So there was a quasi-riot in Union Square, when thousands of fans of some Twitch streamer showed up because he promised he was going to be handing out free playstations and game consoles, etc. They were all pretty much under the age of 20 or 18 and the police had to mobilize at Level 4 (which kind of means at their highest level of control — they will arrest anybody who doesn’t disperse, that kind of thing. Act, arrest and let the judges sort it out.)
But what really stood out for me was the fact that so many decisions now are being driven by technology. Twitch is a gamer’s and young people’s television. I have a twitch account but I don’t watch it very often. I find it tedious and impossibly strange and I simply don’t understand why people want to watch other people play games. (My nephew is one of these people, but he plays games that almost no one wants to watch.)
But if you look at what caused this, it’s not so much the gamer’s lies about handing out free gaming consoles, it’s about how technology is influencing behavior. It’s the Marshall McLuhan thing all over, but in a different way. The medium is still the message. While people like Alexander Novotny are being jailed for decades by Putin for “disrespecting the Republic,” “Influencers,” as they’re called, are making millions posing for their phones and streams. Wanna be influencers are trying, but failing, to achieve millions of followers. One I just found is named Brian Christopher and somehow he has amassed 1 million followers by playing slot machines in various casinos. He has a staff of 10. For people to watch slot machines. Someone passed him and asked him how he was able to make a living off this “sport,” and he said, “Having a million followers helps.”
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are a scourge on all of us. Musk and Zuck are evil.
I simply can’t stomach what’s going on in society.