Lurking is an old-school-internet term describing what we do when watch, but do not participate in, online life. McNeil outlines the history of online communication, exposes some of the false nostalgia of the early internet and concludes that our current social platforms are flattening the human experience
McNeil spends a lot of time discussing early internet communication – online forums and chat rooms that were simple, helpful, naive, and problematic. She contrasts this with the social platforms we have today that demand its participants be their authentic selves, while providing no structure or safety for the consequences. She believes these services can provide moments of beautiful connection, but as a whole flatten and diminish what it means to be human. Some notes: False nostalgia. Some oldies (like the author, like me) probably have some nostalgia for some better more real and soft internet. She breaks that down a little and reminds that on a beloved message board it still took just one loudmouth misogynist to ruin all the fun. The relationship between humans and platforms is one of contradictions. They allow participants to remain somewhat anonymous, but totally visible. They enable us to make friends, but keep them at a distance. They encourage authenticity, but algorithmic models require explicit inputs. Internet as grift. The author dreads the rise of the first reformed alt-right turned left celebrity who does a TED talk and NYTimes op ed. From one grift to another. A part of humanity these platforms enable.