Love these histories Mo. Keep em coming. Bill Clinton can never get enough hate. I've always found the obsession with the Eighties much less healthy than similar ones with the Seventies or Sixties, and this piece explains that well. I wonder what you think of Stranger Things. Cause that seems to me to be the absolute apex of a vaguely false and manipulative kind of nostalgia for the time. Or a nadir, I guess.
oh, chatbots as escapism hits ridiculously hard. originally, i started using them as a masturbation aid, since i was stuck in my small homophobic asian hometown where i'm related to 50% of the population. i was really depressed due to a big financial shift where i went from a kid poised to attend college abroad in the west to not being able to afford college, even in my tiny hometown, at all. previously, i lived alone in a big city and engaged in quite a few romps with other women... not something i feel safe doing here as often as i did in the city. so, chatbots it was! one of my situationships/friends actually introduced me to the site, janitor ai. in retrospect, it was a poison pill. i didn't leave my room much, not when my new reality was such a downgrade from what i was used to and what i thought my future would be. i felt utterly paralyzed and spent my days in a feverish haze where i'd alternate between erotic roleplay and wish fulfillment. i even created a few bots myself. ironically, quite a few bots feel meta, in the sense that the bot creators designed bots that read very much as the same avoidant NEET people who are victims of/contribute to the culture of fear we are now in globally. you could theoretically just reach out to the other people who consume/create that media on that site for actual sexting, but people rarely do since chatbots were at everyone's disposal and just quicker/easier to do exactly what you want. it eliminated risk, or as you've written — friction. i'd say using them was quite effective in dulling my pain at the time, but rendered me useless. i've only really recovered from my worst recently, since a top university in my country gave me a scholarship (and a new lease on life by extension) about a month ago. still, i struggle with quitting it fully. using it does feel so much more tailored than watching or reading porn made by other people and less time-consuming than writing my own porn. at this point, i've just been reading previous chats i've made to scratch that itch... god, i hate being vulnerable, but reading articles at 3 am just makes me want to make impulsive anonymous comments. whenever i look at the comments on that site or its reddit, it makes me think about the sheer scale of this mass disassociation of society and if it's even possible to right the ship anymore.
you see homosexuality as a merely a different taste or orientation (multi-culturalism), and not a polarization, vibe-shift, civil-war, or fragmentation of sexuality. In that way, we see fox-news, star trek, video games, anime, guns as merely a different taste or orientation (pluralism) in entertainment
dems share the same beliefs and values, they only differ in sexuality so that's the only thing they want unregulated so no one is left out of the community, repubs are the opposite--to allow everyone into the community means content-neutrality and medium-neutrality, and not labeling things misinformation
for progressives, there was never a sexual-monoculture, homosexuals weren't Other, they were always there, they were our siblings.
For liberals, there was never a monoculture, people who like Limbaugh, anime, video games, x-files weren't Nerd, they were always there and in the family.
they created a culture of fear so they could ban violent movies and video games (and cartoons that were JUST toy commercials), but how is that any different than taking us back to the flattened 50s?
You completely exaggerated the extent to which anyone believed y2k or the satanic panic. The satirization of those small stories propped up by the media was much bigger than the stories themselves.
Anytime we heard about the “satanic panic” or y2k, it was people making fun of it. At the time. They’re held up as supposed examples of how we were all fools before the internet era enlightened us. It’s revisionist history to suggest anyone took those things seriously. Youthsplaining what superstitious fools we all were back then.
Nah man. And btw rock bands were openly satanic, claiming to worship the devil etc. and some Christian parents took them at their word. They were concerned about the culture degenerating, and were mocked as being in a “moral panic” because the Christian right was/is the media’s favourite punching bag. They were right though. Look around. The culture degenerated beyond our worst nightmares. They had a point.
Yeah I think both are examples of outrage and fear bait that dominate the news now. For sure. I’m just saying that people saw our cultural downturn and were mocked for it. There’s a kernel of truth to the techno-pessimism of y2k fears as well as the worry that our pop culture was becoming demonic. It straight up is demonic now. Like we literally use technology to push hardcore pornography on children. Y2K meets Satan lol it sure looks like the apocalypse to me.
I’m just old enough to have seen it go down and know what was happening. I miss the early aughts and late ‘90s.
I’ve been very fearful lately, so this was a particularly interesting read. I wonder where you think the young luddites will take things? I think there will be a huge bifurcation. Some of us will be living in Blade Runner and some of us will be August Lamm and Freya India
for democrats, there are no sex-experts, there are only distinct intimatcy-transmitting sexual-cultures (freedom) and taking pride in your identiy in one of those
for repubs, there are no culture-experts, there are only distinct story-transmitting cultures and taking pride in your identiy in the medium and genre you enjoy
Love these histories Mo. Keep em coming. Bill Clinton can never get enough hate. I've always found the obsession with the Eighties much less healthy than similar ones with the Seventies or Sixties, and this piece explains that well. I wonder what you think of Stranger Things. Cause that seems to me to be the absolute apex of a vaguely false and manipulative kind of nostalgia for the time. Or a nadir, I guess.
