I used to overshare on the internet and I miss it, so I created SotM for myself. A joyful pocket of the ether where I can explore things that interest me. The idea came about one day when I was trying to explain my theory of mass appeal cultural engines to my sister and she suggested it should be the topic of my Phd.

I laughed, but she was serious. My sister’s an academic so she naturally leans toward formal publication and peer review, but I’m a child of myspace. An early adopter of twitter (RIP). A millennial tiktok lurker. I’ve always been fascinated by pop culture and fandom, and by the ways technology has changed both over the past two decades. The idea of exploring these topics made me excited about writing for the first time in forever. It makes sense that I’d feel a natural urge to put these words on the internet. It’s where I feel most at home.

I’m doing it for a few reasons:

1. I spend an unhealthy amount of time down digital rabbit holes. More of a bloomscroll than a doomscroll. Creating something (anything) from this time tricks me into feeling productive, and it’s fun.

2. I have A LOT of thoughts: about meme-culture and the rise of owned channels, about pop culture marketing and content and brands and authenticity. About how language evolves in digital spaces. About the moment when something popular creates such sustained momentum that it affects economies and political discourse.

3. The question I can’t stop asking: is there a formula for popularity at this scale? Is a mass appeal cultural engine created by serendipity or strategy or both? I’m determined to find out. (By that I mean try to create my own one obv). So consider this me ‘showing my working’.

4. I love a lot of things. Being a fan has brought so much joy to my life (and shame… iykyk). I love rabbit holes. I love easter egg hunts. I love the kaleidoscopic access fans get in this digital world. It makes me happy to write about it.

5. I believe the stories we spend our energy on are what we become—at both a micro and macro scale. How can I contribute to stories of joy and hope and connection in a world where our human story seems to get darker by the day?

At the heart of all this is my desire to prove my most closely held belief: through all these layers of linguistic obfuscation, these cities of words we build to explain ourselves to each other, the only thing that matters are stories. Human stories that make us feel less alone. That make us feel loved. forgiven. seen. remembered.

Stories that shape the world we live in, for good or bad. I would like to celebrate story worlds that are created ‘for good’, and to celebrate people with brains like mine who love them as much I do.

– courtpet

p.s I’m not really planning to tell many people about this play space, so if you’re here, it’s probably cos you know me personally. HI FRIEND.