[not yet anything cohesive; just a collection of links to articles about being online, global, etc.]]

I have increasingly become aware of this tension: to be permanently availabile. It feels like a natural consequence of the 24-hour news cycle, increasingly immediate communication, capitalism — the fear of missed opportunities!; and then social media's projection of what success is, the self-improvement narratives — be your best self! — etc. etc.

There are a few examples of this trend. A guide on personal brand for developers — not necessarily the worst offender in this list, of course — but we do need this now, don't we, to cleverly shine a light upon our assets and skills, alluring potential employers as to why we must be chosen. Even something as basic as employment (although employment in a digital world, producing digital work and digital commodities): it too must obey the laws of attraction and desire.

The following two links — I Don't Want To Be an Online Person and Everyone's a Sellout Now — focus, instead, on the artistic perspective to the current state of affairs: how TikTok, and social media in general, have shifted our expectation of an artist's work, while possibly contradicting the necessary solitude of the process itself. The State of the Culture, 2024 provides further insight into possible consequences of the path technology has set us in.