Too Many Cameras and the US TikTok Ban
Also: Switch 2, More NYC Congestion Pricing Stats, and The Unavoidable Meta of Optimization in Gaming
TikTok is now banned in the US (for now). Prior to this end, it was quite entertaining to see many US TikTok users move to RedNote (a similar-ish Chinese platform). Besides the censorship issues, seeing people reconnect with each other across clear cultural boundaries as people felt very wholesome.
It reminded me of an era of the web where “going online” was a destination: a place that was out there and not the pervasive always-on hyper layer it is today. You would see snippets of life elsewhere while still being apart and distant. These windows in cyberspace felt like temporary portals and we could connect and engage over common humanity before retreating back to our present. Now, most of the web had crammed us into an ever smaller, algorithmic, always-online, humid compartments and understandably, people are upset with each other. Who wouldn’t be? The walls of slow, non-algorithmic, and inaccessible internet that made us good online neighbours, had fallen. Sincere connection got crushed by a voluntary panopticon.
Too online and too many cameras. While binge drinking has declined (a good thing):
…one of the reasons someone posited for this, is that we ultimately have too many cameras now.
People are just generally less likely to experiment, to dose themselves with a bit of healthy insanity, every now and again. The audience is always present and we’re always performing for all of them.
I’m not a doomer or pessimist, but it merely comes from a desire to renegotiate our relationship to our platforms. More sincere connection, less cynical trolling. And ultimately, the simplest lever is simply turning it off more often. As much as I feel for many of the creators that might lose their livelihood, it’s also another lesson to rely less on the platforms in general. More meaningful, slower, fair-trade, and organic social media. Less smoking of the algorithms where you own nothing of it.
So, subscribe to my newsletter. ;)
Bonus Content!
I’ve been seriously enjoying my time in South Africa. Endless sunshine and catching up with good people. Cape Town still has the best sunsets in the world.
📺 Watching - A Real Pain, Skeleton Crew, Severance
Skeleton Crew finished this week. Thoroughly enjoyed it. A super fun space adventure! Think it’s going to age well.
A Real Pain: big fan of both Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, so was happy to see them paired up in a film. Great watch and posed some really interesting questions around the relativity of pain and struggle.
Finally, very happy that Severance started again. Still love how mindbending it is. Are you watching it?
It’s interesting to compare Severance to Skeleton Crew. I feel they’re opposite in terms of expectations. Skeleton Crew did a simple story really well and thus kept it entertaining. Some fans expected a swindle, a surprise, or subversion, but it didn’t come. Which is indicative of how people view TV these days: they *want* to have something weird or odd happen so that one can go talk about it afterwards. Severance is the opposite: so dense with weird and oddness that going on Reddit after each episode is a joy in itself. I think both can coexist. The worst is when fans speculate so intensely and are then let down by their own imaginations. Perhaps something to talk about in a future newsletter.
📚 Writing - Novel #2
Progress continues. I’m actually seriously considering doing a writing retreat in March to finish the book. Never done something like this, but I feel the timing is right.
💾 Links
Switch 2
The original Switch is a near perfect device for me. Excited for the Switch 2.
Since I’m planning to get a Steam Deck this year, it’s interesting to follow the rumours about the Switch 2’s joycons being able to be used as a mouse. For dockable handhelds, having the ability to incorporate a mouse sonuds like a good fit, but because most television-first consoles do not have mouses, I’m curious whether this might be janky or not? Like, I would’ve loved to potentially dock my Switch and use a mouse for Factorio. But, *most* console games aren’t really mouse-focused.
Either way, looking forward to it. At minimum, I just want a performance boost (and hopefully we’ll get the eventual Zelda Wind Waker remake/remaster).
More NYC Congestion Pricing Stats Coming In
The launch of congestion pricing led to some 43,000 fewer drivers on average entering Manhattan below 60th Street each weekday last week than would be typical for that time of January, according to data released by the MTA on Monday. The data comes just over a week after the tolls went live.
30-40% reduction in travel times.
Nice!
Factorio and Optimization in Gaming
This video touched upon an aspect in gaming that almost every gamer has encountered, but to me, haven’t really seen it described in this manner: the meta wrestle with optimization.
Every game has some ruleset and there’s a meta game where the player comes to understand the world and the rules and eventually get drawn into optimizing it. Sometimes it can ruin games once the ‘meta’ is discovered. For example, discovering how to level up your Acrobatics in Elder Scrolls Morrowind, by jankily jumping into doors or hills.
Sometimes, games aren’t aware of this, and in other cases, games are, and they take advantage of it. Or at least, they don’t try to have you over-optimize too much (FPS games switching to dynamic health over relying on health packs is a great example).
This concept is interesting as I think it also pertains to generally… life. There’s many “games” where people eventually figure out a meta for it, and then enshittify it through this focus on optimization: like, videos about how to growth hack a following on social media. Or, trying to shortcut status by mimicking aesthetic of success (buying luxury knock-offs) rather than having actual success.
🎶 Music
Dark Sky - Badd
The song that has kept me company on the roadtrips and sunsets in South Africa this week. Enjoy! :)
See you next week,
Simon