I never thought much about what the internet and its communities might look like until turning an eye on fandom. Now I think about it a lot, but the reality of the all encompassing nature of the virtual landscape and the rapid shifts makes it difficult to settle confidently on a single representation.
Great post as always. I'm in Default Friend's Discord and there's been some talk about the idea of why it's become difficult to "just sit down and read" when people discussing it used to be such great readers, and the smartphone always being in our pocket was kind of the tipping point we settled on. I thought about that while reading your bit about the "friend in the pocket" line; there's this weird melancholy that I have while thinking about how I viewed the internet "then" vs how I do now.
I think a part of that sadness is wondering if I should shame myself for some naivity, like "it possibly couldn't last". But then again, being young and optimistic and just *there* is different than being sad in the present, and trying to claw back or figure out what we once had.
Sorry, didn't mean for this to devolve into sadposting, but I'm with you for everything here.
Great post as always. I'm in Default Friend's Discord and there's been some talk about the idea of why it's become difficult to "just sit down and read" when people discussing it used to be such great readers, and the smartphone always being in our pocket was kind of the tipping point we settled on. I thought about that while reading your bit about the "friend in the pocket" line; there's this weird melancholy that I have while thinking about how I viewed the internet "then" vs how I do now.
I think a part of that sadness is wondering if I should shame myself for some naivity, like "it possibly couldn't last". But then again, being young and optimistic and just *there* is different than being sad in the present, and trying to claw back or figure out what we once had.
Sorry, didn't mean for this to devolve into sadposting, but I'm with you for everything here.