Best of ystrickler.com on Kiwi News
Most upvoted by Kiwi News readers
10 stories from ystrickler.com have been shared on Kiwi News since 21 January 2024, with 26 upvotes and 3 comments in total. The latest was shared on 17 March 2026. They are listed below, most upvoted first.
Text under a title is an AI summary of the linked article.
- How To Build A Newthing
- The internet is dying on the outside but growing on the inside
The article argues that the internet is shifting from public spaces to private "dark forests," where people hide from mainstream competition for power, and that bots now post more content than humans for the first time. It cites Sean Monahan's view that Dead Internet Theory and Dark Forest Theory together explain the internet today, with the line "The internet is dying on the outside but growing on the inside." It draws on James C. Scott's idea of hidden transcripts. It also covers the DFT 2025 show at Wesleyan University and Metalabel's Dark Forest Operating System (DFOS), software for small groups to create private internets.
- New experiments in publishing
- The Post-Individual
Yancey Strickler argues that the internet has produced post-individualism, in which people split themselves into many online identities and then seek community to find meaning. He traces individualism to around 1000 A.D., when Church leaders' decree forbidding first-cousin marriage helped set off the rise of cities, guilds and universities within roughly a century. He cites Sherry Turkle's 1984 book The Second Self on how computers shape identity, and Ben Thompson's account of separating his identities across platforms. K-Hole's 2014 "Youth Mode" is quoted saying people are now born individuals and must find their communities.
- The Post-Individual
Yancey Strickler argues that the internet is producing "post-individualism," a stage in which people separate their identities from geography, family and physical life, then seek community again. He traces the modern individual to around 1000 A.D., when Catholic Church leaders reportedly banned first-cousin marriage, which he links to the rise of cities, guilds and universities. He cites Sherry Turkle's 1984 book *The Second Self* and K-Hole's 2014 "Youth Mode," which says people today "are born individuals and have to find their communities." Post-individualism, he writes, is not a rejection of individualism.
- The Dark Forest and the Post-Individual
Writer Nadia Asparahouva, in a conversation with the author, argued that the internet has moved from an era of maximizing status, as described in Eugene Wei's "Status as a service," to an era of seeking safety and context, as described in the Dark Forest essay. The article's author argues that the internet is "real life" and a "mesaverse," where inner selves interact with others, rather than a graphical metaverse. The author is releasing "The Post Individual: First Edition," a downloadable bundle of research, with 250 copies suggested at $5 but available for any price, including $0.
- A new creative beginning
- Formulary for New Media
Internet media has become stale and commercial, and the article calls for a "New Media" built on a new spirit rather than new technology. It says New Media should break out of platform formats, invite audience participation, and may choose limits like handmade or small-group distribution instead of infinite scale. As examples, it cites Chia Amisola's work, Cindy Lee's album Diamond Jubillee, released as a .zip file with pay-what-you-want downloads, and Gary Hustwit's generative ENO documentary, in which each screening uses a different edit. It also highlights Metalabel as a hub for the movement, with works including Molly Soda's "mollysstuff" and the Dark Forest Collective's "Post-Individual."
- When the means justify the ends
- The prestige recession