Wow, so glad I came across this randomly in the Substack app! (Surely they knew I’d be interested.) I was so glad to see you reference the Didion essay as that was what I was thinking about when I was reading. The more things change! The bit about the guy with the “come have a conversation” sign not getting any takers broke my heart.
Yes to your point about community not being enough to be the end goal. Gotta have something at the center to get into, obsess over, and work at, and let the relationships form around it. I’ve had interactions with some of The Commons folk too and they’ve been lovely. Feel like if they decide to commit to collectively building something tangible instead of just talking about what needs to happen with regard to AI, things could be very different over there. Would certainly be fun to watch from afar. Thanks for a thoughtful and inspiring piece!
Also there’s class nuance to it. The problem with the tech class is that they’re *too* prone to building stuff, companies in particular. A lot of people in that scene would benefit from just being patrons of third spaces that already exist, with all their flaws - bars, libraries, churches… would expand their worldviews IMO
Totally agree that being around people who are not just like them would be good for everyone! That's a tough sell though. We seem to be getting more tribal by the day.
Great way of talking about an already published piece and adding your own thoughts to the topic — post-factum, on your Substack. Loved the piece, will be keeping tabs on next features of yours.
Most def I am down for that. Journalism is my first profession, and I am always on an lookout for fellow writers-journalists who see the world and the field through the lens of 2024 and beyond. Cheers.
YESS! I ate this story up and I also thought this following writing was very lovely and is a much more eloquent way of how I typically react when unscene folk ask if we're a community or a publication..
"In the case of journalism, for example, the primary project is the content, and the social rewards are organic byproducts for those involved. But it doesn’t flow the other way. "
Did you feel like the folks at the commons had personal stakes in each other? I love social clubs and I’m pro-club culture. I found that it was harder to make friends in academic clubs because I saw it more as “work enrichment”/networking. I wonder if the commons fulfills genuine yearns for community or if it’s more social-climby.
Also, I nervously laughed at the goal of creating a space that feels like an episode of friends because that kind of parallels the hopes/shortcomings of AI: curation based on hyper-crafted visions, trying to fill voids in real human lives.
So many things I want to say! When I was reading the piece in the Gazetteer, all I kept thinking was how good of a journalist you are. I appreciate your respect for the craft and what makes journalism what it is. It's so refreshing to read your work because I think you capture what I crave out of reporting in general. I dunno, it's rare and you have a good team of people helping you! Also, the scenes you are reporting on are so fascinating. I live in Pittsburgh, where the young people lean into punk anarchy more than tech. Tech specifically didn't want to come to Pittsburgh because it's too smelly here (literally: https://www.publicsource.org/when-better-isnt-good-enough-why-i-tell-my-google-co-workers-and-industry-peers-to-avoid-pittsburgh/). We have Bakery Square, which is the Google Village, but it's really its own contained area in a gentrified neighborhood that no one pays much mind to unless they work there. What you describe here simply could not exist in Pittsburgh, but that's also kind of the point you make. It's the West Coast California American Dream. I just eat it up because I can't even imagine walking into a space like that or having conversations such as those. The topics, the visions for the future, everything is different. I'd love for you to come to Pittsburgh and see what you'd write about the social scenes here!
Thank you Aris! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading. Such interesting context on Pittsburgh - I've never been, actually. Real punk scenes fascinate me. True counterculture is hard to come by in cities as expensive as SF.
Was so chillingly good!! I’m a huge tech-pessimist and anti-AI advocate, but I feel like this article made me empathize more with people in the field. They’re as scared and lonely as the rest of us! (Some of us can sit with our emotions rather than evangelizing corporate-third space- techtopias as the cure all though 🙈)
Tbf, I am also pretty anti AI. Though I do think as it becomes more normalized, non-AI art and literature is going to get more insane as a response, which I’m excited for
Wow, so glad I came across this randomly in the Substack app! (Surely they knew I’d be interested.) I was so glad to see you reference the Didion essay as that was what I was thinking about when I was reading. The more things change! The bit about the guy with the “come have a conversation” sign not getting any takers broke my heart.
