So I was actually going to post this before posting last Wednesday’s post, but I had enough thoughts in my head that I wanted to watch it again and perhaps comment. You see, I can make the entirely unremarkable observation that various forces are making the Internet less usable in a process of crapification (also known by other terms), but at the same time I’m at a loss for how to tackle it or frame the problem. Because I don’t want to walk away. I want a less crappy Internet to use. Enter, this video:
There are many concepts brought up in the video, but the overarching one is framing the Internet content in terms of food. Because if one accepts that premise, it opens up a lot more room for discussion about what you consume online, where you go to get nourishment, what you need for nutrients and so on. Because the online media isn’t simply something to be avoided like cigarettes.
For example, having trained and worked in the theater, I know a non-trivial number of enormously creative, monstrously intelligent theater practitioners who would not be caught dead getting involved with television or film. I’m not saying it’s a harmatia-level flaw, but they clearly have a bias against TV and film akin someone avoiding cigarettes. I love the theater and maintain a good show can do things you can’t do in other mediums… but that doesn’t make me eschew the other mediums.
So back to the Internet, which can have more traditional TV and film and text delivered, but where the Green brother above is including the Internet-native forms one will find on TikTok and YouTube, there’s great stuff there… along with the video equivalent of circus peanuts and worse.
See? We’re online, so it’s time for provocative opinions like not liking circus peanuts.
Anyway, I find the nutrition discussion useful because it’s a good way to approach the algorithms and curation people may seek without being an abstinence-preaching scold. And it also explains another dimension of how difficult it will be to make changes… because extant people remember media scarcity.
And not coincidentally, I find the nutrition framing useful because my brother and I have been using that framing for traditional TVs and film for decades. People love to be validated, right? But seriously, add that framing to what your media diet is and see how it doesn’t help inform choices, encourage you to try something new, and perhaps be less judgemental about your tastes or others.
For example, growing up, my brother and I knew darn well that the Godzilla films we gobbled up on Saturday afternoons did not have the introspective vitamins and minerals of a Magnificent Ambersons or Ikiru. But sometimes you just need to see the humans deploy their tiny plastic tanks to no effect. Food trucks and stands have produced tasty and well made food for ages. They’re not trying to be a gourmet meal nor one with the proper proportion of nutrients recommended by health experts. Are they the best street taco they can be? Yes? Then enjoy. Just don’t try and live on tacos.
I know. Now I’m an outrage to people who want to live purely on tacos.
But think of the video. If you find you’ve gone too many rabbit holes of Cheetos-flavored videos, consider cutting back and trying out other things. And yes, to the one person reading this wondering if I haven’t seen it, yes, I have seen Godzilla Minus One and I think it has plenty of nutrients and is very worth watching. Is it more of a bento box than a taco? I’m not sure. I’m going to try not to overthink it.