The Anxiety of Influencers

My Linked Notes

2021-05-30
I came across a great combination of articles and podcasts this week. First, in [[The Anxiety of Influencers]], an English professor shares what he observed while living at a [[TikTok]] collab house for a few days. He connects his experience to the rising anxiety he has watched among his students on campus in the last 10 years. A key takeaway: a huge factor in the rising anxiety is how concerned everyone has become about their [[personal marketability]].
2021-05-30
After reading [[The Anxiety of Influencers]], I thought back to how much I enjoyed [[Packy McCormick]]'s article [[The Great Online Game]]. It made re-consider my motivations for getting active online. In Packy's article, he frames online activity as an "infinite game" - a [[World Building]] adventure game. We are all free to explore, make connections, and build up our own corner of the internet. Those who excel have already seen great benefits come to their lives. They have made great friends, find great business opportunities, and learn a ton. What an opportunity!
2021-05-30
On the other hand, [[The Anxiety of Influencers]] gets at the dark side of this game. Particularly, the anxiety it gives people who don't want to play or aren't any good.

If you liked these notes, hit me on Twitter!