The world is most assuredly becoming more awful. Oh, there are still people who will tell you that the world has never been better and it’s only because we are more aware of what’s happening that we believe things are bad now but a) think about how stupid that is as an actual argument and b) if you look closely at the people who are making these claims you will notice they are all tenured academics or people who make a lot of money as consultants or speechmakers to corporations or people who are generally better insulated from the sheer terror of what is happening all around us. Of course things look okay to them. For the rest of us, whose stake in the game is contains considerably less protective cushioning, the undeniable horror of existence has been clear for some time. Everything, some of us have insisted for many years, is terrible and only getting worse. The fact that it took 2016 to bring so many of you around to this viewpoint and not our repeated insistence is unfortunate, but now that we have you on board we hope you will be more receptive to our future arguments on what to do about it.
Meanwhile, it is that time of year when we look back at the horrors of the previous twelve months. Particularly if we are websites and hungry for traffic. A lot of what you will see out there is gross, because it was conceived for gross purposes and birthed into a world where grossness is celebrated, but here are three things that are as enjoyable as can be when you consider that they are reflections on a terrible time that will itself seem somehow marginally less terrible when compared with what came after.
The Financial Times’ Alphaville blog’s Person of Interest 2016 longlist would not merit inclusion here simply for its description of the horrible menace that is Twitter, but it wouldn’t have required that much else, which is a bar it cleared easily. [Registration required]
Leah Finnegan’s Leah Letter is the best bit of opt-in dyspepsia available these days. Unless you are a journalist with a Jewish-sounding surname it is unlikely you are getting this level of vitriol sent your way on a regular basis. Subscribe, if you don’t already, and outsource your antipathies to Leah.
How bad is Twitter? [See above]. This barely scratches the surface. Everyone involved in this, including the people who assembled it, should be ashamed of themselves but shame is an emotion we are no longer capable of experiencing. Like common sense, it is something evolution has apparently decided we no longer need. I’m sure half the people on this list were excited about how it boosted their brand.
That should tide you over for now. Rest up, there’s a lot more where that came from on its way. If we are still around to make these lists in 2017 we will need a whole new format in which to present all the awfulness. Take a second to reflect on how fortunate you are that this time around it was only three. You’re welcome.
