Social Media
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The pointlessness of constant self-grading
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1 min read
We obsess with gauging the temperature of our present reputation. The numbers are public, ticking up and down like stock prices. The internet is the grandest stage of them all, where we endeavor to present our best selves. We strive to prove our self-worth by using likes and followers to gauge our fame and pepper our…
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Creativity as existence
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1 min read
We do nothing until it’s too late. You’d think such calls for immediacy would drive us into action. Passivity begs for a slap in the face. The way to light life back up without a disaster first coming into your path is to avoid the contagion of disengagement. Television and social media are low bandwidth…
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Our fragile, famous lives
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1 min read
The cafe was the original newsfeed, a meeting place to exchange ideas and to find out what the heck was going on in the world. The cafe was a place, other than a detached home, where Arabica beans filled people’s minds with sparks of aliveness. Exposure to high thought influenced great art. But then fame…
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One too many chips
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1 min read
Continuous partial attention makes it too easy to snack. Instead of waiting for the main meal, we fritter our hunger away on too many chips and salsa. We’re full before the entree. Replace chips with social media, and you start to see the excess wear and tear we put on our bodies and minds. We…
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The student never graduates
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2 min read
Learning stops in adulthood because people think all they’ll be doing the rest of their lives is working. But the cubicle, formerly called the ‘action of office,’ is where ideas and learning go to die. You can put your head down and work for the same company for 20 years if you want. You’ll gain…
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Face the facts
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1 min read
To weave through a world when there’s no anonymity and everything is discoverable — we are one google away from all the answers. But it doesn’t matter how much we know. People cognize to fit what they want to believe, regardless of the facts. We tend to throw all the information we don’t want to…
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The only reassurance you need
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1 min read
We treat fame and social media status like currency. We presuppose that anonymity or a lack of engagement trivializes what we do. Even worse, we let TV and Instagram determine our self-worth. But what and who matters is rarely popular. No one wants to pull back the curtain and see the sweat and tears of…
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What matters isn’t always popular
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2 min read
If you’ve ever published anything on the web you know what it’s like when all you hear are crickets. No likes, no comments, no reshares. You think your content sucks because no one’s acknowledging you. But it’s a misconception to sell your work short, especially if it’s your labor of love. There are 2.1 billion+…
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Resisting the influence
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1 min read
The urge to do the exact opposite of what everyone is doing tingles the predictive soul. To remain uninfluenced, resisting the harmonization of taste. Everything interesting must be excruciatingly different — social media endeavors to trap uniqueness with templated styles. The edited life is all chicanery, one stock cloud too many. All places and poses…
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Tech this out
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1 min read
Technology controls us. The companies that make the hardware and software hijack our attention and turn us into distraction-seeking mice. None of this is good for our cognition. Reward and pleasure are addicting, so much so we get anxious when the pellets stop showing up. That’s when we reach into our pockets and pull out…
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Taste at first sight 👁👀👁
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1 min read
“The first taste is always with your eyes.” Everything is contrived, from the glowing burger buns, fresh lettuce and tomatoes, to the juicy fresh meat. Video takes food advertising even further, making it come alive from its static state. Tabletop advertising or food marketing is no different from any other product marketing: the illusion never…
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Devouring optical information
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1 min read
There’s optical information everywhere — on cereal boxes, to ads atop taxicabs, to the best quiche recipe on Pinterest. We are bombarded by the same signals we signal right back, purchasing the Nike sneaker posted on Instagram yesterday. Communicating through images negotiates a plausible reality. We consume and project, show and inspire others. Assume everything…