The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes
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1/3/2015 The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/style/the-unending-anxiety-of-an-icymi-world.html?&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=… 1/4 http://nyti.ms/1xnMGqG STYLE The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World JAN. 2, 2015 Future Tense By TEDDY WAYNE In case you missed it, the initials ICYMI stand for the first five words of this sentence. In the event you have, indeed, missed it (ITEYH, I, MI has not taken off yet for some reason), it’s most likely because you’re not on the Internet much, particularly Twitter, where individuals and outlets deploy it every few seconds to bring links to the attention of others who may not have seen them. The New York Times now even has a section at the bottom of its app called “In Case You Missed It” with articles from previous days. While the extended phrase has been used in conversation for a long time, the shorthand betrays an anxiety central to the Internet epoch. There is simply too much readable, viewable and listenable data for anyone to stay abreast of, as a humor piece, “I’m All Caught Up!” by Nick Mickowski in McSweeney’s, playfully suggested. “I did it! I’m caught up!” Mr. Mickowski wrote. “I experienced every show, movie, webisode, album, book, webcomic, podcast, video game, Twitter feed, Tumblr, Instagram, Reddit AMA and oped you guys were telling me I had to check out. Now we can talk about them and I won’t feel like such an outcast when we hang out.” We used to receive media cyclically. Newspapers were published once (or sometimes twice) a day, magazines weekly or monthly. Nightly news was broadcast, well, each night. Television programs were broadcast on one of the major networks one night a week at a specific time, never to return until a rerun or syndication. Movies were shown first in theaters and on
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1/3/2015 The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/style/the-unending-anxiety-of-an-icymi-world.html?&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion= 1/4
http://nyti.ms/1xnMGqG
STYLE
The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI WorldJAN. 2, 2015
FutureTense
By TEDDY WAYNE
Incaseyoumissedit,theinitialsICYMIstandforthefirstfivewordsofthis
sentence.Intheeventyouhave,indeed,missedit(ITEYH,I,MIhasnot
takenoffyetforsomereason),itsmostlikelybecauseyourenotonthe
Internetmuch,particularlyTwitter,whereindividualsandoutletsdeployit
everyfewsecondstobringlinkstotheattentionofotherswhomaynot
haveseenthem.TheNewYorkTimesnowevenhasasectionatthebottom
ofitsappcalledInCaseYouMissedItwitharticlesfrompreviousdays.
Whiletheextendedphrasehasbeenusedinconversationforalong
time,theshorthandbetraysananxietycentraltotheInternetepoch.There
issimplytoomuchreadable,viewableandlistenabledataforanyonetostay
abreastof,asahumorpiece,ImAllCaughtUp!byNickMickowskiin
McSweeneys,playfullysuggested.
Ididit!Imcaughtup!Mr.Mickowskiwrote.Iexperiencedevery
show,movie,webisode,album,book,webcomic,podcast,videogame,
Twitterfeed,Tumblr,Instagram,RedditAMAandopedyouguyswere
tellingmeIhadtocheckout.NowwecantalkaboutthemandIwontfeel
likesuchanoutcastwhenwehangout.
Weusedtoreceivemediacyclically.Newspaperswerepublishedonce
(orsometimestwice)aday,magazinesweeklyormonthly.Nightlynews
wasbroadcast,well,eachnight.Televisionprogramswerebroadcastonone
ofthemajornetworksonenightaweekataspecifictime,nevertoreturn
untilarerunorsyndication.Movieswereshownfirstintheatersandon
http://www.nytimes.com/http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-all-caught-uphttp://www.nytimes.com/pages/style/index.htmlhttps://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=icymi&src=typdhttp://nyti.ms/1xnMGqG
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1/3/2015 The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes.com
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videomuchlater(or,beforetheadventofVCRs,notuntilarevival).There
werenotmanyinterstices,justdiscreteunitsandasmallernumberof
them.
Nowwereinthemidstofthestreamingera,whenthenewsindustry
distributesmaterialona24hourcycle,entireseasonsofTVshowsare
dumpedonviewersinstantaneously,mostmoviesareavailableatanytime
andtheflowoftheInternetandsocialmediaisceaseless.Wearenearlyall
interstitialspace,withcomparativelyfewsingularities.
Thecumulativeeffectisoverwhelmingforbothproducersofcontent
anditsconsumers.Thosewhoputoutwork,understandably,wanttomake
sureitsnotlostonwhateversiteishostingit,letaloneinthesocialmedia
blizzardofmustreadlinks,oneoffjokesandotherselfpromotion.When
thehomepageofawebsiterefresheseverycoupleofhours(orminutes),
therearentalotofconspicuouswaystoshowcaseoldermaterialexcept
throughthereferralsofTwitter,Facebookandthelike.
Yetitisthiseternalretrievabilityofanythingonlinethatpanicsus.
ElizabethMinkel,whohasamastersdegreeindigitalhumanitiesfrom
UniversityCollegeLondon,wroteanarticleforTheNewStatesmanin
whichshearguedthatICYMImakesstayingconnectedfeellikeaconstant
gameofcatchup,likefindingthingsataslowerpacewarrantssomekindof
disclaimer.
Ifitssomeoneelseswork,whydoyouneedtosayICYMIor
apologizebysaying,Sorry,thisisold?sheaskedinaninterview.Youre
rewardedforbeingfirst,notforbeingthemostexcitedaboutsomething.
