Sean Äaberg

THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS...

Added 2024-06-25 01:56:45 +0000 UTC

I’m sure most of you have noticed that social media hasn’t been delivering like it used to & now the stream is a pathetic trickle. New platforms come in all the time making the stream even weaker. So many people say to adapt to the algorithm & conform to the new social media landscape, like so many Vannah Whites holding up letters for the audience to see. “Do a little dance.” It’s hard, because I have to make money off of my art, but also, I’ve used social media since it debuted. Zines were an early form of social media. Frankly I’m tired of changing what I do to match the whims of the tech oligarchs & their fiddly minions. They are calling it “the attention economy”. I’m not willing to pay attention. Participating in the fractured, dopamine starved monetization of attention is too much like “the Matrix” for me. I’ve gone back to reading books, listening to entire albums & trying not to look at my phone, turning it face down so I can’t see notifications unless I consciously choose to. I try to hang out in my yard & not do anything at all, just appreciate being outside. It helps that I haven’t had caffeine releasing squirrels in my brain since I had the stroke. There is the quote that “users are the product, not the customer.” This is bandied about a lot & sounds really sinister, but also we rent our audiences on social media, which feels so much like a glue trap to me, that I can’t go forward without that insight. Also, I can’t go forward without communicating that to you. Warning you. Only a fool wouldn’t promote their work on social media, but at the same time it’s designed so that the house always wins.