Internet Real Life (IRL)

A dialectic has emerged around people's attitudes toward technology:

1. Techno-optimism: Technology is viewed as a net good, and progress should be accelerated for humanity to prosper. Venture capitalist Marc Andreesen and his 2023 manifesto represent this perspective, as do many in the "TESCREAL"¹ crowd.

2. Techno-pessimism: Technology is seen as a net negative, and progress should be slowed, perhaps even to the point of societal collapse, for humanity to survive. Eco-terrorist Ted Kaczynski and his 1995 manifesto exemplify this view, along with various online doomer tribes.

3. Techno-realism (the synthesis): Technology is neither inherently good nor bad but presents both great promise and significant risks. Since we cannot fully escape it, we must learn to live with it wisely. This nascent view is represented by systems theorist

   Daniel Schmachtenberger
   and technology ethicist Tristan Harris, particularly through the Center for Humane Technology (CHT).

While techno-realism seems like the wisest approach, the wider culture appears to wrestle between the extremes of optimism and pessimism. The term "technology" may cast too wide a net, and to advance this conversation, it might help to change the scope. For this, we can swap the word "technology" with "internet," resulting in the following positions:

1. Internet-optimism: The internet will usher in a golden age for humanity.

2. Internet-pessimism: The internet will destroy us all.

3. Internet-realism: ???

The first position, internet-optimism, has had its run. Early internet utopians of the 1990s, such as Douglas Rushkoff, wrote about the internet’s potential to disrupt outdated systems and positively transform humanity. Later on, early social media entrepreneurs, like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, envisioned a “social mission” to “make the world more open and connected.”²

The second position, internet-pessimism, is currently having its moment. Years of global connectivity through social media have coincided with a forever culture war, the explosion of the Overton window, mass censorship, rising mental health issues, a “great weirding,”³ various tech-addled addictions, and what

Ted Gioia

(the "Honest Broker") calls a “dopamine culture,” where distraction consumes both entertainment and art.

“The State of the Culture, 2024”

It’s easy to fall into techno-pessimism these days—a position I am currently susceptible to. One person who comes close to the elusive internet-realism position is

Katherine Dee

, also known as "default friend." She is an internet historian and analyst who has been intimately tracing niche online culture for years, and she has a keen sense of the internet’s pulse. Katherine and I have been discussing how to overcome internet-pessimism without reverting to some naive form of internet-optimism.

We don’t have conclusive answers, but we sense that some people hold part of the solution. Some individuals have a certain vibe that feels fresh, real, even wholesome—effortlessly weaving their online presence with real-life activities. If the internet has a good future, neither blind optimism nor knee-jerk pessimism will get us there, nor will the endless fantasy worlds that offer an escape. Instead, Katherine and I will be exploring what an “internet real life” could look like.

Across five sessions from November 8th to December 6th, at 12 PM Eastern, Katherine and I will be having conversations with the following individuals about how internet culture and real life weave together, collectively getting closer to understanding what internet-realism is.

• Jreg and the CCCRU

• Ruby Justice Thelot (

  Taste 101
  )

• Honor Levy (My First Book)

• Reggie James
  (
  Product Lost by @hipcityreg
  )

The series is free for paid subscribers but requires a brief application where you'll answer the following question: “What would internet-realism look like in practice?” The application can be accessed behind the paywall.