Want to start writing a bit, mostly for myself and so i can organize my thoughts a bit, don’t take anything i write too seriously lol (lot of hyperbole).
The main question i want to try to answer in this short post is how we have arrived at this point in human history in regards to the metaverse, internet monies, online communities etc. btw when i'm referencing internet, im mostly referring to social applications it has birthed, not utility stuff like excel or powerpoint. Also focusing on america/NA.
It is my belief that all of these things are largely (or at least in part) a result of the design of modern (post-WW2) cities. While this might seem like a silly assumption at first, examining the effects of urban sprawl and levittowns can actually give us a pretty good idea of how these changes to cities ushered in a generation of internet native peoples and cats.
While the effects of sprawl nowadays are mostly focused on the environmental effects, i personally believe societal ramifications were, and still are, just as significant. The creation of suburbs killed the city, and in turn the social capital of america. There seems to be two root causes of this death of social capital, distance and cultural shifts brought on by this new normal.
The distance between each home removes all density within a space, dramatically decreasing the number of possible (geographically) close connections. In addition to this, growing distance has removed the walkability of neighborhoods making it even more difficult for people to gather with ease.
The increase in single family homes also further solidified the idea of individuality within american culture. With everyone living a private life there seemed to be (at least in the minds of developers) no need for public space, sending social capital into an even deeper decline.
Don’t want to dive too deep into these dynamics here but Bowling Alone and The Great Good Place provide some good material on these topics if ur interested (ignore the sexist+outdated parts xd).
My main point here is that sprawl has created what in my mind seems to be irreparable damage to the social fabric of america. We have past the point in which these issues can be fixed with better urban planning, nearly every america city is now constructed this way (cant just rebuild all of america lolz).
Lets fast forward to the early 2000s. There is a gaping hole within American society, people have nowhere to gather and no way to bond with kindred spirits (especially clear among teenagers, who have been relegated to parking lots and malls). A car is now mandatory for get togethers and so called “public spaces” are merely a facade used to support consumerism.
Now i think its pretty clear how the internet comes into play. It instantly removes the issue of distance; peoples are now closer than ever and are free to express themselves in any way they choose.
This brings us to today, with all this talk about whether or not the metaverse or crypto or web3 is “real”. I think a lot of this discussion is pretty silly tbh, especially when it comes to the metaverse. I honestly don’t even like using the term “metaverse” cause it makes it seem like its some revolutionary shift in our society when in reality its merely an extension of the world we know today. It is the evolution or continuation of our desire as peoples to fill the void created by past generations and an attempt to create something better than what good urban planning could have done for us. Lotta boomers don’t get this b/c they see no difference between 20yr ago (and tbf there rlly hasn’t been in the irl world) and today but for internet natives all these things simply a building up of the world they were born into. May all seem far off or “unnecessary” but probably closer than u think.
No real deep insights here but some stuffs to consider mayb. But yeah, ig thank you(?) america for fukin up society so we could have funny internet money and people pretending to be anime characters.
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