Re: <nettime> So what's the use of art, theory, activism?

[Simon Deutsch via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Hello everyone,

This is my first time contributing here, so bear with me in case of a
formatting mishap. With the risk of sounding naive, I hope to add
perspective on the ubiquity of communications platforms and maybe address a
snippet from one of Andreas' contributions earlier this week.

On 1/26/25 Andreas writes,
>My suggestion is that the resistant thing to do here, on Nettime, is to
>rise to the occasion and to not just live right (that's also very
>important, and I think that Stella's examples are very inspiring), but
>to discuss how "the nets" impact "culture and politics". Perhaps with
>the ambition to understand what is going on, so that we can think about
>ways to influence the how-things-go towards the better...

I arrived in this corporeal form in a moment that would place me firmly in
the tail-end of 'Gen Z' but what this means is that I had a Facebook
account starting at the age of 10. The question of how the aforementioned
"nets" impact culture and politics is hard for me to wrap my head around
because, by and large, for someone my age, the "nets" *are* culture and
politics.

Even considering the fact that a majority of my developmental years were
spent in Zuckerberg's psyche-melting apparatus, I was still sentient enough
at a time when interaction with this particular technological form was more
easily avoidable. I fear this is not the case for those who are one, maybe
two years younger than me.

For those who spent 100% of their time growing and developing in the
post-Facebook web environment (compared to my 95%) there may not even be a
conception of a web without these malignant actors. I think it is that 5%
outside that led me to this mailing list. I've found this to be a place of
reprieve from the constant bombardment of ragebaiting and engagement
farming that constitutes so much of the rest of the web today.

I think the Zoomers are capable of engaging with art, politics, and
activism via the web, but so much of our experience is characterized by
infographic slideshows and memes contained in these walled gardens of
corporate social media that are ultimately shallow and ineffective.

Perhaps this time on the web before Facebook that lives in my mind is more
based in a nostalgia for a time that never truly existed. It is one,
however, that feels more genuine. It feels capable of facilitating real
connection and maybe even defiance in the face of burgeoning fascism
worldwide. Maybe we have just lost the recipes.

I hope this perspective feels useful, or at the very least, not a total
waste of time.

Earnestly,
Simon
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