stay in the game (and in the code). The rough edges must be trivialized and turned into a trend. In a relationship? Attach a #couplegoals hashtag almost permanently. Into fitness? Stick to #fitgoals. Miniaturization of the feed, and miniaturization of our identities.
In the extremes of the Internet, wasting time and vegetating is elevated to mainstream status through massive amounts of videos.
Yet externalizing while holding back is probably the opposite of authenticity and letting go.
Owning It and Taking Back Control
It’s possible to regain the subtle roughness of social networks by fully owning who we are, and starting to… create. Because creating is different from posting.
Antoinette Love, a brilliantly creative and quirky phenomenon, posts whenever she feels like it, sharing posts featuring herself in an aesthetic somewhere between a zine and a skyblog.
Antoinette Love’s remarkable work caught the attention of Balenciaga, who entrusted her with a campaign in China.
Even Jaden Smith, before his feed fell into a more marketing-friendly rhythm, had managed to shake up his Instagram by spreading his iconic identity, often playing with the codes of Tumblr.
On Wattpad, insta-fame is disregarded, and about 100 million readers and authors gather around writing, from fan fiction to contemporary poetry. On Tumblr, users continue to meet around increasingly bizarre content, but also ever more aligned with our deepest interests. #witchblr brings together witches and mages through countless black cat content, magical cakes, and tarot readings.
No hooks are needed to get reposted, but algorithms favor discovery based on interests explicitly desired by members.
To Un-Bore Social Media, a Return to a Wilder State is Needed
After all, real influence is when you share a small discovery via private message or take a screenshot you like to consult selfishly. It’s like passing good information under the table, in a way. And scribbling down your desires, surely.
Platform of the Week: Volv
Volv transforms information from multiple sources into 9-second content (text/video/audio). Based on artificial intelligence, the app provides a digestible overview of topics of interest to the user. Explore with the code VOLVLF for one month free, reserved for readers of this newsletter.
Amazing links
A relatively brief, entirely incomplete history of online fashion fandom. (SSENSE)
YouTube is fueling an astrology explosion in Pakistan. (Rest of The World)
The Mainstreaming of Loserdom (Tell the Bees)
Tumblr and Wordpress: Two Platforms in Full Merger (Automattic)
Have a great week! This newsletter is written with love, passion, and (French) café.
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My book “Alive In Social Media” is available on Amazon.