I’m An Article About The Internet That You Repost On The Internet

It used to be that the vast majority of media was controlled and shaped by very few people.

The internet is gradually changing that.

It's a pretty big deal. The internet is simultaneously an incredibly powerful publishing/distribution platform, and an incredibly powerful consumption channel.

So, take the title:

> I’m an Article About the Internet That You Repost on the Internet

It could be said, "I’m an Article About [Internet Consumption] That's [Published and Distributed on the Internet]"

Which suddenly comes across a lot less witty and clever.

Yeah, the internet is a big deal. People are going to keep talking about it. And the trivial noise? That was around before the internet; it's just no longer in the hands of a select few publishers/distributors.

Here's the real meta/synecdoche subtext:

>oh, Jesus, I once had dreams of being a Pulitzer-winning series about Congo. How did I end up on the bullshit-tech-story beat?

I wonder if Teddy Wayne could have requested that this article be posted without all of the Tweet/Like/etc at the top. The inclusion of these buttons both hurts the point that he's making while ironically explaining why online media has become such a vacuous echo chamber.

I really like that the low brow look-at-my-cute-cat culture is taking over. You see, culture should travel up too.

All this "hi-brow" stuff is just manipulation or rehashed manipulation and narrative control coming down from the even "higher brow" newspapers, research institutes and political organizations. Most people wouldn't give a crap about most of it if it wasn't for their petite bourgeouis, keeping up with the "smart" people desire for acceptance or "what should I worry about today that has absolutely no effect on my life?" news junkie syndrome.

This is the title of this story, which is also found several times in the story itself.

http://consc.net/misc/moser.html

(It's been said before.)

I am reminded of a comment tree I participated in back on Reddit several years ago [1]. I guess at a certain size all organizations have to have a meta discussion about themselves.

[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/9j8vh/i_was_at_work_the...

I can't help but feel that the author could've saved himself the time and effort and just posted a link to the Wikipedia page for the "Tragedy of the Commons" instead.

Here, I'll help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

If HN understood this article they would have buried it by now.

hee. I do wonder just how much innovation is being stifled in terms of time-wasting and demoralization by the hype-machine. I don't mind articles about apps or new techs, but I'm about getting my fill of the incessant stream of news about funding, VCs, i.e. the "business" of startups...and that's not to mention the umpteenth post about how your startup isn't lean enough if you don't validate your idea or do A/B testing.

I don't think we need to get all defensive about this. Yes we overtweet, share, retweet, 'like', etc, and we love how self-aware we all are. Good point, Teddy Wayne. Now, what suggestion do you have as an alternative to offer?

Ah, I thought so.

I was hoping this was written by machine.

May 14, 2012? Am I in the future now?

I can't upvote this enough.

And so here's a comment on the internet about the article on the internet that is about the articles on the internet that are reposted on the internet that was reposted on the internet.

this post has been brought to you by the court of King Caracticus and the letter 'j'

I'm a Journalist Trying To Come To Grips With Technology That Is Making My Profession Irrelevant