algo dump #1

what's been on my mind and in my phone lately

Still working out the format and the title for this but I present to you some screenshots/pics I’ve been collecting that I couldn’t stop thinking about but not enough to write a full fleshed out essay on, if someone hasn’t done so already. I’ve included a lot of hyperlinks (sorry not sorry) because I love context and need everyone to be on the same page as me. highly recommend this for desktop users.

So there’s layers to this one. Obviously this is an amazing example of someone pathologizing their social media use, as well as what I was talking about in my lil intro post about feeling like I was “better” or “good” for being chaste with how I posted. Also thinking about how we ascribe moral weight to our online behavior, like if posting 7 stories in a row is gluttonous, is watching everyones story in one sitting also gluttonous or more slothful? This post is also tinged with some Catholic guilt which is relevant considering our newly ordained Chicagoan (!) pope. I find it funny whenever the culture has their eyes on the Vatican, there’s usually an onslaught of conversation about how Catholicism is the most aesthetically pleasing sect of Christianity. And though I agree, this sentiment makes way for more Catholic-coded posts such as this one on the timeline.

1. This made me giggle and 2. here’s our first peek into my TikTok algorithm! I mean I joke all the time that smelling like weed in public is praxis so this shit is right up my alley. Like many people, I read excerpts from Marx’s Capital my first semester of college and was deeply impacted by it. I attempted to read the rest of it during lockdown and was… unsuccessful, but I took really good notes in college and I think I understood the basic concepts! Marx was a known alcoholic so I think he would’ve chuckled and maybe even agreed that workers of the world should unite over a beer and shot combo at their local bar. The comments on this were deeply interesting saying things like “hedonism is praxis -marx” which is a very piecemeal interpretation of his writings, though there is room for discussions on radical pleasure-seeking in times of fascism as a worthwhile approach. But a majority of the comments were along the lines of “capitalism actually wants us tired and unhealthy so the opposite of this is true!” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a clear mind and heart! But I find the recent rise of a sober-curious movement among young people a fascinating outcome of our culture’s constant push for self-optimization, and a slippery slope on the wellness-fascism pipeline. I fear it signals to a sort of neo-Temperance movement akin to the first wave of the 19th century, which would also align with recent takes from my favorite online creator Nia Ola that our current Trump-era actually mirrors American Reconstruction of the late 1800s rather than the maybe more obvious 1930s Germany comparisons. There’s obviously a larger conversation to be had about why Gen-Z is drinking and partying less but making the jump from casual drinking to the moral/political superiority of sobriety gestures something more sinister than just kids these days are lame. Although user han is posts in jest, I’m also apprehensive of “Yeah I know I have a problem. It’s capitalism” being dangerously similar to “There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism” and in terms of fostering productive conversations, we all know where that’s gotten us…

A brief text exchange with a dear friend after I posted my thoughts on the most recent Met Gala red carpet looks. The tweet also includes another amazing photo that was cut off so I suggest checking that out. I have complicated feelings about Lori Lightfoot and as a Chicagoan I am entitled to those feelings. I’ll never forget the abhorrent shit she pulled during the BLM protests in 2020 and I don’t think anyone should. I do find it interesting that of all the mayors in Chicago’s history, the Black queer one is who gets memed into oblivion… I also think Lightfoot as an example, though a humorous one, of Black Dandyism is prescient in terms of what it means for Black people to ascend within these power structures and what they do with that power once they’ve achieved it. I also think she be putting that shit on. I will be doing a solo trip to the new Met Costume Institute exhibit and I will be writing a post about it, so more on this later.

It’s been trendy lately to call any and every thing a “recession indicator” and I’d like to enter this shit I saw on the subway into the ring. For those confused, this is a subway ad for an indoor golfing experience in New York called Five Iron, featuring a man being served a chicken wing mid-golf swing. Over a year ago I started seeing more videos on my TikTok feed about food becoming a new status symbol as we enter a new era of food recalls and rising grocery prices. Recent campaigns from Loewe, Jacquemus, Rhode Beauty and the new trend of produce-focused table scapes are all pointing to the a new spooky way that marketing teams are getting consumers to romanticize their life in these trying times. This subway ad felt like a combination of this and the reoccurring phenomena of fetishizing wealth during times of economic downturn, think 2000s McBling or 90210 and Gossip Girl’s popularity during the 2008 recession. I mean, what could be more luxurious than a constant stream of chicken wings while perfecting your chip shot! Whatever marketing manager spearheaded this campaign is on my shit list while probably sharing a similar algorithm to me and I think that is both beautiful and terrifying :’)

That’s all folks! Let me know your thoughts on the format or if any of these topics deserve a fully fleshed piece. If you’ve made it to the end, thanks! I mean it :) Thinking of releasing a regular ass essay next but we’ll see.

Write soon!