sometimes when i start thinking about something, i can't stop. that is how i ended up on social media, then briefly viral, and then whatever else. it is how i became fascinated by the way we socialize virtually, and how the concept of 'online friendships' has changed since the years of myspace and xanga. before social media, it was social networking, and before that it was just fucking around on the internet until you found some people with common interests.

what i find most fascinating about the past 20 years of internet is the homogenization of our virtual selves.
before there were platforms for creating profiles, you had to create them yourself. this required a level of experience and understanding of codes and how the internet is built, and meticulously customizing webpages became an established art form. when fill-in-the-blank social networking came around, customization was the name of the game; your myspace and xanga and livejournal were an expression of your personality. the brighter the better, delight or darkness all over, whatever you were.

individuality is no longer a priority within our digital society. our personal aesthetic can be worn as a header image, a profile picture, maybe the color of our hyperlink text. these tiny pieces of flair are squished into boxes, shaved into circles, and pasted on an ergonomic voicebox to the void.