I feel ambivalent towards the internet and online leftist spaces. I swing between “the internet has real impact because real people are involved in it” and “This is all bullshit. Go touch grass!” I remember when I was younger and wanted to do activism and make the world a better place, but didn't know where to start. So I went online and stayed there for a long time and didn't accomplish anything. Now I'm part of a union and let me tell you it is much more productive. The thing is, the union I'm a part of does not have an active internet presence. They don't have tick tock or Instagram. I can't help but notice that the people doing actual changes are not online. So maybe online creators could promote some good organizations. Help them get new members and money. If I were to give advice to an individual I would say, treat social media like twitter and you tube as a public space. If you are about to tweet, ask yourself, would you say that on a stage in front of a real crowd? No? Than maybe don't say that online. People always bring up the panopticon in this conversation. Like watch what you say or else. But that's just what public speaking is like. That's what being a public figure is like. I don't think that's a bad thing. Just don't put your most intimate feelings online for consumption don't turn your most private thoughts into content. I think separating the private and the public self is very important. Social media rewards people for being (or seeming to be) their private self online and I think that is a mistake.
this is a great comment, and it really points to something that I was trying to talk about but didn't flesh out as eloquently as you did. this is also getting me to think about what kind of organizations I can point to in future videos!
I don't think your union needs a tiktok (nobody needs a tiktok) but it's useful to think of online spaces as instrumental. We have the "promotion" aspect of instrumental communications kind of locked down on youtube, but we need to move past that, into specific ways of organizing for direct action. And that's going to need new software and new ways to connect to it. For example, having a tiktok that says "join a union" is great. But uh… how do you actually join it? Like do you comment below with your actual tiktok profile that links back to your real name and probably your address and phone number and SSN for anyone willing to do the work? The people doing real work knwo that the pinkertons would love that more than anything. Leaders, particularly "thought leaders" who lay out ideas an abstract plans, can afford to be somewhat public with their personas, Activists who are on the ground doing direct work with at-risk participants need more secure and semi-anonymous communication tools. Not *totally* anonymous: if you have no way of linking back to real-world identity you can never actually get to e.g. signing union cards, for the union example. But not public, blasting-out-to-everybody identities where you advertise your union involvement to your employer and your exact physical location at a protest to (a small number of) fashy stalkers in addition to (a large number of) fellow activists. Anyway I've got my hands full with the software tools I'm already building so somebody else please go make this. But the super hard engineering problem doesn't need to get solved first; the first step is people, leaders like (ugh) "breadtubers" starting to make the explicit link between open fora like youtube comments and more sensitive, closed communities.
@Glyph this is such a good insight. I am deeply interested in bridging the gap between online leftism and direct action, and it's these kinds of perspectives that are very instrumental in that task
I NEED YOUR VIDEOS TO BE SEEN GLOBALLY PLS HOW DO WE DO THIS? BILLBOARDS? THE TOWN CRIER? Gosh. You are so well spoken and insightful; putting into words exactly how I've been struggling with social media.
I think the 'time-bomb' element that you touch on is really interesting (and terrifying). Young people are not just growing up with the internet as an addition to their everyday lives but as a vital component of it. We automatically go online for advice and help, expecting to find what we need without really questioning where it come from. Governments are beginning to wake up to the need for regulation and to make these technology companies more accountable for the 'legal but harmful' content on their sites but there are very few convincing signs that this will be done effectively (or in a way that doesn't censor and undermine honest creators). We are therefore left with a need to (re)convince ourselves that a world exists outside of digital media platforms in which we can create change. However, I worry what we miss if we swear off such technology (if that's even possible) due to the internet's incredible potential to overcome issues of accessibility and reach which would ordinarily greatly hinder the potential of social movements. So maybe we should do both? Begin having more praxis-oriented conversations with real people in the 'real world' but also try to create and maintain spaces online which champion thoughtful discussion and connection (after all, isn't this, in part, what you're trying to do here with your channel?). Can't we have a role in deciding what the medium becomes?
Right before this video posted I found out that my state senate is hearing a 6 week abortion ban that is definitely gonna pass. When they passed the 15 week ban I was on the list to give testimony at the state capitol, I had submitted my written testimony, and I had worked for years as a part of the political structure that was fighting for our rights. Today, I'm just tired and in grief. Deflated. Anyways, all this to say that chriswaves and videos like this give me hope for the future. I can't fight anymore today, but maybe next month I can. Or I can be more useful in a different place.
