I am reading this as my country is in the middle of a national strike riddled with events of police violence. Over the first two weeks people were urging local celebrities and influencers to denounce state violence and, at least on the local twitter community, those who kept silent ended up being labeled as accomplices... (and some of them were campaigning for the current president, so "accountability" was a factor).
I am torn between expecting people to at least acknowledge the situation and knowing that, in this particular case, it is more important to pay attention to the people on the streets...
Anyways, thank you for your writings, as usual they make me reflect a lot.
This was a great read. You really put into words the kind of icky feeling I get when I see multiple comments on someone's TikTok/Insta/Twitter asking "When are you going to speak out on X issue??".
It can be a good thing but as you highlighted, it sort of stops being about the issue, makes things seem black and white, and becomes a means of ensuring one's "unproblematic fave" remains "unproblematic". Such a weird and complex phenomenon. Just subscribed so looking forward to reading more!
Really appreciated this one, especially the questions around posting = caring. It made me think of one tweet I saw circulating last week that said something like "If you pay taxes in the US, your tax dollars are directly funding Israel. If you don't care, you're complicit." I read it and thought ok, of course I care... but now what? What does that caring do? How does caring about it suddenly free me of complicity?
Wow, I was just talking about this selection of interconnected phenomena with my therapist last week. I have been spending less and less time on Instagram lately, because of the way it creates urgency and flattens nuance. Even though people on Instagram love SAYING nuance. In fact I feel weird even saying that word anymore, because then I worry, am I a tool? Do people still say tool in that context anymore? (This is getting kind of meta.) My point, if I have one, is that this is a good newsletter and I like it. Please give Clem a kiss for me. If she likes kisses- I know some dogs don't.
It’s like an ongoing competition between unsolicited advice and schoolyard bullies. You struck a cord with this one. There’s so many discussions to be had from what you’ve written.
This read has been really refreshing after having to take multiple Twitter breaks in the last year. I've been having difficulty discerning what people really want when they ask for "recognition," because it feels like the line between solidarity and performance is increasingly vague. As if every gesture towards "recognition" becomes recognition of me as a 'good-white-person'. Which gives me all kinds of gross feelings. And I like what you said about real solidarity, and real action happening beyond 'the moment'. That, inevitably, real life action is a different thing than online 'solidarity'.
Makes me think of J. Balvin's reflections in his documentary Boy from Medellín. Definitely made me reflect on the weight of superstar influence seemed to impact his anxiety and mental wellness, while at the same time his position as an artist frequently repping and benefitting from his brand of Colombianidad
I am reading this as my country is in the middle of a national strike riddled with events of police violence. Over the first two weeks people were urging local celebrities and influencers to denounce state violence and, at least on the local twitter community, those who kept silent ended up being labeled as accomplices... (and some of them were campaigning for the current president, so "accountability" was a factor).
I am torn between expecting people to at least acknowledge the situation and knowing that, in this particular case, it is more important to pay attention to the people on the streets...
Anyways, thank you for your writings, as usual they make me reflect a lot.
This was a great read. You really put into words the kind of icky feeling I get when I see multiple comments on someone's TikTok/Insta/Twitter asking "When are you going to speak out on X issue??".
It can be a good thing but as you highlighted, it sort of stops being about the issue, makes things seem black and white, and becomes a means of ensuring one's "unproblematic fave" remains "unproblematic". Such a weird and complex phenomenon. Just subscribed so looking forward to reading more!
Really appreciated this one, especially the questions around posting = caring. It made me think of one tweet I saw circulating last week that said something like "If you pay taxes in the US, your tax dollars are directly funding Israel. If you don't care, you're complicit." I read it and thought ok, of course I care... but now what? What does that caring do? How does caring about it suddenly free me of complicity?
Wow, I was just talking about this selection of interconnected phenomena with my therapist last week. I have been spending less and less time on Instagram lately, because of the way it creates urgency and flattens nuance. Even though people on Instagram love SAYING nuance. In fact I feel weird even saying that word anymore, because then I worry, am I a tool? Do people still say tool in that context anymore? (This is getting kind of meta.) My point, if I have one, is that this is a good newsletter and I like it. Please give Clem a kiss for me. If she likes kisses- I know some dogs don't.
It’s like an ongoing competition between unsolicited advice and schoolyard bullies. You struck a cord with this one. There’s so many discussions to be had from what you’ve written.
This read has been really refreshing after having to take multiple Twitter breaks in the last year. I've been having difficulty discerning what people really want when they ask for "recognition," because it feels like the line between solidarity and performance is increasingly vague. As if every gesture towards "recognition" becomes recognition of me as a 'good-white-person'. Which gives me all kinds of gross feelings. And I like what you said about real solidarity, and real action happening beyond 'the moment'. That, inevitably, real life action is a different thing than online 'solidarity'.
Makes me think of J. Balvin's reflections in his documentary Boy from Medellín. Definitely made me reflect on the weight of superstar influence seemed to impact his anxiety and mental wellness, while at the same time his position as an artist frequently repping and benefitting from his brand of Colombianidad