Related Recs

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In a world obsessed with innovation, is the real secret to the future simply rediscovering the past?

There’s something oddly refreshing about the thought of Xanga, LiveJournal, or even MySpace making a comeback. In an era dominated by curated grids and fleeting 24-hour stories, these early platforms offered something simpler: a space to write, reflect, and connect without the pressure of algorithms or perfection. Back then, we shared messy thoughts, poured out feelings, and customized our profiles to reflect us, not what would trend. These platforms weren’t about chasing likes; they were about building connection and embracing individuality. Could a return to these slower, more personal forms of social media be the antidote to today’s hyper-curated, always-on digital world? As we navigate a landscape of endless notifications and performative posts, it’s worth asking: have we become too connected? Nostalgia for the early internet isn’t just about glittery profiles and Top 8 friends—it’s about reclaiming the authenticity we’ve lost in the noise. Xanga and LiveJournal encouraged reflection, not perfection, while MySpace championed individuality over sameness. Maybe what we need now isn’t a new platform, but a revival of old-school digital simplicity, where being online feels more human and a little less exhausting.

@tandylott

Jan 15, 2025

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Hi!

I’m going through the same thought process right now. My twitter/x has been long gone, I’ve gotten rid of meta, and frankly if tik tok comes back purchased/changed/etc. I will no longer be using it either. So for me I’ve done a few things: I’ve made new social media on healthier apps (which sounds counterintuitive to less social media but hear me out). I made a Pixelfed and it’s like the old old instagram. No ads, no distractions taking you to new links, no memes unless someone happens to post one on their personal account. It’s literally just people organically posting pictures of things they like from their breakfast to the view of their nature walk. Because it’s so simple again, I don’t really think there’s room for doomscrolling. This is me if you want to see what I mean! Next: I use Bluesky partially to see some goings-on in the world to keep up to date, I went to the library of congress website and specifically subscribed to their email newsletters on bills being introduced and news in congress to stay up to date, and I’m vetting some news sources looking for something more objective and reliable to start reading from. Also: a while back I got some digital cameras like I had when I was a kid for nostalgia reasons but now they’re coming in handy. I’m transitioning to using a flip phone! You don’t have to go this extreme but honestly I’m excited for it. I’ll have a flip phone so not everything will be so convenient and at the touch of my fingers, so I hope that my internet usage will become much more intentional. I’ll be leaving only a few apps on my smart phone, music, reading, this app and pixelfed for periodic social interaction lol, and that’s all I can think of right now. I’ll essentially be taking the SIM card out and using my smart phone as a wifi connected ipod lol. My goal is to get back into my hobbies! Reading, sewing clothing, knitting, painting, being outdoors, gardening. I’ll communicate more intentionally with family and friends and not just through sending memes. I won’t doomscroll for hours and then feel bad that I wasted the day away. A lot of the sinister stuff going on between social media monopolies and the government recently is making the transition even easier. It’ll be hard at first because you’ll be so used to reaching for something to do for some instant gratification or stimulation, etc. but it’ll be so overall rewarding in the long run! Good luck❤️

@saylor

Jan 19, 2025

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using instagram less / text your friends more

sure yes i can check your story and know what you’ve been up to today but who the fuck cares. i’m live texting you as i descend into drunkenness, sending you screenshots of weird emails, incorrectly correcting typos because we‘re like 🤞🏼 this traditional social media are boring, all you need is a few close friends on letterboxd, pi.fyi, last.fm, plus i got your #, i’m gonna text u

@gomizhou

Mar 7, 2024

Top Recs from @alex-kazemi

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Lorde’s Lyrics

I don’t think pop music has historically ever had a moment like her “Girl, So Confusing” remix verse. It’s not a joke. It’s a triumph for literature. Everyone remembers where they were the first time they heard it. This was a serious revolution and took us out of her usual fever dreaminess of controlled poetic syntax (which I love) , to just unmasked, raw, chaotic feminine brutality and I don’t think we appreciate the prose switch-up enough. I also have said “let’s work it out on the remix?” to many people I’ve fought with since the song dropped. Sometimes I even write a verse mimicking the song taking accountability of what I’ve done and I send it to who I’m in a conflict with, it actually helps! I’m obsessed with the new singles off her upcoming album Virgin and I’m already studying the cadence of epigrams like ‘MDMA in the back garden’,. I’m someone who struggles with severe summer depression, which is taboo in the world of seasonal sadists but taking my discman for a walk by the ocean as “The Path” starts up on my (files purchased on ITunes!) burnt CD-R copy of ‘Solar Power’ is nature’s SSRI. Suck on that, Saint John’s Wort.

@alex-kazemi

1d ago

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Blackberry Bold 9900

I write in fragments, and I’m constantly jotting down ideas all day long and what has been great is turning a Blackberry Bold into an offline word processor. I use the built in software and export my writing into a .docx and then put it on my computer via USB. Then I plug my notes into Scrivener.  I’m a huge nerd about collecting offline-writing tech (shout out to Freewrite!) and it makes the rush of putting together a novel which I call the ‘incubation process’, a lot for more chaotic and fun.  I consider writing to be like a scavenger hunt with your own brain and I feel like if you see your mind as a search engine, you can pull up a lot of insane ideas by just trusting your inner web browser. 

@alex-kazemi

1d ago

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Region Free DVD Players

The reason I got a region free DVD player in my mid 20s was because I wanted to own a European copy of the Leonardo Dicaprio Gen X deep-cut/full of lore movie Don’s Plum. If you can sometimes save the money, you spend on vaping, events, weed, alcohol, drugs or whatever to buy rare out of print DVDs (even bootlegs sometimes) that are locked to Japan, Australia, UK, whatever isn’t North American. Do it, you’ll never regret it. The delayed gratification of waiting weeks for a DVD that is available to stream right now on some scary illegal link that has 300 pop ups to come in the mail may not make sense to a lot of people but I really appreciate the movie more, and having the association of the whole experience of having to track it down vs just getting it right now makes it so fun. I own a lot of rare TV series box sets from the 90s/2000s that never got released in North America, and are impossible to find online. Join me, you can live this lifestyle too!

@alex-kazemi

1d ago