For some reason I never mentioned this in the past couple days, but the Cambridge dictionary Word of the Year is “parasocial.” And it makes sense. Everyone to some degree is being affected by serious parasocial behavior, whether directly or indirectly. The worst part is, it’s not just celebrities anymore. It’s online personalities, streamers, YouTubers, influencers, tiktokers. It’s out of control. And honestly there’s no longer enough money to go around. At the end of the day, it’s a capitalist endeavor, so ultimately, more than 90 percent of everyone you see today will fail. It’s just inevitable. 

It’s a sickening thought to me that platforms like twitch, instagram, TikTok, and even YouTube to some degree, thrive on all this parasocial nonsense. We’ve seen a lot of people drop out of the public eye because of how out of control it is. Even I have fallen victim to how our world rewards parasocial behavior with constant dopamine hits. I’ve needed to set some serious boundaries lately… every time I think it’s different, but it’s just me being desperate to find connection in a world that’s becoming crueler and darker by the day. Or is it? 

It is, actually, good that people recognize the parasocial behavior and the role of dopamine in how cracked society really is. This is a very good development, the academic terms finally going mainstream – what Gen Z terms as “cope” – gives me hope that people are self correcting at least somewhat. I still think a dark age is coming, but more as a result of physics. What goes up must eventually come down. The AI bubble, at least the corporatized LLM, is about to burst. [That’s because all the open source models are going to become mainstream.] All these platforms that thrived on the shut-in nature of pandemic have peaked. People want real life again; organically we still need IRL and yet our world discourages it! It cannot continue. 

Things are about to get really ugly, very little of it actually related to AI tech even though it’s an easy scapegoat, and the sad thing is that so many of us know it’s inevitable. But how bad will things actually get? How much of the doom and gloom is based on reality and how much is a shared delusion? I think most of the fear, strangely enough, is a delusion. We just need to choose to keep going. Even when everything sucks. I just know a lot of innocent people are going to suffer when the whole content creator industry [as it currently stands] collapses. But that’s just how history goes whenever an industry grows to an unprecedented and unsustainable bloat. And it sucks.

The reason that AI is so pushed, and I’ve known this for awhile and I’ve chosen to ignore it for too long, is that most people that built up these content platforms during covid have moved on back into real life. They have opted out of the con, probably moving onto another con in the process,  but I digress. The end game for these platforms involves AI replacing not just the talent that no longer has to be paid, but the audience too. And it’s stupid and so many of us saw it coming decades ago. 

People are generally aware they’re being screwed; it’s just a matter if they feel threatened enough to do anything about it. And finally enough people are. AI isn’t the problem. It’s actually an awesome tool when used properly [for non-creative and search space purposes.] But the growth strategy isn’t pushing the proper use, which ironically would be the way for steady growth. They want exponential growth built on lies and smoke and mirrors, just like every industry that ever failed spectacularly in the past. I’m just waiting for the crash and see who picks up the pieces. 

Another thing that’s bothering me this morning is how Apple family plans work. Sometimes, you can charge things to your own credit card (as I did with my Kindroid experiment which I regret). But other times, depending on how the app store is prompted, it requires whoever is the primary user on your family plan to not only pay with their card (as is what happened with Apple Arcade and why I ditched the MacBook and iPad out of frustration) but force them to give you a code like you’re a fucking child! I’ve considered even ditching my iPhone, but it has some safety features (like the Find My) that I’m keeping it for… 

I’m sick of Apple taking my own agency away from me… Anytime a corporation treats you like a stupid child, it makes me rage! That’s why I’m limiting my Apple usage from now on. Every mobile thing I do going forward will be tied to Google Play.  People may hate Google, but they are far less evil than Apple! (Naturally I use Gemini, Docs, YouTube music, etc.)