I think of the issue a lot of when I hear "activism isn't accessible." And it feels like that can go in one ear & out the the other. Like what do you do, when you want to organize, but not only do not have any experience, you don't know where to go, but also even if you did you don't have a way of actually meeting person, whether due to say physical mobility reasons, or financial reasons. Like one of things that sometimes I feel disheartened by is that it can be portrayed as just that "people don't wanna touch grass." and I think that's a oversimplification, of how a lot of people aren't able to reach grass. CLARIFICATION NOTE: "I'm not here to say, the phrase of touch grass is ableist, or shut down any sort of sentiment that we must get offline (cuz I think too much online is really disorienting.) But that, we are all suffering under the system, and especially when you're marginalized it's like I am too exhausted, if you are working 40 hrs, maybe even more, and you get 1 off day or 2 it's really easy to just want to relax. I mean it's intentional the way capitalism keeps us overworked & too exhausted to advocate for ourselves and for others. And especially if on top of all of that you have a disability like depression, adhd, just to note, how do you manage, how can you organize. I don't ask this, to say that anyone here is supposed to have the answer, I'm asking cuz in the messiness of wanting to act, I think the grey zone of how we all are suffering gets directly in the way of even attempting to try.
I an uncomfortable just constantly shilling for mastodon like some kind of zealot whenever anyone is talking about twitter, but: one part of the answer to your question is "mastodon". Not really specifically that software, but the fediverse more broadly, and even more broadly, the general idea that we should have some level of control over and investment in our own spaces, not just digital sharecropping on enshittifying VC-funded platforms that we have no direct economic relationship with. So if I wanted to say something other than "mastodon" I'd say just "have your own website". Mastodon's a nonprofit, and it's got about 10 million users so far, which proves that you can scale up something that is *not* necessarily a giant corporate grab at a monopoly. Love what you're doing here btw, good luck growing the channel!
I really enjoyed this video essay. I like the format: explanation of multiple theories and works and the links between them + your own word on the topic, and the trimmings. Hope more people will find your content!
This got recommended to me and I'm so glad. This puts emotions and thoughts into words that I could never decipher myself. The explanation around the short-form content and how it can lack meaningful discussion is potentially more harmful just struck me. Also the comparisons you make and examples you use are *chef's kiss* Great video!! And the "delete YT vs delete Twitter" line is just the Kombucha Girl meme for real lmao
I keep wishing my favorite corny leftist tubers would talk more about their praxis offline...like I go to a progressive church and try to represent a leftist perspective...it is a small enough re Igious group that I might have a long term impact. It's not really a church. It's a ground of quakers. ...FD talks about parenting as a leftist. I want more of that. I also want all my leftist pals to consider that joining religious groups can help their praxis....I think about how the civil rights movement and religion were bound together in a way that made it enduring and powerful
I love this comment! In a few months I plan to release a video that does touch on what I do outside of YT, as well as some options for anyone to get involved in. Offline praxis is daunting, and it's true that a lot of religious organizations are great at setting up mutual aid and general advocacy.
I was trying to see how an event is made and unmade, as ultimately it only exists via what one says about it, since it is properly speaking fabricated by those who spread its renown. Georges Duby
Refreshing reminder that the medium itself of media consumption is rewiring our brains and has been for generations. Spooky shit. Cool as fuck for sociological analysis tho. I have seen a lot of discussion of the recreation or general pursuit of "3rd places" (not work or home) for cultivating irl community and positive change. I cant speak to how effective it is bc most 3rd places require some sort of payment or membership but maybe i just haven't looked hard enough and maybe I'll have to just do it myself 💞
Wooooah! Wild catch on Understanding Media being in the film. Never noticed despite all my rewatches and love of McLuhan. I recently release an "inside"-ish special on the topics of media, philosophy and religion. On my channel if you're interested. Glad to have found your page.
Hey, this is years late... I have no hope this will ever be seen- but, im going to write it out anyways, because I think it's interesting and might give some hope? Anyways, I lived in Japan for years, and driving there is an almost soul-healing experience (from an American perspective) where everyone really is working together and recognizing everyone else as a person. So... maybe we are not *entirely* at the mercy of the Medium? Maybe we can use it in more humane and better ways? Obviously not Twitter, but... maybe some *other* social media platform? 😅
![Beginners Guide To Being A Director In The Movie Industry - Jason Satterlund [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sxR8EJnMKkE/mqdefault.jpg)
omg!! its my favorite guy !! the youtube guy !!
Thanks for recommending this fantastic channel. Truly appreciated
*struts in video essay*
I feel ambivalent towards the internet and online leftist spaces. I swing between “the internet has real impact because real people are involved in it” and “This is all bullshit. Go touch grass!”
I remember when I was younger and wanted to do activism and make the world a better place, but didn't know where to start. So I went online and stayed there for a long time and didn't accomplish anything.
Now I'm part of a union and let me tell you it is much more productive. The thing is, the union I'm a part of does not have an active internet presence. They don't have tick tock or Instagram.
I can't help but notice that the people doing actual changes are not online.
So maybe online creators could promote some good organizations. Help them get new members and money.
If I were to give advice to an individual I would say, treat social media like twitter and you tube as a public space.
