When fans get fans aka content is king
I saw my first content creator in the wild a few weeks ago. I was walking the dog when she ran past me with her phone held aloft, talking animatedly. She could’ve been face-timing a loved one I suppose, but I had this sense that she was performing. It was like looking through a window into the future. I’m insulated from the creator revolution in my suburban pocket of a small town at the bottom of the world, but I would love to visit New York, London or Seoul one day just to see TikTok dance videos being filmed in real life.
Mysterious pathways aka finding new music in the age of streaming aka I’m so back
I was mindlessly scrolling TikTok this morning and a creator I’ve recently started following (for BTS reasons) told me it was okay to wake up one day and say to myself, “I’m so back.” Thank you, random lady in Florida. I really am so back. Is it a coincidence that my return coincides with the first F1 race in 5 weeks? Probably. Nice to see the papaya boys back on the podium. None of this intro is related to the intended topic of this post.
Mirrorballs and meteorites at the Brits
The world seems on the brink of another World War, so what better time to write about Harry Styles? I’ve watched a few performances from the Brits this week, and I cannot stop thinking about Harry and Rosalía. Both performed, but only one artist felt electrifying to me. Why? Let’s explore.
Bad Bunny’s gift to his two Americas
I’ve been very happily distracted by all the #bunnybowl content today — on one side of the American culture wars you’ll find the most wholesome place on the internet, on the other, the most unhinged. You know I’ve no interest in feeding the rage funnel so let’s talk about the wholesomeness.
Meet toxic masculinity’s final boss: Ilya Rozanov from Heated Rivalry
Although I was pretty offline (for me) in December and January, the rising clamour of Heated Rivalry mania still reached me.
“Have you heard about the gay hockey romance?” My husband asked. I hadn’t, but next time I scrolled TikTok the algorithm fed me a 42yo Australian mother of 3 who’d just got her second Heated Rivalry-inspired tattoo and I knew I’d be watching it.
Imagined, experienced, remembered? A trio of selves digest Stranger Things
I finished Stranger Things a few weeks ago and my first thought was: it’s no Succession. Ending a beloved series that’s been running for almost a decade can’t be easy, proven by the fact very few have done it successfully. In one review I read, the Stranger Things finale was applauded for playing it ‘straight down the middle.’ Not a dumpster fire like Game of Thrones, not a masterpiece like Schitt’s Creek. It was fine.
Giggling away the stress: sometimes the internet helps
I’ve had a full-on, kind of overwhelming week, but here are some things the internet has given me to make up for it.
Super Tuna: a fun Run Seokjin diversion
I have an intense and introspective post on the boil but I’ve been distracted by the most chaotic 72 hours of BTS content since I joined the fandom, so I’m going to talk about that first. Because I make the rules here. Kim Seokjin, everyone’s favourite hyung (older brother) of BTS, did two encore concerts in Incheon over the weekend.
Thor, motorsport and small talk: meaning and memory in the age of celebrity
I went to the Australian MotoGP on the weekend. My siblings and I took my Dad for his 70th birthday. He’d watched the series for years but never been in real life. It was wholesome. As you get older it suddenly hits that your opportunities to sit and talk about nothing with your parents might be numbered. What a gift to have the time to let conversations meander between the past and present. It felt precious, a true moment of re-connection.
Joy bookmarks: happy little missives from the internet
There are a few videos on the Internet that I never scroll past. I’ll happily watch every time I stumble across them because they make me feel good.
I don’t really want to dive into why, it’s uncomplicated. I’ve just collected them here for when I need them.
I’m about to turn forty and I just read All Fours by Miranda July: hormonal cliffs and storytelling in the age of instagram
I was both moved and disturbed by All Fours. Probably because I’m turning 40 in a few months and I’m terrified of what perimenopause is going to do to my body and brain. Some passages felt like a gut punch. Others made me cringe and snap the book shut, muttering angrily. It was like being seen and attacked simultaneously. The whole thing made me insecure and righteous and confused and repulsed and then insecure again. Unease on loop.
Please like what I like: finding validation in the reactionverse
I first stumbled upon the reactionverse when I became a TikTok lurker. Specifically I became hooked on Taylor Swift reactions. As a Fearless era Swiftie, there is something deeply satisfying about watching a TS ‘hater’ slowly change their mind about her talent one song at a time. Reaction videos have existed for as long as YouTube has (about 20 years), but the number of them has exploded in the past 3 years. There’s probably a multitude of reasons for this, but the one that stands out for me is supply and demand: it’s not just me who’s getting a kick out of watching people like what they like.
From doomscroll to bloomscroll — why I stopped feeding the outrage funnel
The question I ask myself these days when I’m deep in the scroll is, “are you doomscrolling or bloomscrolling?”
Does my time spent online leave me feeling happier, more connected, more creative, hopeful about the future?
OR does it make me feel afraid, concerned, despairing, as if the future is hopeless?