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cover of episode The case against logging off

The case against logging off

2025/5/29
logo of podcast Power User with Taylor Lorenz

Power User with Taylor Lorenz

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A
Aiden Walker
T
Taylor Lorenz
通过深入探讨互联网文化和政治,Taylor Lorenz 为听众提供了对在线世界的深刻分析。
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Taylor Lorenz: 最近,人们对互联网产生了一种道德恐慌,认为社交媒体正在腐蚀我们的思想和民主。政客、媒体精英和科技高管都坚持认为,社交媒体正在腐蚀我们的大脑,摧毁民主,让我们痛苦不堪。每周都有新的警告,例如TikTok正在毒害年轻人,Facebook正在使你的叔叔变得激进,而拯救我们自己的唯一方法就是退出登录。但我认为,这种呼吁断开连接的背后,实际上是为了剥夺我们的力量。互联网是普通人集结、沟通和发挥集体力量的重要场所。当权者希望我们远离互联网,因为一个分裂和不参与的公众更容易被控制。他们希望我们相信社交媒体只不过是一种令人上瘾的消遣,而不是塑造叙事、建立运动和追究机构责任的关键战场。 Aiden Walker: 我完全同意Taylor的观点。互联网是当今世界最重要的事物,权力正在向互联网转移。每个迹象都表明互联网将变得更加重要,成为治理、权威和行动主义的场所。如果我们错过了这艘船,就会被困在海滩上。互联网的历史告诉我们,最强大的群体是普通民众。虽然媒体和学术界强调公司和技术的重要性,但互联网是用户生成的。你发布的内容确实很重要,你不仅仅是一个消费者,你还是一个生产者。互联网是改变我们生活的最激进的工具,既有积极的一面也有消极的一面。技术通常是中立的,重要的是人们如何选择使用它。互联网对我来说是一个关于激进变革的故事,它已经从一个分散的网络演变成一个由大公司控制的集权结构,因为他们通过新的硬件收集更多数据。但同样的工具既可以被政权用来控制人民,也可以被人民自下而上地使用,互联网过去已经出现过这种迹象。我们需要朝着自下而上的方向努力。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The episode challenges the common narrative that disconnecting from the internet is the solution to its problems. It argues that this push to disconnect is disempowering and that the internet, despite its flaws, is a crucial space for collective action and holding power accountable.
  • The internet is a powerful tool for change.
  • Those in power want to keep the public fragmented and disengaged.
  • Social media is a battleground for shaping narratives and building movements.

Shownotes Transcript

Every week, there’s a new warning: TikTok is poisoning the youth, Facebook is radicalizing your uncle, and the only way to save ourselves is to log off.But what if that’s exactly the opposite of what we should be doing? What if this push to disconnect isn’t about protecting us, but instead about disempowering us?

Aidan Walker is a meme researcher and author of the Substack newsletter How to Do Things With Memes. Today, he joins me to talk about why we shouldn't log off and how the internet, for all its flaws, can be a powerful tool for change.

The reality is that the internet—messy, chaotic, and algorithmically manipulated as it may be—is one of the only spaces where everyday people can assemble, communicate, and exert collective power.

Governments, the media, and people in power want you to stay offline, because a public that is fragmented and disengaged is easier to control. People in power want you to believe that social media is nothing more than an addictive distraction, rather than the battleground where narratives are shaped, movements are built, and institutions are held accountable.

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