When it comes to this one very specific topic -- the fundamental weirdness of online social life -- nobody is better than Aaron. I absolutely love the way he writes about this stuff, and the way he uses his own experiences to make sense of it all.
I have a lot of anxiety about my online presence. So I try to hide from it, pretend like its just 100% not real, bullshit, and then I end up at this complete dead end, like: "it's all fake! f it!" But the thing is: it's definitely not all fake. And it's also not avoidable.
Who we are online is a part of who we are IRL. They're not indistinguishable, but they're also not the same thing.
AZL's clear words are sane. That's it: sane. But that alone is a sigh of relief for people like me who often feel like we'd rather just turn away from all of the insanity.
Really great article, detailing the psychology behind anonymous accounts online and how it is helping shape and experiment with individuals identities.. Identity R&D.
As usual, Gen Z is leading the way. They run fake Instagram accounts that don’t optimize for reach, scale, or brand recognition. Kids cycle through digital identities like they cycle through clothes. And their experiments are trickling up to the rest of us.
When it comes to this one very specific topic -- the fundamental weirdness of online social life -- nobody is better than Aaron. I absolutely love the way he writes about this stuff, and the way he uses his own experiences to make sense of it all.
I have a lot of anxiety about my online presence. So I try to hide from it, pretend like its just 100% not real, bullshit, and then I end up at this complete dead end, like: "it's all fake! f it!" But the thing is: it's definitely not all fake. And it's also not avoidable.
Who we are online is a part of who we are IRL. They're not indistinguishable, but they're also not the same thing.
AZL's clear words are sane. That's it: sane. But that alone is a sigh of relief for people like me who often feel like we'd rather just turn away from all of the insanity.
Really great article, detailing the psychology behind anonymous accounts online and how it is helping shape and experiment with individuals identities.. Identity R&D.