If you are about to tweet, ask yourself, would you say that on a stage in front of a real crowd? No? Than maybe don't say that online.
People always bring up the panopticon in this conversation. Like watch what you say or else. But that's just what public speaking is like. That's what being a public figure is like.
I don't think that's a bad thing.
Just don't put your most intimate feelings online for consumption don't turn your most private thoughts into content.
I think separating the private and the public self is very important. Social media rewards people for being (or seeming to be) their private self online and I think that is a mistake.
this is a great comment, and it really points to something that I was trying to talk about but didn't flesh out as eloquently as you did. this is also getting me to think about what kind of organizations I can point to in future videos!
I don't think your union needs a tiktok (nobody needs a tiktok) but it's useful to think of online spaces as instrumental. We have the "promotion" aspect of instrumental communications kind of locked down on youtube, but we need to move past that, into specific ways of organizing for direct action. And that's going to need new software and new ways to connect to it.
For example, having a tiktok that says "join a union" is great. But uh… how do you actually join it? Like do you comment below with your actual tiktok profile that links back to your real name and probably your address and phone number and SSN for anyone willing to do the work? The people doing real work knwo that the pinkertons would love that more than anything.
Leaders, particularly "thought leaders" who lay out ideas an abstract plans, can afford to be somewhat public with their personas, Activists who are on the ground doing direct work with at-risk participants need more secure and semi-anonymous communication tools. Not *totally* anonymous: if you have no way of linking back to real-world identity you can never actually get to e.g. signing union cards, for the union example. But not public, blasting-out-to-everybody identities where you advertise your union involvement to your employer and your exact physical location at a protest to (a small number of) fashy stalkers in addition to (a large number of) fellow activists.
Anyway I've got my hands full with the software tools I'm already building so somebody else please go make this. But the super hard engineering problem doesn't need to get solved first; the first step is people, leaders like (ugh) "breadtubers" starting to make the explicit link between open fora like youtube comments and more sensitive, closed communities.
@Glyph this is such a good insight. I am deeply interested in bridging the gap between online leftism and direct action, and it's these kinds of perspectives that are very instrumental in that task
in your FD arc im crineee 🤣 great video chris!
thank you!! I mean I had to pay my respects to the essayist-in-chief
I NEED YOUR VIDEOS TO BE SEEN GLOBALLY PLS HOW DO WE DO THIS? BILLBOARDS? THE TOWN CRIER? Gosh. You are so well spoken and insightful; putting into words exactly how I've been struggling with social media.
I think the 'time-bomb' element that you touch on is really interesting (and terrifying). Young people are not just growing up with the internet as an addition to their everyday lives but as a vital component of it. We automatically go online for advice and help, expecting to find what we need without really questioning where it come from. Governments are beginning to wake up to the need for regulation and to make these technology companies more accountable for the 'legal but harmful' content on their sites but there are very few convincing signs that this will be done effectively (or in a way that doesn't censor and undermine honest creators). We are therefore left with a need to (re)convince ourselves that a world exists outside of digital media platforms in which we can create change. However, I worry what we miss if we swear off such technology (if that's even possible) due to the internet's incredible potential to overcome issues of accessibility and reach which would ordinarily greatly hinder the potential of social movements. So maybe we should do both? Begin having more praxis-oriented conversations with real people in the 'real world' but also try to create and maintain spaces online which champion thoughtful discussion and connection (after all, isn't this, in part, what you're trying to do here with your channel?). Can't we have a role in deciding what the medium becomes?
Right before this video posted I found out that my state senate is hearing a 6 week abortion ban that is definitely gonna pass. When they passed the 15 week ban I was on the list to give testimony at the state capitol, I had submitted my written testimony, and I had worked for years as a part of the political structure that was fighting for our rights. Today, I'm just tired and in grief. Deflated. Anyways, all this to say that chriswaves and videos like this give me hope for the future. I can't fight anymore today, but maybe next month I can. Or I can be more useful in a different place.
thank you for the kind words, but most importantly thank you for fighting in this way.
I think of the issue a lot of when I hear "activism isn't accessible." And it feels like that can go in one ear & out the the other.
Like what do you do, when you want to organize, but not only do not have any experience, you don't know where to go, but also even if you did you don't have a way of actually meeting person, whether due to say physical mobility reasons, or financial reasons.
Like one of things that sometimes I feel disheartened by is that it can be portrayed as just that "people don't wanna touch grass." and I think that's a oversimplification, of how a lot of people aren't able to reach grass.
CLARIFICATION NOTE: "I'm not here to say, the phrase of touch grass is ableist, or shut down any sort of sentiment that we must get offline (cuz I think too much online is really disorienting.)
But that, we are all suffering under the system, and especially when you're marginalized it's like I am too exhausted, if you are working 40 hrs, maybe even more, and you get 1 off day or 2 it's really easy to just want to relax.
