felixsalmon:

Will Self questions the rituals of our digital life (by englishnationalopera)

Yes, Will Self really does speak using the same vocabulary that he uses in print, and with the same sentence structure. Astonishing. As is the fact that he says this, a good few weeks before Weinergate:

“Social media represent the sexual arm of the internet. They are replete with an idea that is implicit in romanticism and romantic thinking, which is that there are a myriad of possible encounters out there, of which one is optimal: one is mandated for all space and all time. And in a way the social media plays to people’s yearnings on a very strong level, and it animates them to continually re-engage with it on a rather licentious promise but with a rather romantic payoff. And I think that’s why it has such an insidious and overpowering impact, particularly on young people’s minds.”

I like his wondering if the way we ‘upload our aspirations’ on the web isn’t like religion.

Source: youtube.com

13 June 2011 79 akammer-deactivated20111226
social mediawill selfweb as religion

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    fact that any kind of quest for...maximally seductive personal/social payoff requires...
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