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I'm fascinated with the idea that culture has come to a grinding halt in the past couple decades. It partly feels true, but it could be that the media we consume and platforms we use are self-aware echo chambers that aren't conducive to original ideas. I'm curious on y'all's thoughts.
Jun 19, 2024
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the social internet (and rapid, inescapable commercialization thereof) makes it so that you are what you consume, not what you do, not where you go, not who you spend your time with. before if you bought the clothes or the gear without doing it or without being in community, you were a poser. if you monetized or commercialized that interest and put those incentives over expression and connection, you were a sellout. but that doesn’t exist anymore — democratization and anti-gatekeeping as both ideas and ends of an algorithm to maximize surface area for consumption have made it so that there isn’t a distinct authority on what you can attach to your identity or how you express yourself
but if the extent of our agency in a democratized landscape is to only to consume more instead of producing or connecting, or to produce only to commodify ourselves for money or internet points, then maybe it’s a different kind of “being influenced by social trends rather than authentic interest” than going to a skate park, or an open mic, or a restaurant, or whatever because we heard about it somewhere and wanted to check it out, and de-centering the internet from what we see on it and how we engage with it is a way to make that healthier or more generative for ourselves, and can create beauty without immediately thinking about how to fit into a box along lines drawn by advertisers
Jan 15, 2025
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I love this GQ article about JJJJound from a year ago highlighting Justin Saunders' influence on internet taste & moodboards. He's been in the background of a lot of really influential projects over the last decade, all while building up his own brand that was really kickstarted off a primitive version of what we'd call a moodboard (a version of this still exists here).
What's been so interesting to me is watching the rise and now slow decline of JJJJound as a tastemaker. I guess for us (my millennial generation) the internet really was a clear defining aspect of where we'd discover new things. We learned what was cool from Complex and Hypebeast NikeTalk and StyleForum and a plethora of other sites that either don't exist any longer or have been since bought out and bastardized into another machine that pumps out sponsored posts. Justin thrived in this era. I remember his first few drops, specifically the Vans from 2017 come to mind. People were losing their minds over them. Same for his first few New Balance collabs - absolutely chaos. I personally never found them appealing, but I understand why they created the buzz that they did.
...and yet...
When I talk to any younger guys that are into fashion and menswear and I ask what they think about some of these 'legacy' brands I usually get hit with a 'uh who?' or worse, 'they're cooked.' In a shocking twist of fate, the menswear heroes I grew up admiring are becoming irrelevant with the next generation. And although there isn't anything wrong with that, it does remind me how fleeting relevancy and taste are within the creative space. There's something impressive about being someone who lasts through the shifting trends and fads. And with Gen Z seemingly taking this anti-internet / anti-tech approach (have you looked at how many teenagers are giving up their iPhones for flip phones???) I do wonder what will happen to these guys that formed their following off of forums and message boards once those go away entirely.
Apr 25, 2024
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I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes.
In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time.
Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.
Feb 18, 2024
Top Recs from @theclack
The perfect lil snack for when you don’t want a big snack
Apr 3, 2024
Here it is, folks! Volume I of what could very well be a continuous project. Thank you so much to everyone that submitted - I smiled the entire time I was putting this together. It's best listened to with headphones ☺️
Liner Notes:
This collection of field recordings is a collaborative effort with users of PI.FYI, each of which recorded their own pieces. It features audio from all over the world and exhibits eclectic moments from London Underground commutes to cuckoo bird calls in Dhaka to the sounds of a century-old American diner.
Online communities like PI.FYI often represent a diverse set of people, places, and experiences, but together, the submissions form a living collage that highlights the commonalities of modern life - a unifying message for such a tumultuous time. The first track features all of the sounds played at once in an attempt to create an audio snapshot of an online community but in their offline lives.
The individual recordings are unedited except for minor gain and compression adjustments for consistency across the collection.
Mar 29, 2025
