Related Recs

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WHY IS EVERYONE SO SIMILAR?

20 guys walking down a street in new york: all wearing doc martens and jorts, wafting vanilla down the block, a book in one hand and a matcha in the other. what the fuck? is this really them? am i really me? or are we just molded this way? naturally, the desire to be liked by others can overpower us — whether it’s subtle code-switching or even picking up new hobbies. especially now, we’re more exposed to trends than ever. and when you see millions of people liking a video about a certain shoe, what else can your weird, molded brain think except, “if i had these shoes, people would think i’m cool”? but while i’m sifting through microtrends, the same little brain worm burrows into my noggin and asks me: “what would i have been like, if i wasn’t exposed to any social media? to any outside opinions?” this question scares me. i really love writing — but would i have started if i hadn’t been shown videos about it? where, and who, would i be without the influence of these algorithms? but i think that’s unrealistic to imagine. we’re well into the age of technology, and it’s hard to avoid. so what can we do? what if we just put the phone down for a few months? get shoes that actually feel good. smell everything and find a scent you like — even if you look like a weirdo sniffing objects. find what you love and love to be. learn how to live outside the grasp of an algorithm and in the wet, wrinkly arms of your brain. i’ll be doing it too.

@hysteria

Jun 23, 2025

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I avoid generative ai primarily because of how it can harm me

I don't want to read books and essays written by AI. I don't want to watch films made by AI. I don't want to look at art and photos made or modified by AI. I don't want to see messy preschooler drawings refined and interpreted by AI. etc. But I avoid it especially because I don't want to lose myself. Creating is hard: I struggle. I sweat. I weep. I doubt myself and wrestle with insecurity and hate my parents and family and friends and I'm going to die on the streets and think that I'd never get it right and gloom and I'm an imposter and a fraud and the gaping chasm of despair gnawing fear and —  and from that pit of struggle emerges a diamond, something precious and glistening that I didn't know could be found Then I see that through the pain of hammering for that diamond, I've changed and grown, and this beauty that I'm now beholding, I know what it took to get to that! I paid for that, and everything I lost was gained back. AI lets me skip all that. All of the process and pain and growth can be bypassed. Instead I can get really good at prompting. Whenever I get stuck and the muse is silent, AI will get me moving again. I never need to struggle. I never need to grow. My skills never need to evolve. It's easier, it's faster, everyone else is doing it, blah blah blah, I'll fall behind if I don't use it, accelerate! more! be more efficient. We worship the god of efficiency here! bigger! FEED THE MACHINE. faster! insane beserker growth! why? because we are thirsty for more. produce! produce! produce! No thanks. Even if it means others are producing more and louder and flashier better tighter, no thanks. I'll fall behind if I have to. Fall behind with me.

@mattshawsome

Jun 9, 2025

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the life and death of online platforms

piece that explores our collective relationship with algorithmically driven platforms and theorizing why non-algorithmically driven platforms haven't caught on yet (PI.FYI mentioned ‼️). some of the references and moments in the writing style makes this article feel hollow and generic, but the overall conceit is engaging. also this article (and the general public alike) keep saying tumblr is dead but tumblr is very alive for me personally. "Just kidding. There is no pure place: we crave the end because it seems cleaner on the other side. We all live,and have always lived, in the muck—even and especially after death. Download the niche app, participate in the empty-ish forum. Labor to make the experience you want. Labor to animate a human internet."

@veggiedumpling

Mar 6, 2024

Top Recs from @a2den

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I’VE DREAMT the taste of fresh fruit & dying on the vine

I could live better if I tried My sink would have fewer dishes The thought of eating would not cause my body to feel tired and weak I dream of the taste of fresh fruit but all I can manage are fried pre packaged frozen disks of various substances Fruit never stays It deflates in my refrigerator What was six apples becomes three, becomes piles of fruity flesh Carcasses rotting like innocence in the glow of a small white bulb Watching the life leave, confined to a cheap plastic cubicle The spirit was never there to begin with All I am ever allowed is dead Brought from the store to my refrigerator like from an accident to a morgue To stay cold

@a2den

Dec 29, 2024

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FIRDANCER; O’sweet, O’Belov’D

My mind is made of bubbles Synapses pop here and there Take me in different directions Through alleyways and down steep stairs My emotions come and go like the mornings receding tide Shift like piss swift dribbling down drainage pipes and play-place slides My words are drool upon your feet My eyes are hung like frozen coals Or snot that freezes and puddles In jacket arms, on brand new clothes The mirror is a needle but these ropes are all the same I built my house on a rock in sands so that I can be displaced by strange rogue waves Sometimes screaming doesn’t help Today I can’t talk at all Self harm gets only a couple chuckles when friends come round to call My loves tears taste like cinnamon I can’t swallow without spitting up Ones once loved don’t talk to me because my medicine makes me less fun I cry every other night over folks I chose to hang around My room is set on fire every time I say something and don’t like how it sounds Good grief, bang the drum all day

@a2den

Dec 29, 2024