A quarter century ago there was talk of the interweb as a democratizing force. No curator/gallery gatekeepers for artists; no editor/publisher gatekeepers for writers. Same for film and music. No one in the way of me and my art, said the Libertarian who self-identifies as an Anarchist.
Ironic, then, that this past quarter-century has seen a decline in democratic freedoms. Yes, you're free to post what you want, if you think the genius of your paintings shines through in reproduction, or that your writings flow perfectly from you to the "page". But postings aren't the point. As Boris Groys says, we are living at a time when everyone is making art, novels, songs and film, but no one has time to look at or listen to it.
If you want people to identify with a strongman-led autocracy, you turn them into their own despotic strongman, at the helm of their own identitarian fiefdom. The interweb with its platforms is perfect for this, promising liberation in the form of democracy. And when this doesn't happen, when the dopamine hits aren't coming fast enough, it's not the interweb's fault but democracy's. It's a fix, people shout, the whole thing is rigged by paedophilic U.S. Democrats trying to take over the country from the basement of a suburban pizzeria.
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