Something to Keep
“Apathy is a tragedy and boredom is a crime”
Bo Burnham’s description of the internet in the Netflix special Bo Burnham: Inside
A Second Look
I haven’t watched Bo Burnham: Inside since it came out during the pandemic. This week, I watched a couple of fragments from the musical special, and interestingly, it might be more relevant than ever. Burnham’s take on the internet and the state of the world feels weirdly accurate, even if we’re no longer stuck inside.
Although it uses a slightly familiar structure, there’s nothing quite like Inside. It features comedy sketches and musical performances, but the special combines elements from comedy, music, drama, theater, and even documentary. The result is hard to describe. Some sketches are hilarious, but Inside addresses uncomfortable topics like depression and our complicated relationship with technology.
Two numbers from Inside stand out. As the name suggests, “Welcome to the Internet” is sung from the perspective of the internet. As you’d expect, the internet sounds sinister and diabolical. The short song takes us from the internet’s humble beginnings (travel blogs and forums) to what it is now (something that separates us). I took the opening quote for this article from this song.
Then there’s “All Eyes On Me”, a vulnerable number about anxiety. This is one of those pieces that’s hard to put into words because it describes a part of human nature that is just, well… indescribable.
As you can see, Burnham’s internet is an environment that constantly gives us something to consume. Here’s how I deliberately removed that constant supply of toxic content while maintaining a healthier relationship with it.
Something I Liked
For some time, I’ve been trying to change my relationship with the internet. I use the internet all the time, but sometimes it leaves me energized, while other times it leaves me depleted. At first, I thought I was supposed to stop using it altogether, but that didn’t work out. Then I thought I was supposed to stop consuming media, but that didn’t work out either.
The solution that worked for me involved minimizing algorithms, which takes some time and effort. I installed a bunch of browser extensions and got rid of the home pages of most sites and social media (everything from Instagram to Reddit). This forces me to use the internet with an agenda. If I sit down in front of the computer, I need a list of tasks. Otherwise, I just get bored and have no other choice but to do something else.
This is going to sound like an exaggeration, but it changed everything. For one, I don’t feel tempted to watch short-form content, such as YouTube Shorts or Instagram Stories, since those are blocked. More importantly, I don’t have access to random crap the algorithm throws at me. I wrote about algorithms at length, but this has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
Here are some of my favorite browser extensions if you’re interested:
- Antigram
- FocusGuard
- uBlock Origin (I couldn’t find a link to this one, for some reason)
- Unhook
If anything I brought up in this article resonated, let me know in the comments. I might write a longer piece on making your devices work for you instead of against you. I know a lot of people aren’t that interested in installing browser extensions, but when it comes to technology, I found that limits give me freedom.