(Ms.MinkelpointedoutthatpostsonTumblrhavefarlongershelflives
thanthosefromothersocialmedia.)
PreInternet,weacceptedthatmediahadamayflyslifespan:
Yesterdaysnewswasyesterdaysnews,andthatwasit.Ifyouwerethe
creatorofit,youmadepeacewiththenotionthatpeopleeithersawitor
didntwhenitappeared,andyoumovedon;therewasnoalternative.
Ifitlingeredinthepublicconsciousness,itwasbecauseofits
durability,notrepeatedreminders.Contenthadfiniteendingsanddeaths,
notasymptoticapproachesandlongtermvegetativestatesfromwhich
resuscitationisalwaysanoption.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/04/fashion/online-binge-media-culture-finds-a-receptive-audience-in-americans.htmlhttp://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/05/icymi-internet-has-ruined-our-conception-time
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1/3/2015 The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes.com
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Consumershadtomakesimilarbargains:Ifyouwentoutona
Thursdaynightduringthe1990s,youmissedNBCsMustSeeTV
schedule(unlessyoutapedit)andunderstoodthatitwouldbeawhile
beforeyoucouldseeitagain.(Ithelped,too,thattherewaslessmedia
competitioninpreviousdecadesand,inthecaseofTV,thatdramaticseries
weregenerallylesscomplex,sothatmissinganepisodeofDynastymight
notsetyoubackasfarasskippingoneofBreakingBad.)
Now,withjustabouteveryairingofamuchgreaternumberofshows
obtainableatanymoment,thereisnoexcuseformissingoneand,
therefore,amoreurgentcompulsiontocatchup,incaseyoumissedit.
Today,boththeoutletsandtheindividualswhoareresponsibleforthe
workareawarethattheyhavealimitedwindowinwhichtheircontentcan
goviralandoutliveitsshortstayonahomepage.Whenitfailstodoso,as,
bydefinition,almosteverythingmust,itmayseemtothemlikea
dishearteningscreenageZenkoan:Ifanarticleaboutdeforestationis
publishedbutnooneclicksonit,diditactuallyexist?
HenceICYMI.Inanearliertime,thefullverbalformulationmeantthat
therecipientwassupposedtoseesomethingofacertaindegreeof
importance(anote,anemail),andthesenderwasgentlyremindingyouof
itsoversight.
Now,theveryshorteningofthephraseisabyproductand
acknowledgmentofthevelocityofinformationagainstwhichitsattached
linkisracing.Theimplicationisthatyouprobablyhavenotseenit,andits
notnecessarytoyourexistence,butthesenderwouldliketobringittoyour
attentionanyway,please.Itservesasacallofdesperationasmuchasan
announcement:Canyouhearmywhisperinthesehowlingwinds?Infact,
ICYMIisoftenusedasthesecondorthirdattempttolinktosomething
(whichsuggeststhecontentisnottakingofforganically)asameansof
excusingtherepetitivepromotion.
EventheTwitteraccountforPresidentObama,oneofthefewpeople
whocanassumethathisactionsarenevermissedbytheworld,
occasionallyusesICYMI,especiallytohighlightachievementstheWhite
Housemaythinkareundervaluedbythepublic,suchasjobgrowthandthe
AffordableCareAct.
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/534807212061753344https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/541363067863707648http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/books/review/22KIRNL.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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1/3/2015 The Unending Anxiety of an ICYMI World - NYTimes.com
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ElissaStrauss,acolumnistforTheWeek.comandafreelancerfora
numberofotherWebpublications,saidthatafinancialincentivealso
drivesInternetcontentcreatorswhoposttheirworkmultipletimes(she
saidshetypicallytripletweetseachofherarticles).
Theresacorrelationbetweenyourincomeandhowmanyclicksyou
get,Ms.Strausssaid.Thisisntjustamememe,attentiongrabbing
thing.ItshowImakealiving.InthearenaoftheInternet,youhavetobe
loudandkeeptryingandraisingyourhand.
Giventhenearinfiniteaccessibilityofdigitalmedia,itsuggeststhat
whatWalterBenjamincalledtheunique,mysticalauraofanobjectofart
inhisseminal1936essay,TheWorkofArtintheAgeofMechanical
Reproduction,greatlydiminishedbythereproductivetechnologiesofhis
time,iscompletelyeradicatedbyours.
Liveperformancesmaybethelastplacetolocateanysenseofaura.
Mr.Benjaminsawvariousreasonsforoptimisminthediminutionofthe
aura.Reproduction,heposited,couldemancipateusfromcultlike
reverencetowardartandmakeuskeener,morepoliticizedcritics.But
nowadaysitspasstonotethat,duringliveevents,peopleareoftenstaring
intotheirreproductionfriendlyphones,perhapsaredirectedformofritual
obeisance.
Atleasttheycanprobablyfindavideoorphoto(maybeonetheyshot
themselves)ofwhattheywereatlater,incasetheymissedit.
TeddyWayneistheauthorofthenovelsTheLoveSongofJonnyValentineandKapitoil.FutureTenseappearsmonthly.
A version of this article appears in print on January 4, 2015, on page ST2 of the New York editionwith the headline: Lest Any Bit of Data Pass You by.
2015 The New York Times Company
http://theweek.com/http://www.nytimes.com/content/help/rights/copyright/copyright-notice.htmlhttp://teddywayne.com/http://www.elissastrauss.com/https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm
