Post #1552239
2026-04-15 11:05 UTC
@adamgreenfield
I find myself reflecting that in a way it is giving a name to something that has always existed. Going back decades, beauty contests had a spokesmodel portion. Some athletes and actors were given that role. Who became pundits and talk show hosts? Etc.
Seeing it stripped down to its raw essence is jarring, though. But I find it helpful to go back and view Johnny Carson and Jay Leno through that lens,
Replies (1)
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@adamgreenfield@social.coop 2026-04-15 11:14
@JMMaok I think the difference is that for that cohort, there was still a distinction between performance and private life. Influencers have subjected themselves to the Ballardian transformation, by way of which there’s little to no real interiority, and the entire inner life is everted and made available for public consumption. Of course this is the limit case – I don’t suggest that in most cases content consumers are privy to the unmediated, unperformed moment-to-moment self. But someone like Clavicular seems to me not to have much going on beyond the raw membrane turned inside-out.