the apocalyptic hype cycle

silicon valley’s declining ability to direct the narrative

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It struck me last night: social media has lost the ability to generate mass hysteria.

It ended sometime in 2021, as the pandemic was winding down and I declared a vibe shift.

Discourse has rushed around, chasing after new social and technological developments—but the masses seem nonplussed in both the modern sense of the word and according to the traditional definition.

A quiver moves through the social body and then abruptly…stops.

Remember:

• wokeness?

• MRNA vaccines?

• social media censorship?

• misinformation?

• crypto?

• NFTs?

We’re now in the midst of the same cycle with AI and its corollary slop. It’s all discursive feints. And every one misses the mark.

Everyone is in a rush to declare Year Zero. But no one seems to care.