The headline almost gets there. This is ‘Team Trump’. The entire Trump phenomenon is the substitution of…

The headline almost gets there. This is ‘Team Trump’. The entire Trump phenomenon is the substitution of public, civic life, with team sports on social media. The enshittification of an entire nation, in the precise @doctorow meaning of the term. /1 https://t.co/hzqJ2DYsOg https://t.co/ZGrCCMNVMU

Not fascism or Nazism. Those are old-fashioned movements that accepted the central role of the State in running modern societies. Trump’s team exists only in a social media bubble. Their entire agenda is a series of social media battles that have been ongoing for years. /2

“For 18 senior US officials to have a casual chat on a commercial social media platform has shocked many in Washington.” Why would this be a shock? Reality itself for this team is entirely lived through social media. /3

Trumpism is the hijacking of civic infrastructure and life by social media. The medium is the message. The wanton destruction of US institutions isn’t a fascist plot. Fascists adore the State, they just appropriate it for their own purposes. /4

Trump doesn’t care about any of that. He wants to win social media battles. And because of the almost total disconnect between social media and reality, those battles quickly take on an apocalyptic vibe. /5

Everything is the end of the world, Nazi stormtroopers and fascist electric cars. Just step back and look at how ridiculous it all is. Rampant conspiracy and hysteria. All of this taking place inside social media bubbles, decoupled from material reality. /6

Sociality is violence. A technology that hyper-connects us generates nothing but increasing, ever more granular violence. Nothing but warring gangs or teams, in every dimension of life. That’s why the world seems so crazy right now. /7

The progress of civilisation is the winnowing of connections between people, to create hierarchies based on expertise and experience. Rather than prosecuting life according to who can accumulate the greatest amount of followers in their social team. /8

Social media has thrown all of that into reverse. Which is why civilisation’s fruits are now falling from the tree at increasing pace. Humans are social creatures. Change how that sociality is transacted, and you change everything. /9

The medium is the fucking message. It’s the platforms, stupid. Turning us into nations of warring gangs. /end