Iāve been screaming into the void about self-commodification for years.
2 weeks ago | 63
Chelsea, I was literally talking to my therapist about how I was comparing my kitchen to your kitchen (it's effin cute) and your apartment "aesthetic" in general and how it's so polished and beautiful. And sure, a reality check that your house probably doesn't always look Instagram perfect is probably warranted. But it's hard because of course you want a nice presentation for your video, and I want to consume a nice presentation, but since content like this is always speaking TO a person (the intended audience), the person, of course, ends up personalizing it. And you're even selling your book in those posts! Which is totally fine, you believe in your book and think it has value. But the message I subliminally receive is "do you want your life to look like this? Of course you do, I explicitly made it look lovely. You can buy my book, it'll help!" And really, that's on me, because most advertising, like you said, must conjure a deficiency to sell a solution. But without a complete psychological barrier against advertising, constantly taking in these messages of deficiency, even from the people like yourself who are anti-social-media fomo, naturally challenges our self-worth. Idk how we can simultaneously operate in a capitalist society AND become self-worth warriors immune to FOMO or comparison. The two just don't get along.
2 weeks ago | 56
I joined a community choir a few years ago. Last week is was spiraling more than normal before the two hour rehursal. I felt soooo much better after choir practice and it really hit me how important doing that is in my life.
2 weeks ago | 13
I was telling my dad about āpersonal brandingā and he thought it was the most absurd, made-up idea and honestly heās right š
2 weeks ago | 3
It's a bit sad to see all these young folks who have yet to self-actualize sell a version of themselves that doesn't even exist.
2 weeks ago | 20
Iāve challenged people to call them ācommercialsā instead of āinfluencersā and it helps the cause. With a valuable perspective shift they become a lot less interesting!
2 weeks ago | 24
There is a movie made waaay back in 2009 called The Joneses that pretty (chillingly) accurately predicted influencer culture.
2 weeks ago | 7
Iām not convinced that kids want to be an influence because it doesnāt require skill. This only appears to be true for people who have already been adults for several years. My child sibling wants to be a video game influencer, so he started learning about photography and video editing. I think they just want to be influencers because itās the only way a ānormalā person can get famous, and because they (and the adults around them) all are obsessed with influencers themselves so it is in their view the most esteemed position. Influencer is the new president or astronaut
2 weeks ago | 4
And that is why I have decided to restrict my semi-frivolous purchases to swords
2 weeks ago | 1
Imagine 30 years ago telling some mom or guidance counselor who's trying to get young girls not to let all the magazines impact their self-esteem, that someday we'd be ENCOURAGING girls to read magazines INSTEAD of watching little toxic videos on something called TikTok. š
2 weeks ago | 2
This whole thing reminds me of this unfinished play by the late Jonathan Larson (who was also the creator of Rent). Play was called Superbia and itās very out there and was even so when it was written back in the 80s, but it could have been written today about influencer culture.
2 weeks ago | 5
Looking forward to the house content in a financially responsible way š
2 weeks ago | 1
I screenshoted the last slide, as a reminder of the importance of what we do with out attention. Thank you for putting all this into words.
2 weeks ago | 0
In a way, I feel like this is an area where being autistic saved me. I never felt drawn to influencer lifestyles, they always looked boring to me. Then my cousin became an influencer and I got even more of a behind-the-scenes look, and again, itās just lame and seems tiring. Itās still a job, but their job is literally to make it look fantastic when itās not.
2 weeks ago | 2
Basically "stop reading this and become your own influencer or better yet stop using social media altogether"
2 weeks ago | 0
I wish I could find the non consumption things to do that I am proud of
2 weeks ago | 5
The Financial Diet
A brief, important word š«³š¤
2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 3,208