Related Recs

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rekindle interest in long form content

I used to feel a similar way spending hours scrolling through instagram and tiktok, which provide quick but unearned instant gratification inherently frying your brain with content. But the way i got out of it was to force myself to consume content that made me wait for the pay off, be it youtube essays, movies, books etc. it makes you regain your attention span to a significant extent and then you feel independent of that need to mindlessly scroll in just a months time. Just be careful to not fall into that rut again. Its a slippery slope. TLDR: just watch a mad man on youtube rant about an obscure piece of media till tiktoks dont interest you anymore.

@an1

Jan 11, 2025

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Having a bad Attention span

TikTok has ruined the attention span of our entire generation to the point of which I struggle to sit through a 15 minute YouTube video without getting bored (unless I’m really into it). But I’m working on it

@mcgeegow

Mar 3, 2025

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Not caring about tik tok ending

I'm often accused of being an "old soul", a categorization I vehemently dislike because it pretends as if my taste is because of nostalgia, as opposed to what is actually cool and compelling. (If something cool comes out now, I enjoy it, but we're in a down period when it comes to culture). But, something old about me, is that I do not care at all about TikTok ending, if does happen. If Elon takes it over from the Chinese, you might as well leave anyway, but I'm just worried at why this is a huge deal for people. It's just an app. Another one will be made. TikTok is not culture, it directly flattens culture into these ten second clips that take music, movies --- things that you need to process --- into something that is now consumed by everyone at a rapid pace, not allowing for the nuances, the style, the aesthetics to sit with us. I have never watched something on TikTok and thought that this is something in that pushing American culture to deeper heights. I am sorry. Now I am sure they're good stuff on the app, but it's not really a necessity. Whenever I hear the words "it's blowing up on TikTok", my mind immediately growls. I understood why X becoming overrun with Elon bots and right wingers is a big deal; X actually created things, made careers, made American life, and American events available to be seen by everyone. However, TikTok is a corrupt fantasy, chopping at the wires that make physical connection important. Read a book! Go to the movies! Go to the restaurant of a cuisine that is unheralded, go to a baseball game. Who cares about TikTok?

@jayson

STAFF

Jan 14, 2025

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Top Recs from @ruffianbandwidth

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being a poser has been normalized

I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes. In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time. Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 18, 2024

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When your cat crosses his paws like a perfect little gentleman

It's an action deserving of its own nickname. My cat's name is Gomez, but when he crosses his paws like this, he turns into Hodgkins Plumpersocks.

@ruffianbandwidth

Feb 2, 2024

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Downtown LA during the Summer of 2020

I feel like everything about this photo captures that unique period of time - the covid masks, the protest signs, the boarded windows, the national guard. I look at it now and I still feel glimmers of the hope I felt in that moment, when the rigid and all encompassing oppressive and systemic ruts of society felt like they were becoming more plastic and might even come undone. However, in retrospect, I am of course also hit with the ultimate disappointment, betrayal, and futility of it all. So in that sense, it really captures that hovering sense of disillusionment and hope that I'm perpetually caught between within my day to day life.

@ruffianbandwidth

Mar 30, 2024