The Life Performative

09:33 Sunday, 5 July 2026
Current Wx: Temp: 72.25°F Pressure: 1016hPa Humidity: 89% Wind: 2.57mph
Words: 620

Social media makes us the star of our own reality series. Blogging does too, but most blogs lack the kind of immediate feedback mechanisms of social media platforms. The marmot doesn't get "likes" or "re-" anything, so most of the experience is like shouting into the void.

Which has charms of its own.

But the social media platforms are literally that. Stages, where users perform their online personas. I have to wonder how much of that online presence is shaped by the feedback people receive. It has to have some effect.

We started talking a bit about other note-taking apps in yesterday's Tinderbox meet-up. This prompted a line of thought in my mind, which kind of kept me preoccupied during much of the session.

I always thought it was odd that certain types of apps seem to appear in clusters. Roam, Obsidian, LogSeq, etc. Or "distraction-free" writing environments, like iA Writer, Bear, Ulysses, and probably dozens more.

I think a lot of it has to do with social media. Software applications have become a kind of fashion, and we want to be perceived as being au courant. Smart. Hip. Cool.

Plain text.

Markdown.

Bullshit.

I think some people use these apps to good effect. They become more productive, or something. But I have a strong suspicion that most people just wear them as a set of clothes for a while, and then move on to the latest hot trend.

It's like cameras. Same thing.

I think if you're a photographer, not in the "professional" sense, but in the sense of you're someone who can't not "take pictures," the particular brand of camera you use isn't important. Unless you're a performer, an "influencer." Then you probably want to appeal to an audience of fans, or garner attention and sponsorship from a manufacturer.

If you're a writer, you'd probably write even if the only thing you had was a pencil and a stack of loose-leaf paper. If you feel as though you write "better" with a keyboard, maybe you'd write with any kind of typewriter. Similarly, if you value the features of a "word processor," and the only thing you could use was Microsoft Word, you'd write with Microsoft Word.

Because it's about writing, not about keyboard shortcuts, or user interface "distractions."

If you're someone who "thinks," do you constantly change software applications? Is your "thinking" confined to critiquing "tools for thought?"

There was a guest at one of the Tinderbox meetups some time ago, who has used TheBrain for years and years. Decades maybe. And he has all these "thoughts" collected in TheBrain. Now, I have to give this guy credit, he found his app and he stuck to it. He doesn't flit from app to app.

I don't know. Maybe he does, and he records his "thoughts" about those apps in TheBrain.

But he also couldn't articulate how collecting all those thoughts had changed his life. How it made his life better. He could perform astounding feats of recall; but to what end?

In the end, it seemed to me that it was just a habit, and it existed mostly so he could perform these remarkable demos. He was a performer.

We don't understand what computers are for. Some people do. I don't claim to be among them, though I tend to think I have a better idea than most of these "thought leaders."

I think most people regard computers and software as a kind of signifier, like most commodity consumer products, and use them in that way. At least, the kinds of people who are on "social media," which is all about signification.

Anyway, something about "sound and fury, signifying nothing."

The beat goes on...

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