Nothing makes me feel old like logging onto certainly one of my social media platforms and seeing the identical rattling conversation I’ve been having for years. This weekend on Twitter, persons are debating what number of persons are price sleeping with (prudes vs. enlightened). At Bluesky, the controversy is over whether it’s cheaper to arrange your individual food or use delivery. I’m bored with repetitions! Based on my decade of skilled blogging, I can predict that next we’ll be talking about either Irish goodbyes or foot washing.
All these discourses have at their core a celebration issue. They have the identical basic-level severity as asking everyone after two beers whether or not they think they’re mean or annoying. (The trick with this query is that in case you attempt to say it’s complicated, it can mechanically be considered annoying.) On the Internet, the goodwill that comes from a fun conversation evaporates immediately. The goal is just not to rejoice, but to win.
The point is that you can’t win an argument on the Internet. You scream into the void. Nobody listens. Nobody changes their mind. Everyone has already decided that they’re right and morally pure and can’t be swayed.
Every at times a brand new discourse emerges and blesses us with its wrath. For example, last week people got very upset about… translations? Hello then. At least it isn’t regurgitation. Maybe it’s silly, but not less than I actually have to read the brand new Wikipedia page. Such discourses are rare. More often than not, the discourse is outdated before it even begins. Someone asks certainly one of those questions that has already been litigated on all platforms, and the entire conversation starts all over again, with no latest information or latest positions. The sides are the identical. The topics of conversation are the identical. Outrage (fake or real) is similar. We live in a Groundhog Day of web conversations.
Here are all of the discourses I remember, ranked by how much we not need this conversation:
- Is it a Christmas movie?
- How early must you arrive on the airport?
- Tips
- Do bisexuals exist?
- It’s the body that counts
- Hum
- Culture of imitation
- Polyamory
- Irish farewell
- Should there be a lady in a video game? (Gamergate)
- Who pays for the primary date?
- Post Twitter screenshots to Bluesky
- Picky eaters (adults)
- Is a hot dog a sandwich?
- Is “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” rape culture?
- Avoiding fees
- Reading as an ethical act
- Cast iron pans
- Pitbulls
- “No teenager has a favourite a part of the culture [classic book/movie]”
- Ordering takeout vs. cooking at home
- Washing the feet
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Do audiobooks read?
- Using the top sheet
- By choosing not to have children
- Walkable cities
- Los Angeles
- YIMBY/upzoning
- Is ordering things online immoral?
- Reading 100 books a year
- Camouflage
- Ozempic
- Cats outdoors
- Age difference
These have been discussed to death and I’m declaring them closed. Rest in peace after these discourses.