Yes to your point about community not being enough to be the end goal. Gotta have something at the center to get into, obsess over, and work at, and let the relationships form around it. I’ve had interactions with some of The Commons folk too and they’ve been lovely. Feel like if they decide to commit to collectively building something tangible instead of just talking about what needs to happen with regard to AI, things could be very different over there. Would certainly be fun to watch from afar. Thanks for a thoughtful and inspiring piece!
Also there’s class nuance to it. The problem with the tech class is that they’re *too* prone to building stuff, companies in particular. A lot of people in that scene would benefit from just being patrons of third spaces that already exist, with all their flaws - bars, libraries, churches… would expand their worldviews IMO
Totally agree that being around people who are not just like them would be good for everyone! That's a tough sell though. We seem to be getting more tribal by the day.
Great way of talking about an already published piece and adding your own thoughts to the topic — post-factum, on your Substack. Loved the piece, will be keeping tabs on next features of yours.
Yeah I’m starting to think of my newsletter as a sort of talmudic addendum to my published work. Glad you’re down for that
Most def I am down for that. Journalism is my first profession, and I am always on an lookout for fellow writers-journalists who see the world and the field through the lens of 2024 and beyond. Cheers.
Smart, thoughtful, empathetic work. Thanks for the clarity.
YESS! I ate this story up and I also thought this following writing was very lovely and is a much more eloquent way of how I typically react when unscene folk ask if we're a community or a publication..
"In the case of journalism, for example, the primary project is the content, and the social rewards are organic byproducts for those involved. But it doesn’t flow the other way. "
Did you feel like the folks at the commons had personal stakes in each other? I love social clubs and I’m pro-club culture. I found that it was harder to make friends in academic clubs because I saw it more as “work enrichment”/networking. I wonder if the commons fulfills genuine yearns for community or if it’s more social-climby.
Also, I nervously laughed at the goal of creating a space that feels like an episode of friends because that kind of parallels the hopes/shortcomings of AI: curation based on hyper-crafted visions, trying to fill voids in real human lives.
So many things I want to say! When I was reading the piece in the Gazetteer, all I kept thinking was how good of a journalist you are. I appreciate your respect for the craft and what makes journalism what it is. It's so refreshing to read your work because I think you capture what I crave out of reporting in general. I dunno, it's rare and you have a good team of people helping you! Also, the scenes you are reporting on are so fascinating. I live in Pittsburgh, where the young people lean into punk anarchy more than tech. Tech specifically didn't want to come to Pittsburgh because it's too smelly here (literally: https://www.publicsource.org/when-better-isnt-good-enough-why-i-tell-my-google-co-workers-and-industry-peers-to-avoid-pittsburgh/). We have Bakery Square, which is the Google Village, but it's really its own contained area in a gentrified neighborhood that no one pays much mind to unless they work there. What you describe here simply could not exist in Pittsburgh, but that's also kind of the point you make. It's the West Coast California American Dream. I just eat it up because I can't even imagine walking into a space like that or having conversations such as those. The topics, the visions for the future, everything is different. I'd love for you to come to Pittsburgh and see what you'd write about the social scenes here!
Thank you Aris! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading. Such interesting context on Pittsburgh - I've never been, actually. Real punk scenes fascinate me. True counterculture is hard to come by in cities as expensive as SF.
Yeah, we keep our boots muddy over here :)
Was so chillingly good!! I’m a huge tech-pessimist and anti-AI advocate, but I feel like this article made me empathize more with people in the field. They’re as scared and lonely as the rest of us! (Some of us can sit with our emotions rather than evangelizing corporate-third space- techtopias as the cure all though 🙈)
Tbf, I am also pretty anti AI. Though I do think as it becomes more normalized, non-AI art and literature is going to get more insane as a response, which I’m excited for