random people from the Internet grow old in front of you as you grow old in front of them
Seems like I wrote this tweet in August 2016.
It’s been pinned on my vaguely feel profile page for a few months now. Seems most accurate to the ‘spirit’ of vaguely feel.
What is the spirit of ‘vaguely feel’? It is a warm blend of nostalgia, relaxed observations and digital modernity, like using your iPad in front of a campfire.
What was the ‘genesis’ of this digital expression? Seems like I was thinking about the near-recent past, in that I was communicating ‘semi-regularly’ with writers online who I would only know online, save for a few random occasions. Then many of these ppl ‘faded’ away or ‘moved on’ or found their stable friend groups and here I am still writing with a different community of people.
Sometimes I think about these people and may search for them via the most popular or semi-popular social networks to see what is happening, and they have found jobs or marriages or new lifestyles that may suit them better. These people have grown ‘older,’ not necessarily ‘old’ and I’ve been a witness to it, even though it doesn’t really matter that I witnessed it.
What is growing ‘older’ anyway? Such a modern question to ask. ‘Growing old’ in our modern society seems to be losing the privilege of being able to to ‘indulge’ interesting ideas and once you no longer have that ‘privilege’ you become ‘old’, i.e. with no longer the time to ‘pursue’ random cultural facts such as ‘not listening to as many new bands.’ Someone could become old at 21 for instance if they become married or have children or have a very demanding jobs, while many people may never grow ‘old’ but who knows.