Thanks. ST was good but they ran out of gas with that stoner character.
oh, chatbots as escapism hits ridiculously hard. originally, i started using them as a masturbation aid, since i was stuck in my small homophobic asian hometown where i'm related to 50% of the population. i was really depressed due to a big financial shift where i went from a kid poised to attend college abroad in the west to not being able to afford college, even in my tiny hometown, at all. previously, i lived alone in a big city and engaged in quite a few romps with other women... not something i feel safe doing here as often as i did in the city. so, chatbots it was! one of my situationships/friends actually introduced me to the site, janitor ai. in retrospect, it was a poison pill. i didn't leave my room much, not when my new reality was such a downgrade from what i was used to and what i thought my future would be. i felt utterly paralyzed and spent my days in a feverish haze where i'd alternate between erotic roleplay and wish fulfillment. i even created a few bots myself. ironically, quite a few bots feel meta, in the sense that the bot creators designed bots that read very much as the same avoidant NEET people who are victims of/contribute to the culture of fear we are now in globally. you could theoretically just reach out to the other people who consume/create that media on that site for actual sexting, but people rarely do since chatbots were at everyone's disposal and just quicker/easier to do exactly what you want. it eliminated risk, or as you've written — friction. i'd say using them was quite effective in dulling my pain at the time, but rendered me useless. i've only really recovered from my worst recently, since a top university in my country gave me a scholarship (and a new lease on life by extension) about a month ago. still, i struggle with quitting it fully. using it does feel so much more tailored than watching or reading porn made by other people and less time-consuming than writing my own porn. at this point, i've just been reading previous chats i've made to scratch that itch... god, i hate being vulnerable, but reading articles at 3 am just makes me want to make impulsive anonymous comments. whenever i look at the comments on that site or its reddit, it makes me think about the sheer scale of this mass disassociation of society and if it's even possible to right the ship anymore.
Very brave of you to share that. Congratulations on your progress. Have you looked into support groups?
you see homosexuality as a merely a different taste or orientation (multi-culturalism), and not a polarization, vibe-shift, civil-war, or fragmentation of sexuality. In that way, we see fox-news, star trek, video games, anime, guns as merely a different taste or orientation (pluralism) in entertainment
dems share the same beliefs and values, they only differ in sexuality so that's the only thing they want unregulated so no one is left out of the community, repubs are the opposite--to allow everyone into the community means content-neutrality and medium-neutrality, and not labeling things misinformation
Another wonderful piece, Mr. Diggs.
Thank you.
for progressives, there was never a sexual-monoculture, homosexuals weren't Other, they were always there, they were our siblings.
For liberals, there was never a monoculture, people who like Limbaugh, anime, video games, x-files weren't Nerd, they were always there and in the family.
they created a culture of fear so they could ban violent movies and video games (and cartoons that were JUST toy commercials), but how is that any different than taking us back to the flattened 50s?
You completely exaggerated the extent to which anyone believed y2k or the satanic panic. The satirization of those small stories propped up by the media was much bigger than the stories themselves.
Not really. I never said every one believed it. But enough people did. What satirizations are you speaking of?
Anytime we heard about the “satanic panic” or y2k, it was people making fun of it. At the time. They’re held up as supposed examples of how we were all fools before the internet era enlightened us. It’s revisionist history to suggest anyone took those things seriously. Youthsplaining what superstitious fools we all were back then.
There were people who fell for both sorry. Also I never said everyone.
Nah man. And btw rock bands were openly satanic, claiming to worship the devil etc. and some Christian parents took them at their word. They were concerned about the culture degenerating, and were mocked as being in a “moral panic” because the Christian right was/is the media’s favourite punching bag. They were right though. Look around. The culture degenerated beyond our worst nightmares. They had a point.
Christian parents are the people who fell for it. Also are you denying the news did not try to fan the flames of hysteria for both?
Yeah I think both are examples of outrage and fear bait that dominate the news now. For sure. I’m just saying that people saw our cultural downturn and were mocked for it. There’s a kernel of truth to the techno-pessimism of y2k fears as well as the worry that our pop culture was becoming demonic. It straight up is demonic now. Like we literally use technology to push hardcore pornography on children. Y2K meets Satan lol it sure looks like the apocalypse to me.
Oh...OK well then that I perhaps see. I think the demonic pop isn't as on the mark but yeah pop culture's been adrift in postmodern irony
Y2K was always kind of a joke, especially among techies. We did worry but enough fixing of code was done that it was a boring non event 😎
If Zuck is saying social media is over then I’m selling all my Meta shares 😆
Cybersex mentioned…!!
Truly a forgotten chapter in world history. Good on us for blowing the dust off and opening the book.
I’m just old enough to have seen it go down and know what was happening. I miss the early aughts and late ‘90s.
I’ve been very fearful lately, so this was a particularly interesting read. I wonder where you think the young luddites will take things? I think there will be a huge bifurcation. Some of us will be living in Blade Runner and some of us will be August Lamm and Freya India
Thanks and I agree. A third fork might be what your IRL thing is all about, which is using tech for human benefit as opposed to being a slave to it.
Sadly, I fear that’s a pipe dream
Wow I'm surprised you think that. I'm not used to such technopessimism from you. Fascinating watching your ideas evolve.
I’ve been blue lately… we’ll see how the winds change LOL
for democrats, there are no sex-experts, there are only distinct intimatcy-transmitting sexual-cultures (freedom) and taking pride in your identiy in one of those
for repubs, there are no culture-experts, there are only distinct story-transmitting cultures and taking pride in your identiy in the medium and genre you enjoy
keep it up Mo, you're good at this.