I wish we had more plurality. Not just convergence on one ultra influencer for books, but an ecosystem, with offerings tailored to audiences.
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World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
41–50 of 60 posts
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#42influence ≠ powerful I admit if you are permanently only this might blend together.
Influence ~= power seems fine to me. Both measure your ability to change the world, and most mechanisms for power can be accurately described as influence
The disconnect is that influence is not accurately measured in views. Peter Thiel is very influential despite barely maintaining his (known) social media accounts
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
uBlock doesn’t handle euro cookie banners by default
Yeah, I think you have to enable a couple extra filter lists to get rid of cookie banners and some of the other annoying popups that aren't strictly "ads"
Interesting. I'll try that out. Seems like a massively harder technical problem than just blocking ad domains.
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#44Guys, this is an ad.
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#45Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, I think you have to enable a couple extra filter lists to get rid of cookie banners and some of the other annoying popups that aren't strictly "ads"
Interesting. I'll try that out. Seems like a massively harder technical problem than just blocking ad domains.
They filter based on HTML IDs/classes, so it doesn't catch every single thing, but it does catch most, and UBO offers an easy way of selecting ads/banners/etc and blocking them
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
poignant? > His next major growth spurt came when his university career ended. When Oxford University rejected his master’s application in 2020, Edwards posted a video of himself crying, entitled “oxford university rejected my masters application… (sorry this video is sad)”. Social media rewards confession. Authenticity, sincerity and vulnerability were important – more important than orthodox intellectual baubles. I…
I really have a hard time understanding why people post videos of themselves crying. Maybe I'm already old in my 30s, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around it. Like, I get that at some level it's fishing for sympathy and pity, but your real friends are going to be there whether they have a video of you crying or not. Everyone else just... doesn't matter that much?
I disagree others don't matter that much. Attention means influence. If your tears garner attention, you prove your influence. Those seeking to influence to their benefit will see your proof and react accordingly.
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#48I expected that to be a hit job but it's actually rather poignant.
Echoing another commenter: poignant? Reading the article, for me it was poignant, only mildly, in the archaic sense of the word (sorry! But seriously—dystopian is the first word I'd use.) I'm interested in your interpretation and what you took away from reading that. Can you elaborate?
For me it was poignant as the story of a young man who has for his entire life been keen on reading, writing, and communicating, who has in a way achieved what he was looking to achieve, and unknowingly created a set of shackles from his own success/fame that he's struggling to reason with and untangle. I can't imagine the pressure of loving to critique books, but then being slapped with labels like “#1 most read on GoodReads” . How could you make fun critique videos knowing that an honest negative critique could tank an author's career? It seems like a lot of pressure.
His quote about internet "community" also especially struck me as poignant: “You have this illusion of community when we’re really very alone.” There are loads of young people who I imagine have an over-emphasis in their lives on online "community", and I really do think it is an illusion. I've been toying with the idea whether community can really even exist if you can't see each other in person.
I'd be curious as to your interpretation that led to you finding the article poignant in the archaic sense (sharp or pungent in taste or smell) or dystopian.
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
poignant? > His next major growth spurt came when his university career ended. When Oxford University rejected his master’s application in 2020, Edwards posted a video of himself crying, entitled “oxford university rejected my masters application… (sorry this video is sad)”. Social media rewards confession. Authenticity, sincerity and vulnerability were important – more important than orthodox intellectual baubles. I…
I really have a hard time understanding why people post videos of themselves crying. Maybe I'm already old in my 30s, but it's hard for me to wrap my head around it. Like, I get that at some level it's fishing for sympathy and pity, but your real friends are going to be there whether they have a video of you crying or not. Everyone else just... doesn't matter that much?
I think it's an interesting relationship between influencers, especially young ones, and their followers.
Young influencers of this nature get a following because of their authenticity. They're genuine, honest, about their experiences, and the comments reflect it. People in the comments open up about their own problems and insecurities and issues. It creates an "illusion of community" as Edwards says in the article.
Now couple with that the complication of making money. An influencer indirectly makes money from their followers. I could easily see how someone who makes that authenticity part of their brand/identity feeling an obligation to their followers to continue to be honest even on subjects of high emotion. These people who are responsible for your success, your lifestyle, how could you be anything but brutally honest with them?
And just like in real relationship where showing vulnerability can strengthen bonds, it has the same effect on the influencer-follower relationship -- despite in reality being parasocial. And strengthening that bond also results in more faithful followers, which is financially beneficial.
Now, whether a given influencer is being vulnerable due to obligation or due to financial incentives, is unclear. For many it seems more obviously financial. But for others it does seem like a bit of a complicated mixture of the two.
Edit: Here's the video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8J8fWCNqCI . Personally this feels more genuine than financially motivated, but that's me. And to be fair there is no actual crying in the video! Seems like a bit of a dishonest wording by the author of the article to claim as such.
Re: World’s most powerful literary critic is on TikTok
#50If you’re not on TikTok yet, and are curious, just don’t. Your life will be so much better if you just stay away.