I mean it's intentional the way capitalism keeps us overworked & too exhausted to advocate for ourselves and for others. And especially if on top of all of that you have a disability like depression, adhd, just to note, how do you manage, how can you organize.
I don't ask this, to say that anyone here is supposed to have the answer, I'm asking cuz in the messiness of wanting to act, I think the grey zone of how we all are suffering gets directly in the way of even attempting to try.
Welcome back guy who lives in my screen!
finally, I have awakened from my slumber
yet again another fucking amazing video, I don't know how you did it but it really draws attention and keeps it well enough for me to remember
I an uncomfortable just constantly shilling for mastodon like some kind of zealot whenever anyone is talking about twitter, but: one part of the answer to your question is "mastodon". Not really specifically that software, but the fediverse more broadly, and even more broadly, the general idea that we should have some level of control over and investment in our own spaces, not just digital sharecropping on enshittifying VC-funded platforms that we have no direct economic relationship with. So if I wanted to say something other than "mastodon" I'd say just "have your own website".
Mastodon's a nonprofit, and it's got about 10 million users so far, which proves that you can scale up something that is *not* necessarily a giant corporate grab at a monopoly.
Love what you're doing here btw, good luck growing the channel!
My favorite word lately is nuance. I feel like a lot of people forget that online. That pretty much all topics have nuance and more than one side
Oh man you are great at this! my goodness! Just binged all your content.
I really enjoyed this video essay. I like the format: explanation of multiple theories and works and the links between them + your own word on the topic, and the trimmings. Hope more people will find your content!
glad you enjoyed it! and thanks for the feedback, it legitimately helps.
@@chriswaves yw and thanks!
The algorithm brought me here and I grateful
Bahahahahah you are brilliant and I am fucking thrilled.
staaaahp, this is a huge compliment!! can't wait for your next video!!
This got recommended to me and I'm so glad. This puts emotions and thoughts into words that I could never decipher myself.
The explanation around the short-form content and how it can lack meaningful discussion is potentially more harmful just struck me. Also the comparisons you make and examples you use are *chef's kiss* Great video!!
And the "delete YT vs delete Twitter" line is just the Kombucha Girl meme for real lmao
I keep wishing my favorite corny leftist tubers would talk more about their praxis offline...like I go to a progressive church and try to represent a leftist perspective...it is a small enough re
Igious group that I might have a long term impact. It's not really a church. It's a ground of quakers. ...FD talks about parenting as a leftist. I want more of that. I also want all my leftist pals to consider that joining religious groups can help their praxis....I think about how the civil rights movement and religion were bound together in a way that made it enduring and powerful
I love this comment! In a few months I plan to release a video that does touch on what I do outside of YT, as well as some options for anyone to get involved in. Offline praxis is daunting, and it's true that a lot of religious organizations are great at setting up mutual aid and general advocacy.
@@chriswaves hell yeah
You sir, are phenomenal. Keep doing what you do!
Hey algorithm...
There you go triggering my apeirophobia 😖 21:14
praise be to the algorithm
I was trying to see how an event is made and unmade, as ultimately it only exists via what one says about it, since it is properly speaking fabricated by those who spread its renown.
Georges Duby
Here for the discourse
FWIW I watched the previous vid at 1.5 speed (down from my usual 2x).
I truly wish I could process information that fast.
Hi algorithm.
Algorithm comment. Also, great video!
Really enjoying your content, as uncomfortable as it makes me
FILHOTE OCE É BRABO (translating from portuguese my man you are awesome)
Refreshing reminder that the medium itself of media consumption is rewiring our brains and has been for generations. Spooky shit. Cool as fuck for sociological analysis tho.
I have seen a lot of discussion of the recreation or general pursuit of "3rd places" (not work or home) for cultivating irl community and positive change. I cant speak to how effective it is bc most 3rd places require some sort of payment or membership but maybe i just haven't looked hard enough and maybe I'll have to just do it myself 💞
Wooooah! Wild catch on Understanding Media being in the film. Never noticed despite all my rewatches and love of McLuhan.
I recently release an "inside"-ish special on the topics of media, philosophy and religion. On my channel if you're interested. Glad to have found your page.
Hey, this is years late... I have no hope this will ever be seen- but, im going to write it out anyways, because I think it's interesting and might give some hope?
Anyways, I lived in Japan for years, and driving there is an almost soul-healing experience (from an American perspective) where everyone really is working together and recognizing everyone else as a person.
So... maybe we are not *entirely* at the mercy of the Medium? Maybe we can use it in more humane and better ways?
Obviously not Twitter, but... maybe some *other* social media platform? 😅
Nice video. Thank you
fried
i like this actually
i love ur videos so much
ilikefasttone
I see a dog - I press like 🦭