Buzzfeed, Capitalism, and Schizophrenia

[Greg Borenstein]

This is amazing:

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/20/5730762/buzzfeeds-founder-used-to-write-marxist-theory-and-it-explains

It turns out Buzzfeed's founder Jonah Peretti was a scholar of Frederic
Jameson and Deleuze and Guattari, specifically with an eye towards the
effect of capitalism on identity construction. He even published a
paper, "Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Contemporary Visual Culture and
the Acceleration of Identity Formation/Dissolution"
http://www.datawranglers.com/negations/issues/96w/96w_peretti.html

There's an analysis of his writing here:

[Greg Borenstein]

Whoops. Hit send prematurely.

Anyway, there's an analysis of his writing here:

http://www.critical-theory.com/from-deleuze-to-lolcats-the-story-of-the-buzzfeed-guy/

>From the paper:

"My central contention is that late capitalism not only accelerates the flow of capital, but also accelerates the rate at which subjects assume identities. Identity formation is inextricably linked to the urge to consume, and therefore the acceleration of capitalism necessitates an increase in the rate at which individuals assume and shed identities. The internet is one of many late capitalist phenomena that allow for more flexible, rapid, and profitable mechanisms of identity formation."

So, Buzzfeed is basically applied Deleuze.

-- Greg

[Steve Klabnik]

Haha, yeah, I knew this was true but never posted it to the list! What
an oversight!

That tweet reply cracks me up.