is it just your bubble?
Been thinking about how the concept of ābubblesā and āecho chambersā can be weaponized. I think itās very easy to say that something is a fringe position or ājust happening in your bubbleā when itās not, or thereās no proof of that.
I wonder sometimes - how are algorithms simultaneously responsible for more homogenous designs and products while also claimed to show granular groups something different to the point where it doesnāt feel like theyāre using the same internet? How do memes, lies and conspiracies still travel so far and wide across these supposed polarized borders? Thereās gaps in the wall that are hard to fully grasp or account for. Thereās still real life mixing of different online bubbles, still some common ground.
I feel certain thoughts, attitudes and feelings around tech are becoming more and more common, but itās easy for tech optimists to dismiss that as a small % in your personal internet consumption. Iāll acknowledge that this could be the case - but something about it doesnāt sit right with me either. I feel something akin to gaslit when someone tells me that āActually, the vast majority doesnāt care. They love it. They are not concerned. They use it all the time.ā
Bad gut feeling. Itās giving off āDonāt even think about it. The others are having a good time, uncritically. Youāre one of the outliers. Trust the masses. Your view is futile anyway, youāre a small cell in the organism.ā in a manipulative way.
Is that really true or is it supposed to curb criticism and a rising tech fatigue? If everyone thinks that their views and feelings are only an exception to the norm in a tiny online container of their lives, how would we connect and organize for change? How would we not give up? If you truly seek it out, youād be surprised by how much common ground you can find with others on this topic, across the ages, occupations, locations and politics.
Sure, it might only be a part of the tech savvy millennials who seek alternativesā¦ and a part of the boomers who feel overrun with new techā¦ and a part of the zoomers who feel like their youth is being robbedā¦ and a chunk of artists who feel replacedā¦ and a chunk of software engineers that got laid off or became disillusionedā¦ and a bit of the people who care about ecological impact and climate changeā¦ and a bit of journalists and authors, actors and writers, some anthropologists and historians, and some other fringe groups. But itās so small. Only happens in your little bubble - donāt think anyone would care. Please donāt think anyone agrees with you. Itās just you and your raggedy lot, obviously. If it wasnāt for you meddling kidsā¦
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