Very online feelings

The four eras of attention on the internet

Featured in

  • Published 20250506
  • ISBN: 978-1-923213-07-4
  • Extent: 196 pp
  • Paperback, ebook, PDF

I HAVE LONG described the internet as my ‘home’. As an anthropologist who used to constantly be on the road, the internet was my comfort and my constant amid the chaos of travel. But the risk of going online during this era of late-stage capitalism is that calamity is always nearby.

I remember in the mid 2000s when my cohort started to abandon the instant messaging platform IRC in favour of MSN Messenger. The large online communities I had fostered and invested in with other pseudonymous strangers across several IRC channels were replaced by dyadic chats and small groups of mutual friends curated in my contact list. (I still miss the intimacy of pseudonymity. I treasure my IRC handles to this day.)

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Crystal Abidin

Crystal Abidin is an anthropologist of vernacular internet cultures, focusing especially on the Asia-Pacific region. She has published six books and more than 250...

More from this edition

The marketing is still crap

Non-fictionThis neoliberal reframing of the arts into ‘creative industries’ first took hold in the UK with Tony Blair and his attempt to make the country’s image less frumpy and more innovative: New Labour lumped disparate industries together under the guise of creating a so-called ‘enterprise economy’. This ethos has continued with gusto in the twenty-first century, with artistic development corralled into corporate spaces while creative professionals are expected to perform their roles with sharpened governance, purpose and glad-handing to prove more is achieved by following a new regime of accountability.

Trip Advisor review of a protest

Poetry Firstly, what’s with all the footwork? A downward slope would be an attribute. There’s enough gory fundamentalism without toe jam. On that note, can...

Stuff

FictionMarty was my algorithm. He told me which internet plan to get. He researched the best conductive wall heater. He chose my clothes every night for the next day. He gave me a list of where I could go on my lunchbreak. Sometimes his decisions were arbitrary, or mysterious to me. But I did not care. It was, yes, like being a child again. And maybe Rachel was right; maybe there was something to that, something deep in my psyche. But all desire came from that deep, dark place of infancy. Your leather penchant is my life-coach-boyfriend-boss. None of us can take the high road here.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.