I don’t agree with some of this analysis. I’ll stay in my lane and limit this to trust and parasocial relationships.
Trust—in media, our neighbors, in industry, in politics and religion—has already collapsed.
Maybe, instead of trust going even lower, we finally tune out? 🤔
Trust—in media, our neighbors, in industry, in politics and religion—has already collapsed.
Maybe, instead of trust going even lower, we finally tune out? 🤔
https://twitter.com/racheltobac/status/1365413178327277575
Parasocial relations in an era of digitization are a disaster. We accept the conceit that people on screens are “real” but also that what’s happening isn’t organic or personal.
Most of us forget it’s a transaction. By design. We gladly trade our cash for feelings and connection.
Most of us forget it’s a transaction. By design. We gladly trade our cash for feelings and connection.
As a species we were overconfident we could make it work.
We thought we could have THOUSANDS of friends, MILLIONS of followers. We can’t.
We don’t face trust erosion because of Deepfakes. We face a trust reckoning.
Deepfakes can show us how how much trust we’ve already lost.
We thought we could have THOUSANDS of friends, MILLIONS of followers. We can’t.
We don’t face trust erosion because of Deepfakes. We face a trust reckoning.
Deepfakes can show us how how much trust we’ve already lost.
We watch reality TV and YouTube political commentary, read ghost-written books by gaslighting politicians and academic celebrities while saying “yeah I know it’s not serving me, I should turn it off,” but we don’t.
Without that gauzy conceit, it’s over. Some will tune out.
Without that gauzy conceit, it’s over. Some will tune out.
The news man with the perfect tone in the bespoke suit, the person with the radio voice—they’re relics.
Now we look actively for flaws to find something real—which is why YouTube was so refreshing in 2006. YouTube was our collective response to a plastic, 1980s capitalism.
Now we look actively for flaws to find something real—which is why YouTube was so refreshing in 2006. YouTube was our collective response to a plastic, 1980s capitalism.
There was this sense in the ‘00s that old media were “fake” but people doing media out of their closets on YouTube were “real.” Why?
Because trust had already bottomed.
Because trust had already bottomed.
If we lose our ability to know what’s real, the response won’t be much different from what we have now. Cynicism. Distrust. Chaos. And no real way to deal with it in real time.
It’s easier to “fix” content post hoc, with a tag or content warning or algorithmic fuckery.
It’s easier to “fix” content post hoc, with a tag or content warning or algorithmic fuckery.
We’ll find a way to manage our intersubjective worlds and re-create them with others. We always have.
We’ll just have one more thing to be cynical about and keep watching, OR we’ll finally act on our impulses and defect.
We’ll just have one more thing to be cynical about and keep watching, OR we’ll finally act on our impulses and defect.
My personal position:
Hopefully deepfakes are a virus that essentially wipes out the medium.
Technology and culture scales. Relationships don’t.
If we defect it won’t be because we suddenly lost our trust. It will be because we finally recognize it’s been gone for decades.
Hopefully deepfakes are a virus that essentially wipes out the medium.
Technology and culture scales. Relationships don’t.
If we defect it won’t be because we suddenly lost our trust. It will be because we finally recognize it’s been gone for decades.
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