This was written a few years back but it seems just as relevant today, as I feel like there is a growing disconnect from the utopian promise that I thought the internet and connected communities would bring forth.
Having lived online since the birth of ISP’s in New Zealand and watched how behaviours manifest, seen and been a part of purely online communities but not formally studied it from an academic perspective, I figure I have a perspective, like everyone else.
The thing is I know when to tune out and turn off. Sometimes, I just like rhythm and rhyme.
1000 signs demanding my time from the workplace back to mine as I drive there are like flashing screens I've seen before ignored but bored into the stored recesses of my brain waiting to flash back up again demanding attention retention with the intention to sell me something unintended like beggars begging like kids screaming throwing toys from a cot like the world had just been upended is there a solution or is there not to this thought pollution drain blocking brain clotting incessant rot I could close my eyes but I'm driving shunting in fit and starts lane change weavers make there way nowhere fast the rush hour bustle queued I turn the radio on hoping for a song to move me along but a single advertising jingle makes my spine tingle triggering my cringe and groan response I reach for my phone bit and bites flash through pipes pumped out to the masses flashing screens flicker like roller decks unrolling scrolling with a finger to latch on to and linger little mentions begging attention thoughts and news queue for views streaming distraction for someone to linger longer interest it grows the desire stronger until you’ve dug into the rabbit hole found a gathering of like minded souls who have burrowed in from other holes try as you may you are as biased as they you find yourself nodding to the things that they say you start to contribute in your own way you start to invest and think its ok as part of the nest part of the community mob rules lunacy online social opportunity a room you can yell in within the deep well that you fell in until one of these days some one says what ever happened to that fella and what kind of crazy was that poor man selling turned out is was the same shit as everyone else positive reinforcement poor mental health some embellished dream scene of material wealth salubrious celebrity gossip and shite the need for good stories to sleep through the night disposable income, a sensible diet it all for out there for sale so go out and buy it look I don’t want to pop your bubble but someone needs to pop it if it suffocates your thinking then you’re going to want to stop it hey, if it’s safe within your circle and you have nothing to fear and there's nothing there to challenge you but things are not as they appear it’s all just an illusion to keep you warm inside a handy wee cocoon a safe haven for you to hide dig a little deeper and you will know what I mean they filter out what you should see the stuff that should be seen sensational entertainment for a headline and a meme build a bubble around you - are you happy in your dream? bliss ninny fairy tales white lies with extra fries scant evidence & opinions - why are you not surprised ? the analysis will tell us this but will someone answer why why does apathy and ignorance reinforce the lie although it is anomalous and ignorance is bliss the short attention span works well with prejudice it’s easier to believe someone or so it would appear when they’re telling you exactly what it is you want to hear it’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they’ve been fooled watch a wall go up around them, watch them start to build does this cut against the grain. am I getting through to you have you spent a lifetime building your specific point of view did you stop at any stage take stock and think it through did you consider other perspectives did you question, is this true? but wait a sec, did you check? in an unconscious stream of continuous partial attention did you see the confirmation bias there did you think about intention? did you validate your sources or check their credibility without a single thought for objectivity…. the spurious correlation conjecture and speculation the accidental coincidence in the pattern recognition it’s a wakeup call to look outside the bubble of your perception and acknowledge all the diversity. in the color of our spectrum missing the hue or saturation when you only see in black & white when your pendulum of balance swung too far to the right not diving in too deep dipping a toe in the shallow end not seeing the way the words were twisted just thinking it’s a bend did your blinkers hide the bigger picture the periphery out of sight with no cognitive engagement or no reasoning was it simply flight or fight? was there a lack of focus did you miss the sleight of hand? were you only there to answer or was your goal to understand? so take the me out of your we, because you do not speak for me. we may be similar in a lot of ways but never assume we all agree don’t let a good story get in the way of all the facts just inhale deeply sit back and relax a cluster fuck, a colostomy does no one give a toss but me? it turns out this could possibly be the wrong place for an apostrophe because something seems to be missing from where its supposed to be the truth is hiding in full sight but looks like a ghost to me but you have the fucking key why can’t you unlock it an encyclopedia at your fingertips a world of knowledge in your pocket more libraries than you can ever read the breadth of humanity and thought the smartest brains in history all the lessons ever taught yet you worship the celebrity think some meme star has the shit or some manipulating politician so, you subscribe to it some anarchist with a brand of piss spitting vitriol before too long you tag along you’re down the rabbit hole you forget about the research you stop hunting for the truth and steadily credibility dies there with the proof the alarmist starts to blink there’s a truther on the brink and the vilest denialist takes another drink how do you have your kool aid from the bottle or the glass the outraged are so outraged won’t let a moment past so righteously offended at aspersions they’ve been sent they vocalise, internalise and spew their discontent here’s another dodgy link for you to click upon look here’s some other nutters who like to rabbit on another salty contrarian ultracrepidarian who wants to share his theory on everything he’s querying the illusion of collusion in another conspiracy you’re with us or against us it’s just a dichotomy the unvaccinated crisis actor found the flat earth border wall and he filmed it from his cell phone and tried to stream it all but the footage it was censored they destroyed the mirrored clones unless you type in bold type and subscribe to Alex Jones short attention spammers shit-posting reprobates the self-educated underbelly think their thinking carries weight the AI starts to giggle the algorithms done its job and Cambridge Analytica stuffs the data in its gob… well done humankind you silly little minions with all your insecurities and fucked up world opinions you know that we all walk upon the same surface of the earth why is there importance in the address code of your birth the habitable crusty bits separated by the waters and rival tribal philosophy constructed political borders each had a whacky theory about how they came to be passed through primate thinking and into history that became the foundation on the stuff they can’t agree for all the wars fought in the past and all the wars to be the pigment of the skin your point of origin they start to build the walls and they will not let you in tribalism jingoism insecurity and fear you cop the blame, if you're not the same you can’t be coming here. are you becoming detached from the generation before you and you wonder while you speak why they choose to ignore you and you expect some respect but you know that they saw you dissing their choices because you thought you had a cause to your politics are dated you have whacky views when all you get feed is the same filtered news maybe you think I'm angry and you don’t give a shit no problem bro, just go with flow but maybe ponder this a bit. the life skills and such to whom this applies those giving no fucks the inherent wisdom of the wise seem out of touch with the status quo what do they know that the rest of us don’t where do they go that the best of us won’t is it just an illusion that they’ve thought it through for some reason have gleaned more and seen more than me and you? that fear of the deep, the depth perception, the call and response, the unknown reception the toing and froing and not knowing where you’re going, that looking for a ladder that’s missing some rungs the speaking not listening the wagging of tongues that ongoing broadcast aimed at everyone just white noise and static an infinite buzz a fog of distraction that surrounds all of us it's confusing there’s people losing their minds and choosing to be confined within locked rooms and closing the blinds and shutting it all out and blocking their ears and locking the doors to hide from their fears and they’re all so alone because no one here cares the one size fits all fit for purpose that veneer of austair not scratching the surface it’s more or less no less no more rightsized marginalised homogenised beige and bland watered down mall curry supply and demand if you weren’t so hungry you might make a stand and this season colours are just like they planned in the photoshopped pages with a slight of hand return on investment recoup the losses for slick suited tossers with bonus paid bosses scooping the cream and living the dream in gated communities exempt with immunity or soon to be flat on their back from a heart attack because friends... my brethren, mother nature collects in the end