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@nathanjurgenson
author, The Social Photo (Verso) former: Real Life magazine, Theorizing the Web conference, Snap. currently: have no idea los angeles
took me too long to get to Colquhoun’s Narcissus in Bloom (2023). book tore itself apart, which was fitting given the thesis
nothing is less "real," authentic," or "in the moment" less than things marketed as such
felt like this too neatly linked the feeling of fakeness to the recent pivot to short form video. all metricized and algorithmic media is deceptive. like, what's the "real" way to post content in a system that links attention to profit?
to me, the more interesting question isnt why highlights are more viewed, of course they are, but what accounts for the enduring popularity of the endlessly long streams the highlights are clipped from?
there’s a new edition of The Social Photo (Verso) and i wrote a little preface for it
modernity is the doom loop of having to describe the same thing with ever new terms
best place to start for defining "slop" is Weberian theory. one key aspect there, and for slop, is understanding the link between rationalization and irrationality ie "slop" is often used to describe both that which is "fully optimized" *and* chaotic purposeless hallucinations
hate social media platforms pitching themselves as real an authentic more than any of the fakery happening elsewhere
"smart" podcasts as a form leverage the feeling of thought and sociality to get people to consume content that, if written, would seem remedial or downright dumb thebaffler.com/outbursts/th...
"people no longer have a choice but to assume that everything is false" they keep saying this but thats just obviously not what is happening. again, better Q: what accounts for the enduring truth-telling function of images? (fromhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/opinion/ai-sora-slop.html)
i dont think real vs fake is whats at stake here (the political valence of AI is). none of these examples are pitching the AI imagery as real. "fake imagery" is a weird term for this slop bc wouldnt that also encompass most art and memes etc?
read this same take every month for years even though there's a constant stream of newsy widely-believed video happening all around us the better question is: what accounts for the enduring truth-telling function of cameras in an age where believable fakes are easy to generate?
"the end of social media" takes often need to make a too-clean distinction between public broadcast platforms and private group sharing. a lot of social-media-like energy exists in the gradients in-between
am also dying at the ad in this video for a scam news app that will give you a fake number for how true articles are lol
everything, no matter how much it epitomized rational fake empty nothingness in its time, eventually comes to be something remembered as real and felt nostalgic for
was asked, along with some others, how i approach looking at every photographs everydayphotography.org/journal/eido... the eidolon centre is so cool
"the looking-glass self", Charles Horton Cooley (1902) lol this "new trend" is just what identity has always been
good! food delivery slop and AI image slop deserve each other. the fake images dont mislead, they accurately convey the desire for crappy food made and delivered in unethical ways
fun time at the @404media.co event in LA! i liked the conversation at the end about the dangers of protest surveillance vs people wanting to be filmed
honestly a good and accurate phrase for algorithmic content, "empathy" as a superficial, consumerist spectacle