Or, How Social Media Restored the Balance of Stupid in America
I should rephrase this to say United States. I’ve fallen victim to calling everything here America and forgetting that we are not all of the Americas in terms of continent. But I digress…
The real focus of this blog is the hype train. I’ve talked about this metaphysical roadway at times, but never really broke down what I think it is and what the problems of that are. In essence, I am talking about memetics. I am talking about the transport of ideas through culture to the point where what is behind the ideas (the fundamental reasoning and purpose) dies and is replaced by the appearance of the thing itself, and that becomes the ends to the means. In short, Hype.
Hype is really about getting ‘noticed’. It is about having followers on social media and feeling like people want to be around you or even be you. It is Dan Bilzerian couture writ large. What makes it worse is how young it starts. I’ve talked at length about the bonkers level of hype that surrounds 6 yr old athletes. That goes on through their “youth” years and up through high school. Once you get on the train it does not let you go. You either find a way to stay in the light or you fall into obscurity and risk the social and emotional backlash that goes with that.
I have a ‘hype’ page for my kids. I am strongly considering taking it down. On the other hand, I really do wonder if that is what is needed to get connected to some of these skill-based opportunities that do not seem as much based on skill anymore as notoriety. Can my kids get noticed without film? I’m in that headspace where I am considering it and considering turning off the social media and focusing purely on craft in our own way and at our own pace. The rest just feels toxic.