When AI pre-writes the self
danah boyd calls it parasocial media: television performed on social media. AI is the next step, and it leaves one question — what part of you is left that the machine does not have?
The researcher danah boyd says we should stop calling it social media.
The researcher danah boyd says we should stop calling it social media. She suggests the term parasocial media instead.
Her point is simple. Posting has faded and scrolling has won. Most people now watch content from creators they will never meet. The relationship runs one way.
Seen through this series, the picture gets sharper. This was television all along, performed on social media. The public persona has been separated from the person. You connect to that public version, not to the real writer. The writer is somewhere else, and hard to find, even for themselves.
AI is the next step, and it follows the same logic. It is this copying turned into a tool. The training data is the huge pile of earlier posts and pictures. Your prompt writes over it. Out comes a smooth copy of things you never had to read yourself.
The part the data does not contain and the prompt cannot reach. Notice it,.
The researcher danah boyd says we should stop calling it social media.
Most people now watch content from creators they will never meet.
Seen through this series, the picture gets sharper.
The persona now arrives ready-made.
So here is the part that matters, and it ties back to your work. Whatever is left of you is the valuable part. It is what the data does not contain and the prompt cannot reach.
If your work runs on judgment, creativity, or design, this is the real task now. Learn to notice that remaining part, and protect it. It is the one thing the machine does not already have.
Most people now watch content from creators they will never meet.
The part the data does not contain and the prompt cannot reach. Notice it, and protect it.
danah boyd calls it parasocial media: television performed on social media. AI is the next step, and it leaves one question — what part of you is left that the machine does not have?
This is the short version. Read the full-length essay, “Palimpsest self, parasocial media”.
This issue is part of Everybody's Smart, a newsletter on taste, judgment, AI, culture, cognition, and the future of professional work. New issues every 2 to 3 weeks, free on LinkedIn.
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