p4r4s0c14L r3L4t10nsh1ps

 i LOVE the concept of influencers. it's really interesting to watch someone else's life and get really invested in them just for fun. def one of my favorite things to do on the internet. my favorite influencers are/were just people posting, like just a goth girl from the midwest, or some guy with a mullet, or a soundcloud rapper's wife. the soundcloud rapper's wife is the one who inspired me to write this. yesterday, her cat was poisoned to DEATH by LILIES like the flower!!! can you even believe it!! that is going to occupy my brain for like, the next 2 weeks. 

anyway, i feel like social media has been consistently closing the gap between regular person and internet personality ever since like, myspace. there are BILLIONS (maybe) of people online. anybody could be an influencer or become a real celebrity. plus, there are so many niche communities on the internet, and within those there are like popular people or accounts. it's really so interesting how our culture has evolved to be so connected and near universal. in some ways, it feels like a 1990s rom-com high school cafeteria- we are all in the same room, doing the same thing, but there are somewhat defined groups. i guess tiktok is a good case study for this- there are dedicated communities for certain things. prison tiktok, plant tiktok, book tiktok, cosplayers, furries, "straight" tiktok, it literally doesn't matter. the algorithm kind of feeds into these like genres of videos based on the kinds of things you like. in terms of social media algorithms, tiktok's is probably my favorite and twitter is DEFINITELY my least favorite. twitter does not understand anything i like. wtf do u mean "you might be interested in this topic: soccer"??? eat my ass. conversely, tiktok really understands what you like and the way you like it. chinese spyware or not, i love it. it basically now controls every new trend. music, clothes, aesthetics, ideologies, basically the entire culture. 

there is something to be said about the downsides of algorithms and becoming trapped in conspiracy holes or mlms or a cult or whatever. as much as you can surf the web, you can drown, too. being technologically literate has to become a more important skill. everybody on the internet is LYING in some way, you as the internet user has to know how and why they are lying, just like irl. usually the reason is just like... attention or money. it's really not difficult. 

last thoughts okay LMFAO i do have something to say about the role social media played as a window to the outside world during quarantine. being so connected over social media also definitely helped people not completely lose it this year. the speed at which information is passed around on the internet has never been this fast in the entire history of the world (probably). the mass protesting that took place last summer would not have been as easily accomplished if people were not all online all the time. 

okay blah blah blah i'm not saying phone bad. never that. i'm kind of dependent on my phone, and i hate not having it on me. it's just interesting to think abt like, the culture of the internet and online trends. whatever bye